{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_56644/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_56644","id":"gutenberg_56644","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/56644","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Classics of Literature","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Charlemagne, Emperor, 742-814 -- Romances -- Adaptations","Folklore -- Europe","Mythology","Romances"],"text":"Produced by Marcia Brooks, Cindy Beyer, and the online\nDistributed Proofreaders Canada team at\nhttp://www.pgdpcanada.net with images provided by The\nInternet Archives-US.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n [Cover Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: JOVE (JUPITER).\n Museum at Naples. Excavated from Pompeii in 1818.]\n\n\n\n\n BULFINCH\u2019S\n M Y T H O L O G Y\n\n\n The Age of Fable\n The Age of Chivalry\n Legends of Charlemagne\n\n\n BY\n THOMAS BULFINCH\n\n\n\n COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME\n\n\n REVISED AND ENLARGED, WITH ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n\n GROSSET & DUNLAP \u2022 _Publishers_ \u2022 NEW YORK\n\n\n\n\n COPYRIGHT, 1913,\n BY THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY.\n\n PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA\n\n\n\n\n PUBLISHERS\u2019 PREFACE\n\nNo new edition of Bulfinch\u2019s classic work can be considered complete\nwithout some notice of the American scholar to whose wide erudition and\npainstaking care it stands as a perpetual monument. \u201cThe Age of Fable\u201d\nhas come to be ranked with older books like \u201cPilgrim\u2019s Progress,\u201d\n\u201cGulliver\u2019s Travels,\u201d \u201cThe Arabian Nights,\u201d \u201cRobinson Crusoe,\u201d and five\nor six other productions of world-wide renown as a work with which every\none must claim some acquaintance before his education can be called\nreally complete. Many readers of the present edition will probably\nrecall coming in contact with the work as children, and, it may be\nadded, will no doubt discover from a fresh perusal the source of\nnumerous bits of knowledge that have remained stored in their minds\nsince those early years. Yet to the majority of this great circle of\nreaders and students the name Bulfinch in itself has no significance.\n\nThomas Bulfinch was a native of Boston, Mass., where he was born in\n1796. His boyhood was spent in that city, and he prepared for college in\nthe Boston schools. He finished his scholastic training at Harvard\nCollege, and after taking his degree was for a period a teacher in his\nhome city. For a long time later in life he was employed as an\naccountant in the Boston Merchants\u2019 Bank. His leisure time he used for\nfurther pursuit of the classical studies which he had begun at Harvard,\nand his chief pleasure in life lay in writing out the results of his\nreading, in simple, condensed form for young or busy readers. The plan\nhe followed in this work, to give it the greatest possible usefulness,\nis set forth in the Author\u2019s Preface.\n\n\u201cThe Age of Fable,\u201d First Edition, 1855; \u201cThe Age of Chivalry,\u201d 1858;\n\u201cThe Boy Inventor,\u201d 1860; \u201cLegends of Charlemagne, or Romance of the\nMiddle Ages,\u201d 1863; \u201cPoetry of the Age of Fable,\u201d 1863; \u201cOregon and\nEldorado, or Romance of the Rivers,\u201d 1860.\n\nIn this complete edition of his mythological and legendary lore \u201cThe Age\nof Fable,\u201d \u201cThe Age of Chivalry,\u201d and \u201cLegends of Charlemagne\u201d are\nincluded. Scrupulous care has been taken to follow the original text of\nBulfinch, but attention should be called to some additional sections\nwhich have been inserted to add to the rounded completeness of the work,\nand which the publishers believe would meet with the sanction of the\nauthor himself, as in no way intruding upon his original plan but simply\ncarrying it out in more complete detail. The section on Northern\nMythology has been enlarged by a retelling of the epic of the\n\u201cNibelungen Lied,\u201d together with a summary of Wagner\u2019s version of the\nlegend in his series of music-dramas. Under the head of \u201cHero Myths of\nthe British Race\u201d have been included outlines of the stories of Beowulf,\nCuchulain, Hereward the Wake, and Robin Hood. Of the verse extracts\nwhich occur throughout the text, thirty or more have been added from\nliterature which has appeared since Bulfinch\u2019s time, extracts that he\nwould have been likely to quote had he personally supervised the new\nedition.\n\nFinally, the index has been thoroughly overhauled and, indeed, remade.\nAll the proper names in the work have been entered, with references to\nthe pages where they occur, and a concise explanation or definition of\neach has been given. Thus what was a mere list of names in the original\nhas been enlarged into a small classical and mythological dictionary,\nwhich it is hoped will prove valuable for reference purposes not\nnecessarily connected with \u201cThe Age of Fable.\u201d\n\nAcknowledgments are due the writings of Dr. Oliver Huckel for\ninformation on the point of Wagner\u2019s rendering of the Nibelungen legend,\nand M. I. Ebbutt\u2019s authoritative volume on \u201cHero Myths and Legends of\nthe British Race,\u201d from which much of the information concerning the\nBritish heroes has been obtained.\n\n\n\n\n AUTHOR\u2019S PREFACE\n\nIf no other knowledge deserves to be called useful but that which helps\nto enlarge our possessions or to raise our station in society, then\nMythology has no claim to the appellation. But if that which tends to\nmake us happier and better can be called useful, then we claim that\nepithet for our subject. For Mythology is the handmaid of literature;\nand literature is one of the best allies of virtue and promoters of\nhappiness.\n\nWithout a knowledge of mythology much of the elegant literature of our\nown language cannot be understood and appreciated. When Byron calls Rome\n\u201cthe Niobe of nations,\u201d or says of Venice, \u201cShe looks a Sea-Cybele fresh\nfrom ocean,\u201d he calls up to the mind of one familiar with our subject,\nillustrations more vivid and striking than the pencil could furnish, but\nwhich are lost to the reader ignorant of mythology. Milton abounds in\nsimilar allusions. The short poem \u201cComus\u201d contains more than thirty\nsuch, and the ode \u201cOn the Morning of the Nativity\u201d half as many. Through\n\u201cParadise Lost\u201d they are scattered profusely. This is one reason why we\noften hear persons by no means illiterate say that they cannot enjoy\nMilton. But were these persons to add to their more solid acquirements\nthe easy learning of this little volume, much of the poetry of Milton\nwhich has appeared to them \u201charsh and crabbed\u201d would be found \u201cmusical\nas is Apollo\u2019s lute.\u201d Our citations, taken from more than twenty-five\npoets, from Spenser to Longfellow, will show how general has been the\npractice of borrowing illustrations from mythology.\n\nThe prose writers also avail themselves of the same source of elegant\nand suggestive illustration. One can hardly take up a number of the\n\u201cEdinburgh\u201d or \u201cQuarterly Review\u201d without meeting with instances. In\nMacaulay\u2019s article on Milton there are twenty such.\n\nBut how is mythology to be taught to one who does not learn it through\nthe medium of the languages of Greece and Rome? To devote study to a\nspecies of learning which relates wholly to false marvels and obsolete\nfaiths is not to be expected of the general reader in a practical age\nlike this. The time even of the young is claimed by so many sciences of\nfacts and things that little can be spared for set treatises on a\nscience of mere fancy.\n\nBut may not the requisite knowledge of the subject be acquired by\nreading the ancient poets in translations? We reply, the field is too\nextensive for a preparatory course; and these very translations require\nsome previous knowledge of the subject to make them intelligible. Let\nany one who doubts it read the first page of the \u201c\u00c6neid,\u201d and see what\nhe can make of \u201cthe hatred of Juno,\u201d the \u201cdecree of the Parc\u00e6,\u201d the\n\u201cjudgment of Paris,\u201d and the \u201chonors of Ganymede,\u201d without this\nknowledge.\n\nShall we be told that answers to such queries may be found in notes, or\nby a reference to the Classical Dictionary? We reply, the interruption\nof one\u2019s reading by either process is so annoying that most readers\nprefer to let an allusion pass unapprehended rather than submit to it.\nMoreover, such sources give us only the dry facts without any of the\ncharm of the original narrative; and what is a poetical myth when\nstripped of its poetry? The story of Ceyx and Halcyone, which fills a\nchapter in our book, occupies but eight lines in the best (Smith\u2019s)\nClassical Dictionary; and so of others.\n\nOur work is an attempt to solve this problem, by telling the stories of\nmythology in such a manner as to make them a source of amusement. We\nhave endeavored to tell them correctly, according to the ancient\nauthorities, so that when the reader finds them referred to he may not\nbe at a loss to recognize the reference. Thus we hope to teach mythology\nnot as a study, but as a relaxation from study; to give our work the\ncharm of a story-book, yet by means of it to impart a knowledge of an\nimportant branch of education. The index at the end will adapt it to the\npurposes of reference, and make it a Classical Dictionary for the\nparlor.\n\nMost of the classical legends in \u201cStories of Gods and Heroes\u201d are\nderived from Ovid and Virgil. They are not literally translated, for, in\nthe author\u2019s opinion, poetry translated into literal prose is very\nunattractive reading. Neither are they in verse, as well for other\nreasons as from a conviction that to translate faithfully under all the\nembarrassments of rhyme and measure is impossible. The attempt has been\nmade to tell the stories in prose, preserving so much of the poetry as\nresides in the thoughts and is separable from the language itself, and\nomitting those amplifications which are not suited to the altered form.\n\nThe Northern mythological stories are copied with some abridgment from\nMallet\u2019s \u201cNorthern Antiquities.\u201d These chapters, with those on Oriental\nand Egyptian mythology, seemed necessary to complete the subject, though\nit is believed these topics have not usually been presented in the same\nvolume with the classical fables.\n\nThe poetical citations so freely introduced are expected to answer\nseveral valuable purposes. They will tend to fix in memory the leading\nfact of each story, they will help to the attainment of a correct\npronunciation of the proper names, and they will enrich the memory with\nmany gems of poetry, some of them such as are most frequently quoted or\nalluded to in reading and conversation.\n\nHaving chosen _mythology as connected with literature_ for our province,\nwe have endeavored to omit nothing which the reader of elegant\nliterature is likely to find occasion for. Such stories and parts of\nstories as are offensive to pure taste and good morals are not given.\nBut such stories are not often referred to, and if they occasionally\nshould be, the English reader need feel no mortification in confessing\nhis ignorance of them.\n\nOur work is not for the learned, nor for the theologian, nor for the\nphilosopher, but for the reader of English literature, of either sex,\nwho wishes to comprehend the allusions so frequently made by public\nspeakers, lecturers, essayists, and poets, and those which occur in\npolite conversation.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\nIn the \u201cStories of Gods and Heroes\u201d the compiler has endeavored to\nimpart the pleasures of classical learning to the English reader, by\npresenting the stories of Pagan mythology in a form adapted to modern\ntaste. In \u201cKing Arthur and His Knights\u201d and \u201cThe Mabinogeon\u201d the attempt\nhas been made to treat in the same way the stories of the second \u201cage of\nfable,\u201d the age which witnessed the dawn of the several states of Modern\nEurope.\n\nIt is believed that this presentation of a literature which held\nunrivalled sway over the imaginations of our ancestors, for many\ncenturies, will not be without benefit to the reader, in addition to the\namusement it may afford. The tales, though not to be trusted for their\nfacts, are worthy of all credit as pictures of manners; and it is\nbeginning to be held that the manners and modes of thinking of an age\nare a more important part of its history than the conflicts of its\npeoples, generally leading to no result. Besides this, the literature of\nromance is a treasure-house of poetical material, to which modern poets\nfrequently resort. The Italian poets, Dante and Ariosto, the English,\nSpenser, Scott, and Tennyson, and our own Longfellow and Lowell, are\nexamples of this.\n\nThese legends are so connected with each other, so consistently adapted\nto a group of characters strongly individualized in Arthur, Launcelot,\nand their compeers, and so lighted up by the fires of imagination and\ninvention, that they seem as well adapted to the poet\u2019s purpose as the\nlegends of the Greek and Roman mythology. And if every well-educated\nyoung person is expected to know the story of the Golden Fleece, why is\nthe quest of the Sangreal less worthy of his acquaintance? Or if an\nallusion to the shield of Achilles ought not to pass unapprehended, why\nshould one to Excalibar, the famous sword of Arthur?\u2014\n\n \u201cOf Arthur, who, to upper light restored,\n With that terrific sword,\n Which yet he brandishes for future war,\n Shall lift his country\u2019s fame above the polar star.\u201d[1]\n\nIt is an additional recommendation of our subject, that it tends to\ncherish in our minds the idea of the source from which we sprung. We are\nentitled to our full share in the glories and recollections of the land\nof our forefathers, down to the time of colonization thence. The\nassociations which spring from this source must be fruitful of good\ninfluences; among which not the least valuable is the increased\nenjoyment which such associations afford to the American traveller when\nhe visits England, and sets his foot upon any of her renowned\nlocalities.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\nThe legends of Charlemagne and his peers are necessary to complete the\nsubject.\n\nIn an age when intellectual darkness enveloped Western Europe, a\nconstellation of brilliant writers arose in Italy. Of these, Pulci (born\nin 1432), Boiardo (1434), and Ariosto (1474) took for their subjects the\nromantic fables which had for many ages been transmitted in the lays of\nbards and the legends of monkish chroniclers. These fables they arranged\nin order, adorned with the embellishments of fancy, amplified from their\nown invention, and stamped with immortality. It may safely be asserted\nthat as long as civilization shall endure these productions will retain\ntheir place among the most cherished creations of human genius.\n\nIn \u201cStories of Gods and Heroes,\u201d \u201cKing Arthur and His Knights\u201d and \u201cThe\nMabinogeon\u201d the aim has been to supply to the modern reader such\nknowledge of the fables of classical and medi\u00e6val literature as is\nneeded to render intelligible the allusions which occur in reading and\nconversation. The \u201cLegends of Charlemagne\u201d is intended to carry out the\nsame design. Like the earlier portions of the work, it aspires to a\nhigher character than that of a piece of mere amusement. It claims to be\nuseful, in acquainting its readers with the subjects of the productions\nof the great poets of Italy. Some knowledge of these is expected of\nevery well-educated young person.\n\nIn reading these romances, we cannot fail to observe how the primitive\ninventions have been used, again and again, by successive generations of\nfabulists. The Siren of Ulysses is the prototype of the Siren of\nOrlando, and the character of Circe reappears in Alcina. The fountains\nof Love and Hatred may be traced to the story of Cupid and Psyche; and\nsimilar effects produced by a magic draught appear in the tale of\nTristram and Isoude, and, substituting a flower for the draught, in\nShakspeare\u2019s \u201cMidsummer Night\u2019s Dream.\u201d There are many other instances\nof the same kind which the reader will recognize without our assistance.\n\nThe sources whence we derive these stories are, first, the Italian poets\nnamed above; next, the \u201cRomans de Chevalerie\u201d of the Comte de Tressan;\nlastly, certain German collections of popular tales. Some chapters have\nbeen borrowed from Leigh Hunt\u2019s Translations from the Italian Poets. It\nseemed unnecessary to do over again what he had already done so well;\nyet, on the other hand, those stories could not be omitted from the\nseries without leaving it incomplete.\n\n THOMAS BULFINCH.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: [Map 1: Western Mediterranean]\n The World of the Ancient Greeks and Romans.]\n\n[Illustration: [Map 2: Eastern Mediterranean]\n The World of the Ancient Greeks and Romans.]\n\n\n\n\n CONTENTS\n STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES\n\n CHAPTER PAGE\n I. Introduction 1\n II. Prometheus and Pandora 12\n III. Apollo and Daphne\u2014Pyramus and Thisbe\u2014Cephalus and\n Procris 19\n IV. Juno and her Rivals, Io and Callisto\u2014Diana and\n Act\u00e6on\u2014Latona and the Rustics 28\n V. Pha\u00ebton 38\n VI. Midas\u2014Baucis and Philemon 46\n VII. Proserpine\u2014Glaucus and Scylla 52\n VIII. Pygmalion\u2014Dryope\u2014Venus and Adonis\u2014Apollo and Hyacinthus 62\n IX. Ceyx and Halcyone 69\n X. Vertumnus and Pomona\u2014Iphis and Anaxarete 76\n XI. Cupid and Psyche 80\n XII. Cadmus\u2014The Myrmidons 91\n XIII. Nisus and Scylla\u2014Echo and Narcissus\u2014Clytie\u2014Hero and\n Leander 98\n XIV. Minerva and Arachne\u2014Niobe 107\n XV. The Gr\u00e6\u00e6 and Gorgons\u2014Perseus and Medusa\u2014Atlas\u2014Andromeda 115\n XVI. Monsters: Giants\u2014Sphinx\u2014Pegasus and\n Chim\u00e6ra\u2014Centaurs\u2014Griffin\u2014Pygmies 122\n XVII. The Golden Fleece\u2014Medea 129\n XVIII. Meleager and Atalanta 138\n XIX. Hercules\u2014Hebe and Ganymede 143\n XX. Theseus and D\u00e6dalus\u2014Castor and Pollux\u2014Festivals and\n Games 150\n XXI. Bacchus and Ariadne 160\n XXII. The Rural Deities\u2014The Dryads and\n Erisichthon\u2014Rh\u0153cus\u2014Water Deities\u2014Camen\u00e6\u2014Winds 166\n XXIII. Achelous and Hercules\u2014Admetus and\n Alcestis\u2014Antigone\u2014Penelope 177\n XXIV. Orpheus and\n Eurydice\u2014Arist\u00e6us\u2014Amphion\u2014Linus\u2014Thamyris\u2014Marsyas\u2014Mela\n mpus\u2014Mus\u00e6us 185\n XXV. Arion\u2014Ibycus\u2014Simonides\u2014Sappho 194\n XXVI. Endymion\u2014Orion\u2014Aurora and Tithonus\u2014Acis and Galatea 204\n XXVII. The Trojan War 211\n XXVIII. The Fall of Troy\u2014Return of the Greeks\u2014Orestes and\n Electra 227\n XXIX. Adventures of Ulysses\u2014The Lotus-eaters\u2014The\n Cyclopes\u2014Circe\u2014Sirens\u2014Scylla and Charybdis\u2014Calypso 236\n XXX. The Ph\u00e6acians\u2014Fate of the Suitors 247\n XXXI. Adventures of \u00c6neas\u2014The Harpies\u2014Dido\u2014Palinurus 258\n XXXII. The Infernal Regions\u2014The Sibyl 266\n XXXIII. \u00c6neas in Italy\u2014Camilla\u2014Evander\u2014Nisus and\n Euryalus\u2014Mezentius\u2014Turnus 276\n XXXIV. Pythagoras\u2014Egyptian Deities\u2014Oracles 288\n XXXV. Origin of Mythology\u2014Statues of Gods and Goddesses\u2014Poets\n of Mythology 300\n XXXVI. Monsters (modern)\u2014The\n Ph\u0153nix\u2014Basilisk\u2014Unicorn\u2014Salamander 310\n XXXVII. Eastern Mythology\u2014Zoroaster\u2014Hindu\n Mythology\u2014Castes\u2014Buddha\u2014The Grand Lama\u2014Prester John 318\n XXXVIII. Northern Mythology\u2014Valhalla\u2014The Valkyrior 328\n XXXIX. Thor\u2019s Visit to Jotunheim 337\n XL. The Death of Baldur\u2014The Elves\u2014Runic\n Letters\u2014Skalds\u2014Iceland\u2014Teutonic Mythology\u2014The\n Nibelungen Lied\u2014Wagner\u2019s Nibelungen Ring 343\n XLI. The Druids\u2014Iona 358\n\n KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS\n\n CHAPTER PAGE\n I. Introduction 367\n II. The Mythical History of England 378\n III. Merlin 389\n IV. Arthur 394\n V. Arthur (_Continued_) 405\n VI. Sir Gawain 414\n VII. Caradoc Briefbras; or, Caradoc with the Shrunken Arm 418\n VIII. Launcelot of the Lake 424\n IX. The Adventure of the Cart 435\n X. The Lady of Shalott 441\n XI. Queen Guenever\u2019s Peril 445\n XII. Tristram and Isoude 449\n XIII. Tristram and Isoude (_Continued_) 457\n XIV. Sir Tristram\u2019s Battle with Sir Launcelot 464\n XV. The Round Table 467\n XVI. Sir Palamedes 472\n XVII. Sir Tristram 475\n XVIII. Perceval 479\n XIX. The Sangreal, or Holy Graal 486\n XX. The Sangreal (_Continued_) 491\n XXI. The Sangreal (_Continued_) 497\n XXII. Sir Agrivain\u2019s Treason 507\n XXIII. Morte d\u2019Arthur 515\n\n THE MABINOGEON\n\n CHAPTER PAGE\n Introductory Note 527\n I. The Britons 529\n II. The Lady of the Fountain 534\n III. The Lady of the Fountain (_Continued_) 539\n IV. The Lady of the Fountain (_Continued_) 546\n V. Geraint, the Son of Erbin 553\n VI. Geraint, the Son of Erbin (_Continued_) 564\n VII. Geraint, the Son of Erbin (_Continued_) 572\n VIII. Pwyll, Prince of Dyved 583\n IX. Branwen, the Daughter of Llyr 589\n X. Manawyddan 597\n XI. Kilwich and Olwen 608\n XII. Kilwich and Olwen (_Continued_) 620\n XIII. Taliesin 626\n\n HERO MYTHS OF THE BRITISH RACE\n\n Beowulf 635\n Cuchulain, Champion of Ireland 637\n Hereward the Wake 641\n Robin Hood 643\n\n LEGENDS OF CHARLEMAGNE\n\n Introduction 647\n The Peers, or Paladins 656\n The Tournament 664\n The Siege of Albracca 672\n Adventures of Rinaldo and Orlando 683\n The Invasion of France 693\n The Invasion of France (_Continued_) 702\n Bradamante and Rogero 712\n Astolpho and the Enchantress 721\n The Orc 732\n Astolpho\u2019s Adventures continued, and Isabella\u2019s begun 739\n Medoro 745\n Orlando Mad 753\n Zerbino and Isabella 760\n Astolpho in Abyssinia 769\n The War in Africa 777\n Rogero and Bradamante 788\n The Battle of Roncesvalles 801\n Rinaldo and Bayard 814\n Death of Rinaldo 819\n Huon of Bordeaux 825\n Huon of Bordeaux (_Continued_) 832\n Huon of Bordeaux (_Continued_) 842\n Ogier, the Dane 848\n Ogier, the Dane (_Continued_) 856\n Ogier, the Dane (_Continued_) 863\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n PROVERBIAL EXPRESSIONS 873\n\n LIST OF ILLUSTRATIVE PASSAGES QUOTED FROM THE POETS 875\n\n INDEX AND DICTIONARY 877\n\n\n\n\n LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS\n (Added for convenience)\n\n 1. JOVE (JUPITER). Museum at Naples. Excavated from Pompeii in 1818.\n 2. Western Mediterranean Map The World of the Ancient Greeks and\n Romans, showing Location of Places mentioned in \u201cStories of Gods\n and Heroes.\u201d\n 3. Eastern Mediterranean Map The World of the Ancient Greeks and\n Romans, showing Location of Places mentioned in \u201cStories of Gods\n and Heroes.\u201d\n 4. THE DESCENT OF THE GODS [Greek and Roman Gods Family Tree]\n 5. CIRCE. From painting by Burne-Jones.\n 6. THE THREE FATES. From painting by Michael Angelo. Pitti Gallery,\n Florence.\n 7. HERCULES IN BATTLE WITH A CENTAUR. Florence. John of Bologna.\n 8. PARTING OF HECTOR AND ANDROMACHE. From painting by A. Maignan.\n 9. THETIS BEARING THE ARMOR OF ACHILLES. From painting by Fran\u00e7ois\n Gerard.\n 10. CIRCE AND THE FRIENDS OF ULYSSES. From painting by Briton Rivi\u00e8re.\n 11. \u00c6NEAS AT THE COURT OF QUEEN DIDO. From painting by P. Guerin.\n Salon of 1817.\n 12. A VALKYR. From painting by P. N. Arbo.\n 13. THE BEGUILING OF MERLIN. From painting by Sir Edwin Burne-Jones.\n 14. THE ROUND TABLE. From a photograph. This supposed relic of King\n Arthur and his Knights now hangs in the Great Hall of the Castle\n of Winchester (Camelot).\n 15. SIR GALAHAD. From painting by George Frederick Watts.\n 16. KING ARTHUR AND QUEEN GUENEVER. Original drawing by A. Fredericks.\n 17. CHARLEMAGNE. From painting by D\u00fcrer in the Museum at Nuremburg.\n 18. CHARLEMAGNE RECEIVING HIS GUESTS. Original drawing by Byam Shaw.\n\n\n\n\n THE DESCENT OF THE GODS\n\n\n CHAOS=Nox (Night)\n (Darkness) EREBUS=Nox (Night)\n | Neptune\n +-------+ +----------+-=Amphitrite+--Proteus\n | | | | |\n (Light) AETHER=HEMERA (Day) +--Nereus--+--Galatea +--Triton\n | | |\n EROS (Amor) (Love) | +--Thetis--Achilles\n | |\n +-------------+ | +--Iris\n | | +--Thaumas|\n G\u00c6A (Earth) PONTUS (Sea)=G\u00c6A--| +--Harpies\n | |\n(Cronos) URANUS=G\u00c6A | +Gorgons\n | +--Phorcys=Ceto--+Sirens\n | +Scylla\n +-----+----------+----+------+-----------------+\n | | | | | |\n Saturn=Rhea (Ops) C\u0153us=Ph\u0153be Japetus Oceanus=Tethys\n | | | |\n +-----+ | | +-------+--------+--------+\n | Latona | | | | |\n +--Jupiter--Minerva (Leto) | Inachus Oceanids Clymene Doris=Nereus\n | (Zeus) (Athene) | and river gods |\n | +--------+-------+ Nereides\n +--Ceres (Demeter) | | |\n | Epimetheus Prometheus Atlas\n +--Juno (Hera) | |\n | Dione Maia\n +--Pluto (Hades)\n |\n +--Neptune (Poseidon)\n |\n +--Vesta (Hestia)\n\n\n JUPITER=Juno (Hera) JUPITER=Latona (Leto) JUPITER=Dione\n | | |\n +------+---------+ +------------+ |\n | | | | | |\nHebe Mars Vulcan Ph\u0153bus Apollo Diana Venus (Aphrodite)\n (Ares) (Heph\u00e6stus) (Artemis) |\n Cupid\n\n JUPITER=Maia JUPITER=Semele\n | |\n | |\n | |\n Mercury (Hermes) Bacchus (Dionysus)\n\n\n JUPITER=Themis JUPITER=Mnemosyne\n | |\n +-----------+---------------+ Nine Muses\n | | |\n Hor\u00e6 Parc\u00e6 Astr\u00e6a\n(The Hours) (The Fates) (Goddess of Justice)\n\n\n JUPITER=Eurynome JUPITER=Demeter (Ceres) JUPITER=Alcmene\n | | |\n Three Graces Proserpina (Persephone) Hercules (Heracles)\n\n\n\n\n STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES\n\n\n CHAPTER I\n\n INTRODUCTION\n\nTHE religions of ancient Greece and Rome are extinct. The so-called\ndivinities of Olympus have not a single worshipper among living men.\nThey belong now not to the department of theology, but to those of\nliterature and taste. There they still hold their place, and will\ncontinue to hold it, for they are too closely connected with the finest\nproductions of poetry and art, both ancient and modern, to pass into\noblivion.\n\nWe propose to tell the stories relating to them which have come down to\nus from the ancients, and which are alluded to by modern poets,\nessayists, and orators. Our readers may thus at the same time be\nentertained by the most charming fictions which fancy has ever created,\nand put in possession of information indispensable to every one who\nwould read with intelligence the elegant literature of his own day.\n\nIn order to understand these stories, it will be necessary to acquaint\nourselves with the ideas of the structure of the universe which\nprevailed among the Greeks\u2014the people from whom the Romans, and other\nnations through them, received their science and religion.\n\nThe Greeks believed the earth to be flat and circular, their own country\noccupying the middle of it, the central point being either Mount\nOlympus, the abode of the gods, or Delphi, so famous for its oracle.\n\nThe circular disk of the earth was crossed from west to east and divided\ninto two equal parts by the _Sea_, as they called the Mediterranean, and\nits continuation the Euxine, the only seas with which they were\nacquainted.\n\nAround the earth flowed the _River Ocean_, its course being from south\nto north on the western side of the earth, and in a contrary direction\non the eastern side. It flowed in a steady, equable current, unvexed by\nstorm or tempest. The sea, and all the rivers on earth, received their\nwaters from it.\n\nThe northern portion of the earth was supposed to be inhabited by a\nhappy race named the Hyperboreans, dwelling in everlasting bliss and\nspring beyond the lofty mountains whose caverns were supposed to send\nforth the piercing blasts of the north wind, which chilled the people of\nHellas (Greece). Their country was inaccessible by land or sea. They\nlived exempt from disease or old age, from toils and warfare. Moore has\ngiven us the \u201cSong of a Hyperborean,\u201d beginning\n\n \u201cI come from a land in the sun-bright deep,\n Where golden gardens glow,\n Where the winds of the north, becalmed in sleep,\n Their conch shells never blow.\u201d\n\nOn the south side of the earth, close to the stream of Ocean, dwelt a\npeople happy and virtuous as the Hyperboreans. They were named the\n\u00c6thiopians. The gods favored them so highly that they were wont to leave\nat times their Olympian abodes and go to share their sacrifices and\nbanquets.\n\nOn the western margin of the earth, by the stream of Ocean, lay a happy\nplace named the Elysian Plain, whither mortals favored by the gods were\ntransported without tasting of death, to enjoy an immortality of bliss.\nThis happy region was also called the \u201cFortunate Fields,\u201d and the \u201cIsles\nof the Blessed.\u201d\n\nWe thus see that the Greeks of the early ages knew little of any real\npeople except those to the east and south of their own country, or near\nthe coast of the Mediterranean. Their imagination meantime peopled the\nwestern portion of this sea with giants, monsters, and enchantresses;\nwhile they placed around the disk of the earth, which they probably\nregarded as of no great width, nations enjoying the peculiar favor of\nthe gods, and blessed with happiness and longevity.\n\nThe Dawn, the Sun, and the Moon were supposed to rise out of the Ocean,\non the eastern side, and to drive through the air, giving light to gods\nand men. The stars, also, except those forming the Wain or Bear, and\nothers near them, rose out of and sank into the stream of Ocean. There\nthe sun-god embarked in a winged boat, which conveyed him round by the\nnorthern part of the earth, back to his place of rising in the east.\nMilton alludes to this in his \u201cComus\u201d:\n\n \u201cNow the gilded car of day\n His golden axle doth allay\n In the steep Atlantic stream,\n And the slope Sun his upward beam\n Shoots against the dusky pole,\n Pacing towards the other goal\n Of his chamber in the east.\u201d\n\nThe abode of the gods was on the summit of Mount Olympus, in Thessaly. A\ngate of clouds, kept by the goddesses named the Seasons, opened to\npermit the passage of the Celestials to earth, and to receive them on\ntheir return. The gods had their separate dwellings; but all, when\nsummoned, repaired to the palace of Jupiter, as did also those deities\nwhose usual abode was the earth, the waters, or the underworld. It was\nalso in the great hall of the palace of the Olympian king that the gods\nfeasted each day on ambrosia and nectar, their food and drink, the\nlatter being handed round by the lovely goddess Hebe. Here they\nconversed of the affairs of heaven and earth; and as they quaffed their\nnectar, Apollo, the god of music, delighted them with the tones of his\nlyre, to which the Muses sang in responsive strains. When the sun was\nset, the gods retired to sleep in their respective dwellings.\n\nThe following lines from the \u201cOdyssey\u201d will show how Homer conceived of\nOlympus:\n\n \u201cSo saying, Minerva, goddess azure-eyed,\n Rose to Olympus, the reputed seat\n Eternal of the gods, which never storms\n Disturb, rains drench, or snow invades, but calm\n The expanse and cloudless shines with purest day.\n There the inhabitants divine rejoice\n Forever.\u201d\n _Cowper._\n\nThe robes and other parts of the dress of the goddesses were woven by\nMinerva and the Graces and everything of a more solid nature was formed\nof the various metals. Vulcan was architect, smith, armorer, chariot\nbuilder, and artist of all work in Olympus. He built of brass the houses\nof the gods; he made for them the golden shoes with which they trod the\nair or the water, and moved from place to place with the speed of the\nwind, or even of thought. He also shod with brass the celestial steeds,\nwhich whirled the chariots of the gods through the air, or along the\nsurface of the sea. He was able to bestow on his workmanship\nself-motion, so that the tripods (chairs and tables) could move of\nthemselves in and out of the celestial hall. He even endowed with\nintelligence the golden handmaidens whom he made to wait on himself.\n\nJupiter, or Jove (Zeus[2]), though called the father of gods and men,\nhad himself a beginning. Saturn (Cronos) was his father, and Rhea (Ops)\nhis mother. Saturn and Rhea were of the race of Titans, who were the\nchildren of Earth and Heaven, which sprang from Chaos, of which we shall\ngive a further account in our next chapter.\n\nThere is another cosmogony, or account of the creation, according to\nwhich Earth, Erebus, and Love were the first of beings. Love (Eros)\nissued from the egg of Night, which floated on Chaos. By his arrows and\ntorch he pierced and vivified all things, producing life and joy.\n\nSaturn and Rhea were not the only Titans. There were others, whose names\nwere Oceanus, Hyperion, Iapetus, and Ophion, males; and Themis,\nMnemosyne, Eurynome, females. They are spoken of as the elder gods,\nwhose dominion was afterwards transferred to others. Saturn yielded to\nJupiter, Oceanus to Neptune, Hyperion to Apollo. Hyperion was the father\nof the Sun, Moon, and Dawn. He is therefore the original sun-god, and is\npainted with the splendor and beauty which were afterwards bestowed on\nApollo.\n\n \u201cHyperion\u2019s curls, the front of Jove himself.\u201d\n _Shakspeare._\n\nOphion and Eurynome ruled over Olympus till they were dethroned by\nSaturn and Rhea. Milton alludes to them in \u201cParadise Lost.\u201d He says the\nheathens seem to have had some knowledge of the temptation and fall of\nman.\n\n \u201cAnd fabled how the serpent, whom they called\n Ophion, with Eurynome, (the wide-Encroaching\n Eve perhaps,) had first the rule\n Of high Olympus, thence by Saturn driven.\u201d\n\nThe representations given of Saturn are not very consistent; for on the\none hand his reign is said to have been the golden age of innocence and\npurity, and on the other he is described as a monster who devoured his\nchildren.[3] Jupiter, however, escaped this fate, and when grown up\nespoused Metis (Prudence), who administered a draught to Saturn which\ncaused him to disgorge his children. Jupiter, with his brothers and\nsisters, now rebelled against their father Saturn and his brothers the\nTitans; vanquished them, and imprisoned some of them in Tartarus,\ninflicting other penalties on others. Atlas was condemned to bear up the\nheavens on his shoulders.\n\nOn the dethronement of Saturn, Jupiter with his brothers Neptune\n(Poseidon) and Pluto (Dis) divided his dominions. Jupiter\u2019s portion was\nthe heavens, Neptune\u2019s the ocean, and Pluto\u2019s the realms of the dead.\nEarth and Olympus were common property. Jupiter was king of gods and\nmen. The thunder was his weapon, and he bore a shield called \u00c6gis, made\nfor him by Vulcan. The eagle was his favorite bird, and bore his\nthunderbolts.\n\nJuno (Hera) was the wife of Jupiter, and queen of the gods. Iris, the\ngoddess of the rainbow, was her attendant and messenger. The peacock was\nher favorite bird.\n\nVulcan (Heph\u00e6stos), the celestial artist, was the son of Jupiter and\nJuno. He was born lame, and his mother was so displeased at the sight of\nhim that she flung him out of heaven. Other accounts say that Jupiter\nkicked him out for taking part with his mother in a quarrel which\noccurred between them. Vulcan\u2019s lameness, according to this account, was\nthe consequence of his fall. He was a whole day falling, and at last\nalighted in the island of Lemnos, which was thenceforth sacred to him.\nMilton alludes to this story in \u201cParadise Lost,\u201d Book I.:\n\n \u201c. . . From morn\n To noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve,\n A summer\u2019s day; and with the setting sun\n Dropped from the zenith, like a falling star,\n On Lemnos, the \u00c6gean isle.\u201d\n\nMars (Ares), the god of war, was the son of Jupiter and Juno.\n\nPh\u0153bus Apollo, the god of archery, prophecy, and music, was the son of\nJupiter and Latona, and brother of Diana (Artemis). He was god of the\nsun, as Diana, his sister, was the goddess of the moon.\n\nVenus (Aphrodite), the goddess of love and beauty, was the daughter of\nJupiter and Dione. Others say that Venus sprang from the foam of the\nsea. The zephyr wafted her along the waves to the Isle of Cyprus, where\nshe was received and attired by the Seasons, and then led to the\nassembly of the gods. All were charmed with her beauty, and each one\ndemanded her for his wife. Jupiter gave her to Vulcan, in gratitude for\nthe service he had rendered in forging thunderbolts. So the most\nbeautiful of the goddesses became the wife of the most ill-favored of\ngods. Venus possessed an embroidered girdle called Cestus, which had the\npower of inspiring love. Her favorite birds were swans and doves, and\nthe plants sacred to her were the rose and the myrtle.\n\nCupid (Eros), the god of love, was the son of Venus. He was her constant\ncompanion; and, armed with bow and arrows, he shot the darts of desire\ninto the bosoms of both gods and men. There was a deity named Anteros,\nwho was sometimes represented as the avenger of slighted love, and\nsometimes as the symbol of reciprocal affection. The following legend is\ntold of him:\n\nVenus, complaining to Themis that her son Eros continued always a child,\nwas told by her that it was because he was solitary, and that if he had\na brother he would grow apace. Anteros was soon afterwards born, and\nEros immediately was seen to increase rapidly in size and strength.\n\nMinerva (Pallas, Athene), the goddess of wisdom, was the offspring of\nJupiter, without a mother. She sprang forth from his head completely\narmed. Her favorite bird was the owl, and the plant sacred to her the\nolive.\n\nByron, in \u201cChilde Harold,\u201d alludes to the birth of Minerva thus:\n\n \u201cCan tyrants but by tyrants conquered be,\n And Freedom find no champion and no child,\n Such as Columbia saw arise, when she\n Sprang forth a Pallas, armed and undefiled?\n Or must such minds be nourished in the wild,\n Deep in the unpruned forest, \u2019midst the roar\n Of cataracts, where nursing Nature smiled\n On infant Washington? Has earth no more\n Such seeds within her breast, or Europe no such shore?\u201d\n\nMercury (Hermes) was the son of Jupiter and Maia. He presided over\ncommerce, wrestling, and other gymnastic exercises, even over thieving,\nand everything, in short, which required skill and dexterity. He was the\nmessenger of Jupiter, and wore a winged cap and winged shoes. He bore in\nhis hand a rod entwined with two serpents, called the caduceus.\n\nMercury is said to have invented the lyre. He found, one day, a\ntortoise, of which he took the shell, made holes in the opposite edges\nof it, and drew cords of linen through them, and the instrument was\ncomplete. The cords were nine, in honor of the nine Muses. Mercury gave\nthe lyre to Apollo, and received from him in exchange the caduceus.[4]\n\nCeres (Demeter) was the daughter of Saturn and Rhea. She had a daughter\nnamed Proserpine (Persephone), who became the wife of Pluto, and queen\nof the realms of the dead. Ceres presided over agriculture.\n\nBacchus (Dionysus), the god of wine, was the son of Jupiter and Semele.\nHe represents not only the intoxicating power of wine, but its social\nand beneficent influences likewise, so that he is viewed as the promoter\nof civilization, and a lawgiver and lover of peace.\n\nThe Muses were the daughters of Jupiter and Mnemosyne (Memory). They\npresided over song, and prompted the memory. They were nine in number,\nto each of whom was assigned the precedence over some particular\ndepartment of literature, art, or science. Calliope was the muse of epic\npoetry, Clio of history, Euterpe of lyric poetry, Melpomene of tragedy,\nTerpsichore of choral dance and song, Erato of love poetry, Polyhymnia\nof sacred poetry, Urania of astronomy, Thalia of comedy.\n\nThe Graces were goddesses presiding over the banquet, the dance, and all\nsocial enjoyments and elegant arts. They were three in number. Their\nnames were Euphrosyne, Aglaia, and Thalia.\n\nSpenser describes the office of the Graces thus:\n\n \u201cThese three on men all gracious gifts bestow\n Which deck the body or adorn the mind,\n To make them lovely or well-favored show;\n As comely carriage, entertainment kind,\n Sweet semblance, friendly offices that bind,\n And all the complements of courtesy;\n They teach us how to each degree and kind\n We should ourselves demean, to low, to high,\n To friends, to foes; which skill men call Civility.\u201d\n\nThe Fates were also three\u2014Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. Their office\nwas to spin the thread of human destiny, and they were armed with\nshears, with which they cut it off when they pleased. They were the\ndaughters of Themis (Law), who sits by Jove on his throne to give him\ncounsel.\n\nThe Erinnyes, or Furies, were three goddesses who punished by their\nsecret stings the crimes of those who escaped or defied public justice.\nThe heads of the Furies were wreathed with serpents, and their whole\nappearance was terrific and appalling. Their names were Alecto,\nTisiphone, and Meg\u00e6ra. They were also called Eumenides.\n\nNemesis was also an avenging goddess. She represents the righteous anger\nof the gods, particularly towards the proud and insolent.\n\nPan was the god of flocks and shepherds. His favorite residence was in\nArcadia.\n\nThe Satyrs were deities of the woods and fields. They were conceived to\nbe covered with bristly hair, their heads decorated with short,\nsprouting horns, and their feet like goats\u2019 feet.\n\nMomus was the god of laughter, and Plutus the god of wealth.\n\n ROMAN DIVINITIES\n\nThe preceding are Grecian divinities, though received also by the\nRomans. Those which follow are peculiar to Roman mythology:\n\nSaturn was an ancient Italian deity. It was attempted to identify him\nwith the Grecian god Cronos, and fabled that after his dethronement by\nJupiter he fled to Italy, where he reigned during what was called the\nGolden Age. In memory of his beneficent dominion, the feast of\nSaturnalia was held every year in the winter season. Then all public\nbusiness was suspended, declarations of war and criminal executions were\npostponed, friends made presents to one another, and the slaves were\nindulged with great liberties. A feast was given them at which they sat\nat table, while their masters served them, to show the natural equality\nof men, and that all things belonged equally to all, in the reign of\nSaturn.\n\nFaunus,[5] the grandson of Saturn, was worshipped as the god of fields\nand shepherds, and also as a prophetic god. His name in the plural,\nFauns, expressed a class of gamesome deities, like the Satyrs of the\nGreeks.\n\nQuirinus was a war god, said to be no other than Romulus, the founder of\nRome, exalted after his death to a place among the gods.\n\nBellona, a war goddess.\n\nTerminus, the god of landmarks. His statue was a rude stone or post, set\nin the ground to mark the boundaries of fields.\n\nPales, the goddess presiding over cattle and pastures.\n\nPomona presided over fruit trees.\n\nFlora, the goddess of flowers.\n\nLucina, the goddess of childbirth.\n\nVesta (the Hestia of the Greeks) was a deity presiding over the public\nand private hearth. A sacred fire, tended by six virgin priestesses\ncalled Vestals, flamed in her temple. As the safety of the city was held\nto be connected with its conservation, the neglect of the virgins, if\nthey let it go out, was severely punished, and the fire was rekindled\nfrom the rays of the sun.\n\nLiber is the Latin name of Bacchus; and Mulciber of Vulcan.\n\nJanus was the porter of heaven. He opens the year, the first month being\nnamed after him. He is the guardian deity of gates, on which account he\nis commonly represented with two heads, because every door looks two\nways. His temples at Rome were numerous. In war time the gates of the\nprincipal one were always open. In peace they were closed; but they were\nshut only once between the reign of Numa and that of Augustus.\n\nThe Penates were the gods who were supposed to attend to the welfare and\nprosperity of the family. Their name is derived from Penus, the pantry,\nwhich was sacred to them. Every master of a family was the priest to the\nPenates of his own house.\n\nThe Lares, or Lars, were also household gods, but differed from the\nPenates in being regarded as the deified spirits of mortals. The family\nLars were held to be the souls of the ancestors, who watched over and\nprotected their descendants. The words Lemur and Larva more nearly\ncorrespond to our word Ghost.\n\nThe Romans believed that every man had his Genius, and every woman her\nJuno: that is, a spirit who had given them being, and was regarded as\ntheir protector through life. On their birthdays men made offerings to\ntheir Genius, women to their Juno.\n\nA modern poet thus alludes to some of the Roman gods:\n\n \u201cPomona loves the orchard,\n And Liber loves the vine,\n And Pales loves the straw-built shed\n Warm with the breath of kine;\n And Venus loves the whisper\n Of plighted youth and maid,\n In April\u2019s ivory moonlight,\n Beneath the chestnut shade.\u201d\n \u2014_Macaulay_, \u201c_Prophecy of Capys_.\u201d\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\nN.B.\u2014It is to be observed that in proper names the final _e_ and _es_\nare to be sounded. Thus Cybele and Penates are words of three syllables.\nBut Proserpine and Thebes are exceptions, and to be pronounced as\nEnglish words. In the Index at the close of the volume we shall mark the\naccented syllable in all words which appear to require it.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER II\n\n PROMETHEUS AND PANDORA\n\nTHE creation of the world is a problem naturally fitted to excite the\nliveliest interest of man, its inhabitant. The ancient pagans, not\nhaving the information on the subject which we derive from the pages of\nScripture, had their own way of telling the story, which is as follows:\n\nBefore earth and sea and heaven were created, all things wore one\naspect, to which we give the name of Chaos\u2014a confused and shapeless\nmass, nothing but dead weight, in which, however, slumbered the seeds of\nthings. Earth, sea, and air were all mixed up together; so the earth was\nnot solid, the sea was not fluid, and the air was not transparent. God\nand Nature at last interposed, and put an end to this discord,\nseparating earth from sea, and heaven from both. The fiery part, being\nthe lightest, sprang up, and formed the skies; the air was next in\nweight and place. The earth, being heavier, sank below; and the water\ntook the lowest place, and buoyed up the earth.\n\nHere some god\u2014it is not known which\u2014gave his good offices in arranging\nand disposing the earth. He appointed rivers and bays their places,\nraised mountains, scooped out valleys, distributed woods, fountains,\nfertile fields, and stony plains. The air being cleared, the stars began\nto appear, fishes took possession of the sea, birds of the air, and\nfour-footed beasts of the land.\n\nBut a nobler animal was wanted, and Man was made. It is not known\nwhether the creator made him of divine materials, or whether in the\nearth, so lately separated from heaven, there lurked still some heavenly\nseeds. Prometheus took some of this earth, and kneading it up with\nwater, made man in the image of the gods. He gave him an upright\nstature, so that while all other animals turn their faces downward, and\nlook to the earth, he raises his to heaven, and gazes on the stars.\n\nPrometheus was one of the Titans, a gigantic race, who inhabited the\nearth before the creation of man. To him and his brother Epimetheus was\ncommitted the office of making man, and providing him and all other\nanimals with the faculties necessary for their preservation. Epimetheus\nundertook to do this, and Prometheus was to overlook his work, when it\nwas done. Epimetheus accordingly proceeded to bestow upon the different\nanimals the various gifts of courage, strength, swiftness, sagacity;\nwings to one, claws to another, a shelly covering to a third, etc. But\nwhen man came to be provided for, who was to be superior to all other\nanimals, Epimetheus had been so prodigal of his resources that he had\nnothing left to bestow upon him. In his perplexity he resorted to his\nbrother Prometheus, who, with the aid of Minerva, went up to heaven, and\nlighted his torch at the chariot of the sun, and brought down fire to\nman. With this gift man was more than a match for all other animals. It\nenabled him to make weapons wherewith to subdue them; tools with which\nto cultivate the earth; to warm his dwelling, so as to be comparatively\nindependent of climate; and finally to introduce the arts and to coin\nmoney, the means of trade and commerce.\n\nWoman was not yet made. The story (absurd enough!) is that Jupiter made\nher, and sent her to Prometheus and his brother, to punish them for\ntheir presumption in stealing fire from heaven; and man, for accepting\nthe gift. The first woman was named Pandora. She was made in heaven,\nevery god contributing something to perfect her. Venus gave her beauty,\nMercury persuasion, Apollo music, etc. Thus equipped, she was conveyed\nto earth, and presented to Epimetheus, who gladly accepted her, though\ncautioned by his brother to beware of Jupiter and his gifts. Epimetheus\nhad in his house a jar, in which were kept certain noxious articles, for\nwhich, in fitting man for his new abode, he had had no occasion. Pandora\nwas seized with an eager curiosity to know what this jar contained; and\none day she slipped off the cover and looked in. Forthwith there escaped\na multitude of plagues for hapless man,\u2014such as gout, rheumatism, and\ncolic for his body, and envy, spite, and revenge for his mind,\u2014and\nscattered themselves far and wide. Pandora hastened to replace the lid!\nbut, alas! the whole contents of the jar had escaped, one thing only\nexcepted, which lay at the bottom, and that was _hope_. So we see at\nthis day, whatever evils are abroad, hope never entirely leaves us; and\nwhile we have _that_, no amount of other ills can make us completely\nwretched.\n\nAnother story is that Pandora was sent in good faith, by Jupiter, to\nbless man; that she was furnished with a box, containing her marriage\npresents, into which every god had put some blessing. She opened the box\nincautiously, and the blessings all escaped, _hope_ only excepted. This\nstory seems more probable than the former; for how could _hope_, so\nprecious a jewel as it is, have been kept in a jar full of all manner of\nevils, as in the former statement?\n\nThe world being thus furnished with inhabitants, the first age was an\nage of innocence and happiness, called the _Golden Age_. Truth and right\nprevailed, though not enforced by law, nor was there any magistrate to\nthreaten or punish. The forest had not yet been robbed of its trees to\nfurnish timbers for vessels, nor had men built fortifications round\ntheir towns. There were no such things as swords, spears, or helmets.\nThe earth brought forth all things necessary for man, without his labor\nin ploughing or sowing. Perpetual spring reigned, flowers sprang up\nwithout seed, the rivers flowed with milk and wine, and yellow honey\ndistilled from the oaks.\n\nThen succeeded the _Silver Age_, inferior to the golden, but better than\nthat of brass. Jupiter shortened the spring, and divided the year into\nseasons. Then, first, men had to endure the extremes of heat and cold,\nand houses became necessary. Caves were the first dwellings, and leafy\ncoverts of the woods, and huts woven of twigs. Crops would no longer\ngrow without planting. The farmer was obliged to sow the seed and the\ntoiling ox to draw the plough.\n\nNext came the _Brazen Age_, more savage of temper, and readier to the\nstrife of arms, yet not altogether wicked. The hardest and worst was the\n_Iron Age_. Crime burst in like a flood; modesty, truth, and honor fled.\nIn their places came fraud and cunning, violence, and the wicked love of\ngain. Then seamen spread sails to the wind, and the trees were torn from\nthe mountains to serve for keels to ships, and vex the face of ocean.\nThe earth, which till now had been cultivated in common, began to be\ndivided off into possessions. Men were not satisfied with what the\nsurface produced, but must dig into its bowels, and draw forth from\nthence the ores of metals. Mischievous _iron_, and more mischievous\n_gold_, were produced. War sprang up, using both as weapons; the guest\nwas not safe in his friend\u2019s house; and sons-in-law and fathers-in-law,\nbrothers and sisters, husbands and wives, could not trust one another.\nSons wished their fathers dead, that they might come to the inheritance;\nfamily love lay prostrate. The earth was wet with slaughter, and the\ngods abandoned it, one by one, till Astr\u00e6a[6] alone was left, and\nfinally she also took her departure.\n\nJupiter, seeing this state of things, burned with anger. He summoned the\ngods to council. They obeyed the call, and took the road to the palace\nof heaven. The road, which any one may see in a clear night, stretches\nacross the face of the sky, and is called the Milky Way. Along the road\nstand the palaces of the illustrious gods; the common people of the\nskies live apart, on either side. Jupiter addressed the assembly. He set\nforth the frightful condition of things on the earth, and closed by\nannouncing his intention to destroy the whole of its inhabitants, and\nprovide a new race, unlike the first, who would be more worthy of life,\nand much better worshippers of the gods. So saying he took a\nthunderbolt, and was about to launch it at the world, and destroy it by\nburning; but recollecting the danger that such a conflagration might set\nheaven itself on fire, he changed his plan, and resolved to drown it.\nThe north wind, which scatters the clouds, was chained up; the south was\nsent out, and soon covered all the face of heaven with a cloak of pitchy\ndarkness. The clouds, driven together, resound with a crash; torrents of\nrain fall; the crops are laid low; the year\u2019s labor of the husbandman\nperishes in an hour. Jupiter, not satisfied with his own waters, calls\non his brother Neptune to aid him with his. He lets loose the rivers,\nand pours them over the land. At the same time, he heaves the land with\nan earthquake, and brings in the reflux of the ocean over the shores.\nFlocks, herds, men, and houses are swept away, and temples, with their\nsacred enclosures, profaned. If any edifice remained standing, it was\noverwhelmed, and its turrets lay hid beneath the waves. Now all was sea,\nsea without shore. Here and there an individual remained on a projecting\nhill-top, and a few, in boats, pulled the oar where they had lately\ndriven the plough. The fishes swim among the tree-tops; the anchor is\nlet down into a garden. Where the graceful lambs played but now,\nunwieldy sea calves gambol. The wolf swims among the sheep, the yellow\nlions and tigers struggle in the water. The strength of the wild boar\nserves him not, nor his swiftness the stag. The birds fall with weary\nwing into the water, having found no land for a resting-place. Those\nliving beings whom the water spared fell a prey to hunger.\n\nParnassus alone, of all the mountains, overtopped the waves; and there\nDeucalion, and his wife Pyrrha, of the race of Prometheus, found\nrefuge\u2014he a just man, and she a faithful worshipper of the gods.\nJupiter, when he saw none left alive but this pair, and remembered their\nharmless lives and pious demeanor, ordered the north winds to drive away\nthe clouds, and disclose the skies to earth, and earth to the skies.\nNeptune also directed Triton to blow on his shell, and sound a retreat\nto the waters. The waters obeyed, and the sea returned to its shores,\nand the rivers to their channels. Then Deucalion thus addressed Pyrrha:\n\u201cO wife, only surviving woman, joined to me first by the ties of kindred\nand marriage, and now by a common danger, would that we possessed the\npower of our ancestor Prometheus, and could renew the race as he at\nfirst made it! But as we cannot, let us seek yonder temple, and inquire\nof the gods what remains for us to do.\u201d They entered the temple,\ndeformed as it was with slime, and approached the altar, where no fire\nburned. There they fell prostrate on the earth, and prayed the goddess\nto inform them how they might retrieve their miserable affairs. The\noracle answered, \u201cDepart from the temple with head veiled and garments\nunbound, and cast behind you the bones of your mother.\u201d They heard the\nwords with astonishment. Pyrrha first broke silence: \u201cWe cannot obey; we\ndare not profane the remains of our parents.\u201d They sought the thickest\nshades of the wood, and revolved the oracle in their minds. At length\nDeucalion spoke: \u201cEither my sagacity deceives me, or the command is one\nwe may obey without impiety. The earth is the great parent of all; the\nstones are her bones; these we may cast behind us; and I think this is\nwhat the oracle means. At least, it will do no harm to try.\u201d They veiled\ntheir faces, unbound their garments, and picked up stones, and cast them\nbehind them. The stones (wonderful to relate) began to grow soft, and\nassume shape. By degrees, they put on a rude resemblance to the human\nform, like a block half-finished in the hands of the sculptor. The\nmoisture and slime that were about them became flesh; the stony part\nbecame bones; the veins remained veins, retaining their name, only\nchanging their use. Those thrown by the hand of the man became men, and\nthose by the woman became women. It was a hard race, and well adapted to\nlabor, as we find ourselves to be at this day, giving plain indications\nof our origin.\n\n\n\nThe comparison of Eve to Pandora is too obvious to have escaped Milton,\nwho introduces it in Book IV. of \u201cParadise-Lost\u201d:\n\n \u201cMore lovely than Pandora, whom the gods\n Endowed with all their gifts; and O, too like\n In sad event, when to the unwiser son\n Of Japhet brought by Hermes, she insnared\n Mankind with her fair looks, to be avenged\n On him who had stole Jove\u2019s authentic fire.\u201d\n\nPrometheus and Epimetheus were sons of Iapetus, which Milton changes to\nJaphet.\n\nPrometheus has been a favorite subject with the poets. He is represented\nas the friend of mankind, who interposed in their behalf when Jove was\nincensed against them, and who taught them civilization and the arts.\nBut as, in so doing, he transgressed the will of Jupiter, he drew down\non himself the anger of the ruler of gods and men. Jupiter had him\nchained to a rock on Mount Caucasus, where a vulture preyed on his\nliver, which was renewed as fast as devoured. This state of torment\nmight have been brought to an end at any time by Prometheus, if he had\nbeen willing to submit to his oppressor; for he possessed a secret which\ninvolved the stability of Jove\u2019s throne, and if he would have revealed\nit, he might have been at once taken into favor. But that he disdained\nto do. He has therefore become the symbol of magnanimous endurance of\nunmerited suffering, and strength of will resisting oppression.\n\nByron and Shelley have both treated this theme. The following are\nByron\u2019s lines:\n\n \u201cTitan! to whose immortal eyes\n The sufferings of mortality,\n Seen in their sad reality,\n Were not as things that gods despise;\n What was thy pity\u2019s recompense?\n A silent suffering, and intense;\n The rock, the vulture, and the chain;\n All that the proud can feel of pain;\n The agony they do not show;\n The suffocating sense of woe.\n\n \u201cThy godlike crime was to be kind;\n To render with thy precepts less\n The sum of human wretchedness,\n And strengthen man with his own mind.\n And, baffled as thou wert from high,\n Still, in thy patient energy\n In the endurance and repulse\n Of thine impenetrable spirit,\n Which earth and heaven could not convulse,\n A mighty lesson we inherit.\u201d\n\nByron also employs the same allusion, in his \u201cOde to Napoleon\nBonaparte\u201d:\n\n \u201cOr, like the thief of fire from heaven,\n Wilt thou withstand the shock?\n And share with him\u2014the unforgiven\u2014\n His vulture and his rock?\u201d\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER III\n\n APOLLO AND DAPHNE\u2014PYRAMUS AND THISBE\u2014CEPHALUS AND PROCRIS\n\nTHE slime with which the earth was covered by the waters of the flood\nproduced an excessive fertility, which called forth every variety of\nproduction, both bad and good. Among the rest, Python, an enormous\nserpent, crept forth, the terror of the people, and lurked in the caves\nof Mount Parnassus. Apollo slew him with his arrows\u2014weapons which he\nhad not before used against any but feeble animals, hares, wild goats,\nand such game. In commemoration of this illustrious conquest he\ninstituted the Pythian games, in which the victor in feats of strength,\nswiftness of foot, or in the chariot race was crowned with a wreath of\nbeech leaves; for the laurel was not yet adopted by Apollo as his own\ntree.\n\nThe famous statue of Apollo called the Belvedere represents the god\nafter this victory over the serpent Python. To this Byron alludes in his\n\u201cChilde Harold,\u201d iv., 161:\n\n \u201c. . . The lord of the unerring bow,\n The god of life, and poetry, and light,\n The Sun, in human limbs arrayed, and brow\n All radiant from his triumph in the fight.\n The shaft has just been shot; the arrow bright\n With an immortal\u2019s vengeance; in his eye\n And nostril, beautiful disdain, and might\n And majesty flash their full lightnings by,\n Developing in that one glance the Deity.\u201d\n\n APOLLO AND DAPHNE\n\nDaphne was Apollo\u2019s first love. It was not brought about by accident,\nbut by the malice of Cupid. Apollo saw the boy playing with his bow and\narrows; and being himself elated with his recent victory over Python, he\nsaid to him, \u201cWhat have you to do with warlike weapons, saucy boy? Leave\nthem for hands worthy of them. Behold the conquest I have won by means\nof them over the vast serpent who stretched his poisonous body over\nacres of the plain! Be content with your torch, child, and kindle up\nyour flames, as you call them, where you will, but presume not to meddle\nwith my weapons.\u201d Venus\u2019s boy heard these words, and rejoined, \u201cYour\narrows may strike all things else, Apollo, but mine shall strike you.\u201d\nSo saying, he took his stand on a rock of Parnassus, and drew from his\nquiver two arrows of different workmanship, one to excite love, the\nother to repel it. The former was of gold and sharp pointed, the latter\nblunt and tipped with lead. With the leaden shaft he struck the nymph\nDaphne, the daughter of the river god Peneus, and with the golden one\nApollo, through the heart. Forthwith the god was seized with love for\nthe maiden, and she abhorred the thought of loving. Her delight was in\nwoodland sports and in the spoils of the chase. Many lovers sought her,\nbut she spurned them all, ranging the woods, and taking no thought of\nCupid nor of Hymen. Her father often said to her, \u201cDaughter, you owe me\na son-in-law; you owe me grandchildren.\u201d She, hating the thought of\nmarriage as a crime, with her beautiful face tinged all over with\nblushes, threw her arms around her father\u2019s neck, and said, \u201cDearest\nfather, grant me this favor, that I may always remain unmarried, like\nDiana.\u201d He consented, but at the same time said, \u201cYour own face will\nforbid it.\u201d\n\nApollo loved her, and longed to obtain her; and he who gives oracles to\nall the world was not wise enough to look into his own fortunes. He saw\nher hair flung loose over her shoulders, and said, \u201cIf so charming in\ndisorder, what would it be if arranged?\u201d He saw her eyes bright as\nstars; he saw her lips, and was not satisfied with only seeing them. He\nadmired her hands and arms, naked to the shoulder, and whatever was\nhidden from view he imagined more beautiful still. He followed her; she\nfled, swifter than the wind, and delayed not a moment at his entreaties.\n\u201cStay,\u201d said he, \u201cdaughter of Peneus; I am not a foe. Do not fly me as a\nlamb flies the wolf, or a dove the hawk. It is for love I pursue you.\nYou make me miserable, for fear you should fall and hurt yourself on\nthese stones, and I should be the cause. Pray run slower, and I will\nfollow slower. I am no clown, no rude peasant. Jupiter is my father, and\nI am lord of Delphos and Tenedos, and know all things, present and\nfuture. I am the god of song and the lyre. My arrows fly true to the\nmark; but, alas! an arrow more fatal than mine has pierced my heart! I\nam the god of medicine, and know the virtues of all healing plants.\nAlas! I suffer a malady that no balm can cure!\u201d\n\nThe nymph continued her flight, and left his plea half uttered. And even\nas she fled she charmed him. The wind blew her garments, and her unbound\nhair streamed loose behind her. The god grew impatient to find his\nwooings thrown away, and, sped by Cupid, gained upon her in the race. It\nwas like a hound pursuing a hare, with open jaws ready to seize, while\nthe feebler animal darts forward, slipping from the very grasp. So flew\nthe god and the virgin\u2014he on the wings of love, and she on those of\nfear. The pursuer is the more rapid, however, and gains upon her, and\nhis panting breath blows upon her hair. Her strength begins to fail,\nand, ready to sink, she calls upon her father, the river god: \u201cHelp me,\nPeneus! open the earth to enclose me, or change my form, which has\nbrought me into this danger!\u201d Scarcely had she spoken, when a stiffness\nseized all her limbs; her bosom began to be enclosed in a tender bark;\nher hair became leaves; her arms became branches; her foot stuck fast in\nthe ground, as a root; her face became a tree-top, retaining nothing of\nits former self but its beauty. Apollo stood amazed. He touched the\nstem, and felt the flesh tremble under the new bark. He embraced the\nbranches, and lavished kisses on the wood. The branches shrank from his\nlips. \u201cSince you cannot be my wife,\u201d said he, \u201cyou shall assuredly be my\ntree. I will wear you for my crown; I will decorate with you my harp and\nmy quiver; and when the great Roman conquerors lead up the triumphal\npomp to the Capitol, you shall be woven into wreaths for their brows.\nAnd, as eternal youth is mine, you also shall be always green, and your\nleaf know no decay.\u201d The nymph, now changed into a Laurel tree, bowed\nits head in grateful acknowledgment.\n\n\n\nThat Apollo should be the god both of music and poetry will not appear\nstrange, but that medicine should also be assigned to his province, may.\nThe poet Armstrong, himself a physician, thus accounts for it:\n\n \u201cMusic exalts each joy, allays each grief,\n Expels diseases, softens every pain;\n And hence the wise of ancient days adored\n One power of physic, melody, and song.\u201d\n\nThe story of Apollo and Daphne is often alluded to by the poets. Waller\napplies it to the case of one whose amatory verses, though they did not\nsoften the heart of his mistress, yet won for the poet wide-spread fame:\n\n \u201cYet what he sung in his immortal strain,\n Though unsuccessful, was not sung in vain.\n All but the nymph that should redress his wrong,\n Attend his passion and approve his song.\n Like Ph\u0153bus thus, acquiring unsought praise,\n He caught at love and filled his arms with bays.\u201d\n\nThe following stanza from Shelley\u2019s \u201cAdonais\u201d alludes to Byron\u2019s early\nquarrel with the reviewers:\n\n \u201cThe herded wolves, bold only to pursue;\n The obscene ravens, clamorous o\u2019er the dead;\n The vultures, to the conqueror\u2019s banner true,\n Who feed where Desolation first has fed,\n And whose wings rain contagion: how they fled,\n When like Apollo, from his golden bow,\n The Pythian of the age one arrow sped\n And smiled! The spoilers tempt no second blow;\n They fawn on the proud feet that spurn them as they go.\u201d\n\n PYRAMUS AND THISBE\n\nPyramus was the handsomest youth, and Thisbe the fairest maiden, in all\nBabylonia, where Semiramis reigned. Their parents occupied adjoining\nhouses; and neighborhood brought the young people together, and\nacquaintance ripened into love. They would gladly have married, but\ntheir parents forbade. One thing, however, they could not forbid\u2014that\nlove should glow with equal ardor in the bosoms of both. They conversed\nby signs and glances, and the fire burned more intensely for being\ncovered up. In the wall that parted the two houses there was a crack,\ncaused by some fault in the structure. No one had remarked it before,\nbut the lovers discovered it. What will not love discover! It afforded a\npassage to the voice; and tender messages used to pass backward and\nforward through the gap. As they stood, Pyramus on this side, Thisbe on\nthat, their breaths would mingle. \u201cCruel wall,\u201d they said, \u201cwhy do you\nkeep two lovers apart? But we will not be ungrateful. We owe you, we\nconfess, the privilege of transmitting loving words to willing ears.\u201d\nSuch words they uttered on different sides of the wall; and when night\ncame and they must say farewell, they pressed their lips upon the wall,\nshe on her side, he on his, as they could come no nearer.\n\nNext morning, when Aurora had put out the stars, and the sun had melted\nthe frost from the grass, they met at the accustomed spot. Then, after\nlamenting their hard fate, they agreed that next night, when all was\nstill, they would slip away from watchful eyes, leave their dwellings\nand walk out into the fields; and to insure a meeting, repair to a\nwell-known edifice standing without the city\u2019s bounds, called the Tomb\nof Ninus, and that the one who came first should await the other at the\nfoot of a certain tree. It was a white mulberry tree, and stood near a\ncool spring. All was agreed on, and they waited impatiently for the sun\nto go down beneath the waters and night to rise up from them. Then\ncautiously Thisbe stole forth, unobserved by the family, her head\ncovered with a veil, made her way to the monument and sat down under the\ntree. As she sat alone in the dim light of the evening she descried a\nlioness, her jaws reeking with recent slaughter, approaching the\nfountain to slake her thirst. Thisbe fled at the sight, and sought\nrefuge in the hollow of a rock. As she fled she dropped her veil. The\nlioness after drinking at the spring turned to retreat to the woods, and\nseeing the veil on the ground, tossed and rent it with her bloody mouth.\n\nPyramus, having been delayed, now approached the place of meeting. He\nsaw in the sand the footsteps of the lion, and the color fled from his\ncheeks at the sight. Presently he found the veil all rent and bloody. \u201cO\nhapless girl,\u201d said he, \u201cI have been the cause of thy death! Thou, more\nworthy of life than I, hast fallen the first victim. I will follow. I am\nthe guilty cause, in tempting thee forth to a place of such peril, and\nnot being myself on the spot to guard thee. Come forth, ye lions, from\nthe rocks, and tear this guilty body with your teeth.\u201d He took up the\nveil, carried it with him to the appointed tree, and covered it with\nkisses and with tears. \u201c_My_ blood also shall stain your texture,\u201d said\nhe, and drawing his sword plunged it into his heart. The blood spurted\nfrom the wound, and tinged the white mulberries of the tree all red; and\nsinking into the earth reached the roots, so that the red color mounted\nthrough the trunk to the fruit.\n\nBy this time Thisbe, still trembling with fear, yet wishing not to\ndisappoint her lover, stepped cautiously forth, looking anxiously for\nthe youth, eager to tell him the danger she had escaped. When she came\nto the spot and saw the changed color of the mulberries she doubted\nwhether it was the same place. While she hesitated she saw the form of\none struggling in the agonies of death. She started back, a shudder ran\nthrough her frame as a ripple on the face of the still water when a\nsudden breeze sweeps over it. But as soon as she recognized her lover,\nshe screamed and beat her breast, embracing the lifeless body, pouring\ntears into its wounds, and imprinting kisses on the cold lips. \u201cO\nPyramus,\u201d she cried, \u201cwhat has done this? Answer me, Pyramus; it is your\nown Thisbe that speaks. Hear me, dearest, and lift that drooping head!\u201d\nAt the name of Thisbe Pyramus opened his eyes, then closed them again.\nShe saw her veil stained with blood and the scabbard empty of its sword.\n\u201cThy own hand has slain thee, and for my sake,\u201d she said. \u201cI too can be\nbrave for once, and my love is as strong as thine. I will follow thee in\ndeath, for I have been the cause; and death which alone could part us\nshall not prevent my joining thee. And ye, unhappy parents of us both,\ndeny us not our united request. As love and death have joined us, let\none tomb contain us. And thou, tree, retain the marks of slaughter. Let\nthy berries still serve for memorials of our blood.\u201d So saying she\nplunged the sword into her breast. Her parents ratified her wish, the\ngods also ratified it. The two bodies were buried in one sepulchre, and\nthe tree ever after brought forth purple berries, as it does to this\nday.\n\n\n\nMoore, in the \u201cSylph\u2019s Ball,\u201d speaking of Davy\u2019s Safety Lamp, is\nreminded of the wall that separated Thisbe and her lover:\n\n \u201cO for that Lamp\u2019s metallic gauze,\n That curtain of protecting wire,\n Which Davy delicately draws\n Around illicit, dangerous fire!\n\n The wall he sets \u2019twixt Flame and Air,\n (Like that which barred young Thisbe\u2019s bliss,)\n Through whose small holes this dangerous pair\n May see each other, but not kiss.\u201d\n\nIn Mickle\u2019s translation of the \u201cLusiad\u201d occurs the following allusion to\nthe story of Pyramus and Thisbe, and the metamorphosis of the\nmulberries. The poet is describing the Island of Love:\n\n \u201c. . . here each gift Pomona\u2019s hand bestows\n In cultured garden, free uncultured flows,\n The flavor sweeter and the hue more fair\n Than e\u2019er was fostered by the hand of care.\n The cherry here in shining crimson glows,\n And stained with lovers\u2019 blood, in pendent rows,\n The mulberries o\u2019erload the bending boughs.\u201d\n\nIf any of our young readers can be so hard-hearted as to enjoy a laugh\nat the expense of poor Pyramus and Thisbe, they may find an opportunity\nby turning to Shakspeare\u2019s play of the \u201cMidsummer Night\u2019s Dream,\u201d where\nit is most amusingly burlesqued.\n\n CEPHALUS AND PROCRIS\n\nCephalus was a beautiful youth and fond of manly sports. He would rise\nbefore the dawn to pursue the chase. Aurora saw him when she first\nlooked forth, fell in love with him, and stole him away. But Cephalus\nwas just married to a charming wife whom he devotedly loved. Her name\nwas Procris. She was a favorite of Diana, the goddess of hunting, who\nhad given her a dog which could outrun every rival, and a javelin which\nwould never fail of its mark; and Procris gave these presents to her\nhusband. Cephalus was so happy in his wife that he resisted all the\nentreaties of Aurora, and she finally dismissed him in displeasure,\nsaying, \u201cGo, ungrateful mortal, keep your wife, whom, if I am not much\nmistaken, you will one day be very sorry you ever saw again.\u201d\n\nCephalus returned, and was as happy as ever in his wife and his woodland\nsports. Now it happened some angry deity had sent a ravenous fox to\nannoy the country; and the hunters turned out in great strength to\ncapture it. Their efforts were all in vain; no dog could run it down;\nand at last they came to Cephalus to borrow his famous dog, whose name\nwas Lelaps. No sooner was the dog let loose than he darted off, quicker\nthan their eye could follow him. If they had not seen his footprints in\nthe sand they would have thought he flew. Cephalus and others stood on a\nhill and saw the race. The fox tried every art; he ran in a circle and\nturned on his track, the dog close upon him, with open jaws, snapping at\nhis heels, but biting only the air. Cephalus was about to use his\njavelin, when suddenly he saw both dog and game stop instantly. The\nheavenly powers who had given both were not willing that either should\nconquer. In the very attitude of life and action they were turned into\nstone. So lifelike and natural did they look, you would have thought, as\nyou looked at them, that one was going to bark, the other to leap\nforward.\n\nCephalus, though he had lost his dog, still continued to take delight in\nthe chase. He would go out at early morning, ranging the woods and hills\nunaccompanied by any one, needing no help, for his javelin was a sure\nweapon in all cases. Fatigued with hunting, when the sun got high he\nwould seek a shady nook where a cool stream flowed, and, stretched on\nthe grass, with his garments thrown aside, would enjoy the breeze.\nSometimes he would say aloud, \u201cCome, sweet breeze, come and fan my\nbreast, come and allay the heat that burns me.\u201d Some one passing by one\nday heard him talking in this way to the air, and, foolishly believing\nthat he was talking to some maiden, went and told the secret to Procris,\nCephalus\u2019s wife. Love is credulous. Procris, at the sudden shock,\nfainted away. Presently recovering, she said, \u201cIt cannot be true; I will\nnot believe it unless I myself am a witness to it.\u201d So she waited, with\nanxious heart, till the next morning, when Cephalus went to hunt as\nusual. Then she stole out after him, and concealed herself in the place\nwhere the informer directed her. Cephalus came as he was wont when tired\nwith sport, and stretched himself on the green bank, saying, \u201cCome,\nsweet breeze, come and fan me; you know how I love you! you make the\ngroves and my solitary rambles delightful.\u201d He was running on in this\nway when he heard, or thought he heard, a sound as of a sob in the\nbushes. Supposing it some wild animal, he threw his javelin at the spot.\nA cry from his beloved Procris told him that the weapon had too surely\nmet its mark. He rushed to the place, and found her bleeding, and with\nsinking strength endeavoring to draw forth from the wound the javelin,\nher own gift. Cephalus raised her from the earth, strove to stanch the\nblood, and called her to revive and not to leave him miserable, to\nreproach himself with her death. She opened her feeble eyes, and forced\nherself to utter these few words: \u201cI implore you, if you have ever loved\nme, if I have ever deserved kindness at your hands, my husband, grant me\nthis last request; do not marry that odious Breeze!\u201d This disclosed the\nwhole mystery: but alas! what advantage to disclose it now! She died;\nbut her face wore a calm expression, and she looked pityingly and\nforgivingly on her husband when he made her understand the truth.\n\n\n\nMoore, in his \u201cLegendary Ballads,\u201d has one on Cephalus and Procris,\nbeginning thus:\n\n \u201cA hunter once in a grove reclined,\n To shun the noon\u2019s bright eye,\n And oft he wooed the wandering wind\n To cool his brow with its sigh.\n While mute lay even the wild bee\u2019s hum,\n Nor breath could stir the aspen\u2019s hair,\n His song was still, \u2018Sweet Air, O come!\u2019\n While Echo answered, \u2018Come, sweet Air!\u2019\u201d\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER IV\n\n JUNO AND HER RIVALS, IO AND CALLISTO\u2014DIANA AND ACT\u00c6ON\u2014LATONA AND THE\n RUSTICS\n\nJUNO one day perceived it suddenly grow dark, and immediately suspected\nthat her husband had raised a cloud to hide some of his doings that\nwould not bear the light. She brushed away the cloud, and saw her\nhusband on the banks of a glassy river, with a beautiful heifer standing\nnear him. Juno suspected the heifer\u2019s form concealed some fair nymph of\nmortal mould\u2014as was, indeed the case; for it was Io, the daughter of\nthe river god Inachus, whom Jupiter had been flirting with, and, when he\nbecame aware of the approach of his wife, had changed into that form.\n\nJuno joined her husband, and noticing the heifer praised its beauty, and\nasked whose it was, and of what herd. Jupiter, to stop questions,\nreplied that it was a fresh creation from the earth. Juno asked to have\nit as a gift. What could Jupiter do? He was loath to give his mistress\nto his wife; yet how refuse so trifling a present as a simple heifer? He\ncould not, without exciting suspicion; so he consented. The goddess was\nnot yet relieved of her suspicions; so she delivered the heifer to\nArgus, to be strictly watched.\n\nNow Argus had a hundred eyes in his head, and never went to sleep with\nmore than two at a time, so that he kept watch of Io constantly. He\nsuffered her to feed through the day, and at night tied her up with a\nvile rope round her neck. She would have stretched out her arms to\nimplore freedom of Argus, but she had no arms to stretch out, and her\nvoice was a bellow that frightened even herself. She saw her father and\nher sisters, went near them, and suffered them to pat her back, and\nheard them admire her beauty. Her father reached her a tuft of grass,\nand she licked the outstretched hand. She longed to make herself known\nto him, and would have uttered her wish; but, alas! words were wanting.\nAt length she bethought herself of writing, and inscribed her name\u2014it\nwas a short one\u2014with her hoof on the sand. Inachus recognized it, and\ndiscovering that his daughter, whom he had long sought in vain, was\nhidden under this disguise, mourned over her, and, embracing her white\nneck, exclaimed, \u201cAlas! my daughter, it would have been a less grief to\nhave lost you altogether!\u201d While he thus lamented, Argus, observing,\ncame and drove her away, and took his seat on a high bank, from whence\nhe could see all around in every direction.\n\nJupiter was troubled at beholding the sufferings of his mistress, and\ncalling Mercury told him to go and despatch Argus. Mercury made haste,\nput his winged slippers on his feet, and cap on his head, took his\nsleep-producing wand, and leaped down from the heavenly towers to the\nearth. There he laid aside his wings, and kept only his wand, with which\nhe presented himself as a shepherd driving his flock. As he strolled on\nhe blew upon his pipes. These were what are called the Syrinx or Pandean\npipes. Argus listened with delight, for he had never seen the instrument\nbefore. \u201cYoung man,\u201d said he, \u201ccome and take a seat by me on this stone.\nThere is no better place for your flocks to graze in than hereabouts,\nand here is a pleasant shade such as shepherds love.\u201d Mercury sat down,\ntalked, and told stories till it grew late, and played upon his pipes\nhis most soothing strains, hoping to lull the watchful eyes to sleep,\nbut all in vain; for Argus still contrived to keep some of his eyes open\nthough he shut the rest.\n\nAmong other stories, Mercury told him how the instrument on which he\nplayed was invented. \u201cThere was a certain nymph, whose name was Syrinx,\nwho was much beloved by the satyrs and spirits of the wood; but she\nwould have none of them, but was a faithful worshipper of Diana, and\nfollowed the chase. You would have thought it was Diana herself, had you\nseen her in her hunting dress, only that her bow was of horn and Diana\u2019s\nof silver. One day, as she was returning from the chase, Pan met her,\ntold her just this, and added more of the same sort. She ran away,\nwithout stopping to hear his compliments, and he pursued till she came\nto the bank of the river, where he overtook her, and she had only time\nto call for help on her friends the water nymphs. They heard and\nconsented. Pan threw his arms around what he supposed to be the form of\nthe nymph, and found he embraced only a tuft of reeds! As he breathed a\nsigh, the air sounded through the reeds, and produced a plaintive\nmelody. The god, charmed with the novelty and with the sweetness of the\nmusic, said, \u2018Thus, then, at least, you shall be mine.\u2019 And he took some\nof the reeds, and placing them together, of unequal lengths, side by\nside, made an instrument which he called Syrinx, in honor of the nymph.\u201d\nBefore Mercury had finished his story he saw Argus\u2019s eyes all asleep. As\nhis head nodded forward on his breast, Mercury with one stroke cut his\nneck through, and tumbled his head down the rocks. O hapless Argus! the\nlight of your hundred eyes is quenched at once! Juno took them and put\nthem as ornaments on the tail of her peacock, where they remain to this\nday.\n\nBut the vengeance of Juno was not yet satiated. She sent a gadfly to\ntorment Io, who fled over the whole world from its pursuit. She swam\nthrough the Ionian sea, which derived its name from her, then roamed\nover the plains of Illyria, ascended Mount H\u00e6mus, and crossed the\nThracian strait, thence named the Bosphorus (cow-ford), rambled on\nthrough Scythia, and the country of the Cimmerians, and arrived at last\non the banks of the Nile. At length Jupiter interceded for her, and upon\nhis promising not to pay her any more attentions Juno consented to\nrestore her to her form. It was curious to see her gradually recover her\nformer self. The coarse hairs fell from her body, her horns shrank up,\nher eyes grew narrower, her mouth shorter; hands and fingers came\ninstead of hoofs to her forefeet; in fine there was nothing left of the\nheifer, except her beauty. At first she was afraid to speak, for fear\nshe should low, but gradually she recovered her confidence and was\nrestored to her father and sisters.\n\n\n\nIn a poem dedicated to Leigh Hunt, by Keats, the following allusion to\nthe story of Pan and Syrinx occurs:\n\n \u201cSo did he feel who pulled the bough aside,\n That we might look into a forest wide,\n . . . . . . .\n Telling us how fair trembling Syrinx fled\n Arcadian Pan, with such a fearful dread.\n Poor nymph\u2014poor Pan\u2014how he did weep to find\n Nought but a lovely sighing of the wind\n Along the reedy stream; a half-heard strain,\n Full of sweet desolation, balmy pain.\u201d\n\n CALLISTO\n\nCallisto was another maiden who excited the jealousy of Juno, and the\ngoddess changed her into a bear. \u201cI will take away,\u201d said she, \u201cthat\nbeauty with which you have captivated my husband.\u201d Down fell Callisto on\nher hands and knees; she tried to stretch out her arms in\nsupplication\u2014they were already beginning to be covered with black hair.\nHer hands grew rounded, became armed with crooked claws, and served for\nfeet; her mouth, which Jove used to praise for its beauty, became a\nhorrid pair of jaws; her voice, which if unchanged would have moved the\nheart to pity, became a growl, more fit to inspire terror. Yet her\nformer disposition remained, and with continual groaning, she bemoaned\nher fate, and stood upright as well as she could, lifting up her paws to\nbeg for mercy, and felt that Jove was unkind, though she could not tell\nhim so. Ah, how often, afraid to stay in the woods all night alone, she\nwandered about the neighborhood of her former haunts; how often,\nfrightened by the dogs, did she, so lately a huntress, fly in terror\nfrom the hunters! Often she fled from the wild beasts, forgetting that\nshe was now a wild beast herself; and, bear as she was, was afraid of\nthe bears.\n\nOne day a youth espied her as he was hunting. She saw him and recognized\nhim as her own son, now grown a young man. She stopped and felt inclined\nto embrace him. As she was about to approach, he, alarmed, raised his\nhunting spear, and was on the point of transfixing her, when Jupiter,\nbeholding, arrested the crime, and snatching away both of them, placed\nthem in the heavens as the Great and Little Bear.\n\nJuno was in a rage to see her rival so set in honor, and hastened to\nancient Tethys and Oceanus, the powers of ocean, and in answer to their\ninquiries thus told the cause of her coming: \u201cDo you ask why I, the\nqueen of the gods, have left the heavenly plains and sought your depths?\nLearn that I am supplanted in heaven\u2014my place is given to another. You\nwill hardly believe me; but look when night darkens the world, and you\nshall see the two of whom I have so much reason to complain exalted to\nthe heavens, in that part where the circle is the smallest, in the\nneighborhood of the pole. Why should any one hereafter tremble at the\nthought of offending Juno, when such rewards are the consequence of my\ndispleasure? See what I have been able to effect! I forbade her to wear\nthe human form\u2014she is placed among the stars! So do my punishments\nresult\u2014such is the extent of my power! Better that she should have\nresumed her former shape, as I permitted Io to do. Perhaps he means to\nmarry her, and put me away! But you, my foster-parents, if you feel for\nme, and see with displeasure this unworthy treatment of me, show it, I\nbeseech you, by forbidding this guilty couple from coming into your\nwaters.\u201d The powers of the ocean assented, and consequently the two\nconstellations of the Great and Little Bear move round and round in\nheaven, but never sink, as the other stars do, beneath the ocean.\n\n\n\nMilton alludes to the fact that the constellation of the Bear never\nsets, when he says:\n\n \u201cLet my lamp at midnight hour\n Be seen in some high lonely tower,\n Where I may oft outwatch the Bear,\u201d etc.\n\nAnd Prometheus, in J. R. Lowell\u2019s poem, says:\n\n \u201cOne after one the stars have risen and set,\n Sparkling upon the hoar frost of my chain;\n The Bear that prowled all night about the fold\n Of the North-star, hath shrunk into his den,\n Scared by the blithesome footsteps of the Dawn.\u201d\n\nThe last star in the tail of the Little Bear is the Pole-star, called\nalso the Cynosure. Milton says:\n\n \u201cStraight mine eye hath caught new pleasures\n While the landscape round it measures.\n . . . . . . .\n Towers and battlements it sees\n Bosomed high in tufted trees,\n Where perhaps some beauty lies\n The Cynosure of neighboring eyes.\u201d\n\nThe reference here is both to the Pole-star as the guide of mariners,\nand to the magnetic attraction of the North. He calls it also the \u201cStar\nof Arcady,\u201d because Callisto\u2019s boy was named Arcas, and they lived in\nArcadia. In \u201cComus,\u201d the brother, benighted in the woods, says:\n\n \u201c. . . Some gentle taper!\n Though a rush candle, from the wicker hole\n Of some clay habitation, visit us\n With thy long levelled rule of streaming light,\n And thou shalt be our star of Arcady,\n Or Tyrian Cynosure.\u201d\n\n DIANA AND ACT\u00c6ON\n\nThus in two instances we have seen Juno\u2019s severity to her rivals; now\nlet us learn how a virgin goddess punished an invader of her privacy.\n\nIt was midday, and the sun stood equally distant from either goal, when\nyoung Act\u00e6on, son of King Cadmus, thus addressed the youths who with him\nwere hunting the stag in the mountains:\n\n\u201cFriends, our nets and our weapons are wet with the blood of our\nvictims; we have had sport enough for one day, and to-morrow we can\nrenew our labors. Now, while Ph\u0153bus parches the earth, let us put by our\nimplements and indulge ourselves with rest.\u201d\n\nThere was a valley thick enclosed with cypresses and pines, sacred to\nthe huntress queen, Diana. In the extremity of the valley was a cave,\nnot adorned with art, but nature had counterfeited art in its\nconstruction, for she had turned the arch of its roof with stones as\ndelicately fitted as if by the hand of man. A fountain burst out from\none side, whose open basin was bounded by a grassy rim. Here the goddess\nof the woods used to come when weary with hunting and lave her virgin\nlimbs in the sparkling water.\n\nOne day, having repaired thither with her nymphs, she handed her\njavelin, her quiver, and her bow to one, her robe to another, while a\nthird unbound the sandals from her feet. Then Crocale, the most skilful\nof them, arranged her hair, and Nephele, Hyale, and the rest drew water\nin capacious urns. While the goddess was thus employed in the labors of\nthe toilet, behold Act\u00e6on, having quitted his companions, and rambling\nwithout any especial object, came to the place, led thither by his\ndestiny. As he presented himself at the entrance of the cave, the\nnymphs, seeing a man, screamed and rushed towards the goddess to hide\nher with their bodies. But she was taller than the rest and overtopped\nthem all by a head. Such a color as tinges the clouds at sunset or at\ndawn came over the countenance of Diana thus taken by surprise.\nSurrounded as she was by her nymphs, she yet turned half away, and\nsought with a sudden impulse for her arrows. As they were not at hand,\nshe dashed the water into the face of the intruder, adding these words:\n\u201cNow go and tell, if you can, that you have seen Diana unapparelled.\u201d\nImmediately a pair of branching stag\u2019s horns grew out of his head, his\nneck gained in length, his ears grew sharp-pointed, his hands became\nfeet, his arms long legs, his body was covered with a hairy spotted\nhide. Fear took the place of his former boldness, and the hero fled. He\ncould not but admire his own speed; but when he saw his horns in the\nwater, \u201cAh, wretched me!\u201d he would have said, but no sound followed the\neffort. He groaned, and tears flowed down the face which had taken the\nplace of his own. Yet his consciousness remained. What shall he do?\u2014go\nhome to seek the palace, or lie hid in the woods? The latter he was\nafraid, the former he was ashamed, to do. While he hesitated the dogs\nsaw him. First Melampus, a Spartan dog, gave the signal with his bark,\nthen Pamphagus, Dorceus, Lelaps, Theron, Nape, Tigris, and all the rest,\nrushed after him swifter than the wind. Over rocks and cliffs, through\nmountain gorges that seemed impracticable, he fled and they followed.\nWhere he had often chased the stag and cheered on his pack, his pack now\nchased him, cheered on by his huntsmen. He longed to cry out, \u201cI am\nAct\u00e6on; recognize your master!\u201d but the words came not at his will. The\nair resounded with the bark of the dogs. Presently one fastened on his\nback, another seized his shoulder. While they held their master, the\nrest of the pack came up and buried their teeth in his flesh. He\ngroaned,\u2014not in a human voice, yet certainly not in a stag\u2019s,\u2014and\nfalling on his knees, raised his eyes, and would have raised his arms in\nsupplication, if he had had them. His friends and fellow-huntsmen\ncheered on the dogs, and looked everywhere for Act\u00e6on, calling on him to\njoin the sport. At the sound of his name he turned his head, and heard\nthem regret that he should be away. He earnestly wished he was. He would\nhave been well pleased to see the exploits of his dogs, but to feel them\nwas too much. They were all around him, rending and tearing; and it was\nnot till they had torn his life out that the anger of Diana was\nsatisfied.\n\n\n\nIn Shelley\u2019s poem \u201cAdonais\u201d is the following allusion to the story of\nAct\u00e6on:\n\n \u201c\u2019Midst others of less note came one frail form,\n A phantom among men: companionless\n As the last cloud of an expiring storm,\n Whose thunder is its knell; he, as I guess,\n Had gazed on Nature\u2019s naked loveliness,\n Act\u00e6on-like, and now he fled astray\n With feeble steps o\u2019er the world\u2019s wilderness;\n And his own Thoughts, along that rugged way,\n Pursued like raging hounds their father and their prey.\u201d\n Stanza 31.\n\nThe allusion is probably to Shelley himself.\n\n LATONA AND THE RUSTICS\n\nSome thought the goddess in this instance more severe than was just,\nwhile others praised her conduct as strictly consistent with her virgin\ndignity. As usual, the recent event brought older ones to mind, and one\nof the bystanders told this story: \u201cSome countrymen of Lycia once\ninsulted the goddess Latona, but not with impunity. When I was young, my\nfather, who had grown too old for active labors, sent me to Lycia to\ndrive thence some choice oxen, and there I saw the very pond and marsh\nwhere the wonder happened. Near by stood an ancient altar, black with\nthe smoke of sacrifice and almost buried among the reeds. I inquired\nwhose altar it might be, whether of Faunus or the Naiads, or some god of\nthe neighboring mountain, and one of the country people replied, \u2018No\nmountain or river god possesses this altar, but she whom royal Juno in\nher jealousy drove from land to land, denying her any spot of earth\nwhereon to rear her twins.\u2019 Bearing in her arms the infant deities,\nLatona reached this land, weary with her burden and parched with thirst.\nBy chance she espied on the bottom of the valley this pond of clear\nwater, where the country people were at work gathering willows and\nosiers. The goddess approached, and kneeling on the bank would have\nslaked her thirst in the cool stream, but the rustics forbade her. \u2018Why\ndo you refuse me water?\u2019 said she; \u2018water is free to all. Nature allows\nno one to claim as property the sunshine, the air, or the water. I come\nto take my share of the common blessing. Yet I ask it of you as a favor.\nI have no intention of washing my limbs in it, weary though they be, but\nonly to quench my thirst. My mouth is so dry that I can hardly speak. A\ndraught of water would be nectar to me; it would revive me, and I would\nown myself indebted to you for life itself. Let these infants move your\npity, who stretch out their little arms as if to plead for me;\u2019 and the\nchildren, as it happened, were stretching out their arms.\n\n\u201cWho would not have been moved with these gentle words of the goddess?\nBut these clowns persisted in their rudeness; they even added jeers and\nthreats of violence if she did not leave the place. Nor was this all.\nThey waded into the pond and stirred up the mud with their feet, so as\nto make the water unfit to drink. Latona was so angry that she ceased to\nmind her thirst. She no longer supplicated the clowns, but lifting her\nhands to heaven exclaimed, \u2018May they never quit that pool, but pass\ntheir lives there!\u2019 And it came to pass accordingly. They now live in\nthe water, sometimes totally submerged, then raising their heads above\nthe surface or swimming upon it. Sometimes they come out upon the bank,\nbut soon leap back again into the water. They still use their base\nvoices in railing, and though they have the water all to themselves, are\nnot ashamed to croak in the midst of it. Their voices are harsh, their\nthroats bloated, their mouths have become stretched by constant railing,\ntheir necks have shrunk up and disappeared, and their heads are joined\nto their bodies. Their backs are green, their disproportioned bellies\nwhite, and in short they are now frogs, and dwell in the slimy pool.\u201d\n\n\n\nThis story explains the allusion in one of Milton\u2019s sonnets, \u201cOn the\ndetraction which followed upon his writing certain treatises.\u201d\n\n \u201cI did but prompt the age to quit their clogs\n By the known laws of ancient liberty,\n When straight a barbarous noise environs me\n Of owls and cuckoos, asses, apes and dogs.\n As when those hinds that were transformed to frogs\n Railed at Latona\u2019s twin-born progeny,\n Which after held the sun and moon in fee.\u201d\n\nThe persecution which Latona experienced from Juno is alluded to in the\nstory. The tradition was that the future mother of Apollo and Diana,\nflying from the wrath of Juno, besought all the islands of the \u00c6gean to\nafford her a place of rest, but all feared too much the potent queen of\nheaven to assist her rival. Delos alone consented to become the\nbirthplace of the future deities. Delos was then a floating island; but\nwhen Latona arrived there, Jupiter fastened it with adamantine chains to\nthe bottom of the sea, that it might be a secure resting-place for his\nbeloved. Byron alludes to Delos in his \u201cDon Juan\u201d:\n\n \u201cThe isles of Greece! the isles of Greece!\n Where burning Sappho loved and sung,\n Where grew the arts of war and peace,\n Where Delos rose and Ph\u0153bus sprung!\u201d\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER V\n\n PHA\u00cbTON\n\nPHA\u00cbTON was the son of Apollo and the nymph Clymene. One day a\nschoolfellow laughed at the idea of his being the son of the god, and\nPha\u00ebton went in rage and shame and reported it to his mother. \u201cIf,\u201d said\nhe, \u201cI am indeed of heavenly birth, give me, mother, some proof of it,\nand establish my claim to the honor.\u201d Clymene stretched forth her hands\ntowards the skies, and said, \u201cI call to witness the Sun which looks down\nupon us, that I have told you the truth. If I speak falsely, let this be\nthe last time I behold his light. But it needs not much labor to go and\ninquire for yourself; the land whence the Sun rises lies next to ours.\nGo and demand of him whether he will own you as a son.\u201d Pha\u00ebton heard\nwith delight. He travelled to India, which lies directly in the regions\nof sunrise; and, full of hope and pride, approached the goal whence his\nparent begins his course.\n\nThe palace of the Sun stood reared aloft on columns, glittering with\ngold and precious stones, while polished ivory formed the ceilings, and\nsilver the doors. The workmanship surpassed the material;[7] for upon\nthe walls Vulcan had represented earth, sea, and skies, with their\ninhabitants. In the sea were the nymphs, some sporting in the waves,\nsome riding on the backs of fishes, while others sat upon the rocks and\ndried their sea-green hair. Their faces were not all alike, nor yet\nunlike,\u2014but such as sisters\u2019 ought to be.[8] The earth had its towns\nand forests and rivers and rustic divinities. Over all was carved the\nlikeness of the glorious heaven; and on the silver doors the twelve\nsigns of the zodiac, six on each side.\n\nClymene\u2019s son advanced up the steep ascent, and entered the halls of his\ndisputed father. He approached the paternal presence, but stopped at a\ndistance, for the light was more than he could bear. Ph\u0153bus, arrayed in\na purple vesture, sat on a throne, which glittered as with diamonds. On\nhis right hand and his left stood the Day, the Month, and the Year, and,\nat regular intervals, the Hours. Spring stood with her head crowned with\nflowers, and Summer, with garment cast aside, and a garland formed of\nspears of ripened grain, and Autumn, with his feet stained with\ngrape-juice, and icy Winter, with his hair stiffened with hoar frost.\nSurrounded by these attendants, the Sun, with the eye that sees\neverything, beheld the youth dazzled with the novelty and splendor of\nthe scene, and inquired the purpose of his errand. The youth replied, \u201cO\nlight of the boundless world, Ph\u0153bus, my father,\u2014if you permit me to\nuse that name,\u2014give me some proof, I beseech you, by which I may be\nknown as yours.\u201d He ceased; and his father, laying aside the beams that\nshone all around his head, bade him approach, and embracing him, said,\n\u201cMy son, you deserve not to be disowned, and I confirm what your mother\nhas told you. To put an end to your doubts, ask what you will, the gift\nshall be yours. I call to witness that dreadful lake, which I never saw,\nbut which we gods swear by in our most solemn engagements.\u201d Pha\u00ebton\nimmediately asked to be permitted for one day to drive the chariot of\nthe sun. The father repented of his promise; thrice and four times he\nshook his radiant head in warning. \u201cI have spoken rashly,\u201d said he;\n\u201cthis only request I would fain deny. I beg you to withdraw it. It is\nnot a safe boon, nor one, my Pha\u00ebton, suited to your youth and strength.\nYour lot is mortal, and you ask what is beyond a mortal\u2019s power. In your\nignorance you aspire to do that which not even the gods themselves may\ndo. None but myself may drive the flaming car of day. Not even Jupiter,\nwhose terrible right arm hurls the thunderbolts. The first part of the\nway is steep, and such as the horses when fresh in the morning can\nhardly climb; the middle is high up in the heavens, whence I myself can\nscarcely, without alarm, look down and behold the earth and sea\nstretched beneath me. The last part of the road descends rapidly, and\nrequires most careful driving. Tethys, who is waiting to receive me,\noften trembles for me lest I should fall headlong. Add to all this, the\nheaven is all the time turning round and carrying the stars with it. I\nhave to be perpetually on my guard lest that movement, which sweeps\neverything else along, should hurry me also away. Suppose I should lend\nyou the chariot, what would you do? Could you keep your course while the\nsphere was revolving under you? Perhaps you think that there are forests\nand cities, the abodes of gods, and palaces and temples on the way. On\nthe contrary, the road is through the midst of frightful monsters. You\npass by the horns of the Bull, in front of the Archer, and near the\nLion\u2019s jaws, and where the Scorpion stretches its arms in one direction\nand the Crab in another. Nor will you find it easy to guide those\nhorses, with their breasts full of fire that they breathe forth from\ntheir mouths and nostrils. I can scarcely govern them myself, when they\nare unruly and resist the reins. Beware, my son, lest I be the donor of\na fatal gift; recall your request while yet you may. Do you ask me for a\nproof that you are sprung from my blood? I give you a proof in my fears\nfor you. Look at my face\u2014I would that you could look into my breast,\nyou would there see all a father\u2019s anxiety. Finally,\u201d he continued,\n\u201clook round the world and choose whatever you will of what earth or sea\ncontains most precious\u2014ask it and fear no refusal. This only I pray you\nnot to urge. It is not honor, but destruction you seek. Why do you hang\nround my neck and still entreat me? You shall have it if you\npersist,\u2014the oath is sworn and must be kept,\u2014but I beg you to choose\nmore wisely.\u201d\n\nHe ended; but the youth rejected all admonition and held to his demand.\nSo, having resisted as long as he could, Ph\u0153bus at last led the way to\nwhere stood the lofty chariot.\n\nIt was of gold, the gift of Vulcan; the axle was of gold, the pole and\nwheels of gold, the spokes of silver. Along the seat were rows of\nchrysolites and diamonds which reflected all around the brightness of\nthe sun. While the daring youth gazed in admiration, the early Dawn\nthrew open the purple doors of the east, and showed the pathway strewn\nwith roses. The stars withdrew, marshalled by the Day-star, which last\nof all retired also. The father, when he saw the earth beginning to\nglow, and the Moon preparing to retire, ordered the Hours to harness up\nthe horses. They obeyed, and led forth from the lofty stalls the steeds\nfull fed with ambrosia, and attached the reins. Then the father bathed\nthe face of his son with a powerful unguent, and made him capable of\nenduring the brightness of the flame. He set the rays on his head, and,\nwith a foreboding sigh, said, \u201cIf, my son, you will in this at least\nheed my advice, spare the whip and hold tight the reins. They go fast\nenough of their own accord; the labor is to hold them in. You are not to\ntake the straight road directly between the five circles, but turn off\nto the left. Keep within the limit of the middle zone, and avoid the\nnorthern and the southern alike. You will see the marks of the wheels,\nand they will serve to guide you. And, that the skies and the earth may\neach receive their due share of heat, go not too high, or you will burn\nthe heavenly dwellings, nor too low, or you will set the earth on fire;\nthe middle course is safest and best.[9] And now I leave you to your\nchance, which I hope will plan better for you than you have done for\nyourself. Night is passing out of the western gates and we can delay no\nlonger. Take the reins; but if at last your heart fails you, and you\nwill benefit by my advice, stay where you are in safety, and suffer me\nto light and warm the earth.\u201d The agile youth sprang into the chariot,\nstood erect, and grasped the reins with delight, pouring out thanks to\nhis reluctant parent.\n\nMeanwhile the horses fill the air with their snortings and fiery breath,\nand stamp the ground impatient. Now the bars are let down, and the\nboundless plain of the universe lies open before them. They dart forward\nand cleave the opposing clouds, and outrun the morning breezes which\nstarted from the same eastern goal. The steeds soon perceived that the\nload they drew was lighter than usual; and as a ship without ballast is\ntossed hither and thither on the sea, so the chariot, without its\naccustomed weight, was dashed about as if empty. They rush headlong and\nleave the travelled road. He is alarmed, and knows not how to guide\nthem; nor, if he knew, has he the power. Then, for the first time, the\nGreat and Little Bear were scorched with heat, and would fain, if it\nwere possible, have plunged into the water; and the Serpent which lies\ncoiled up round the north pole, torpid and harmless, grew warm, and with\nwarmth felt its rage revive. Bo\u00f6tes, they say, fled away, though\nencumbered with his plough, and all unused to rapid motion.\n\nWhen hapless Pha\u00ebton looked down upon the earth, now spreading in vast\nextent beneath him, he grew pale and his knees shook with terror. In\nspite of the glare all around him, the sight of his eyes grew dim. He\nwished he had never touched his father\u2019s horses, never learned his\nparentage, never prevailed in his request. He is borne along like a\nvessel that flies before a tempest, when the pilot can do no more and\nbetakes himself to his prayers. What shall he do? Much of the heavenly\nroad is left behind, but more remains before. He turns his eyes from one\ndirection to the other; now to the goal whence he began his course, now\nto the realms of sunset which he is not destined to reach. He loses his\nself-command, and knows not what to do,\u2014whether to draw tight the reins\nor throw them loose; he forgets the names of the horses. He sees with\nterror the monstrous forms scattered over the surface of heaven. Here\nthe Scorpion extended his two great arms, with his tail and crooked\nclaws stretching over two signs of the zodiac. When the boy beheld him,\nreeking with poison and menacing with his fangs, his courage failed, and\nthe reins fell from his hands. The horses, when they felt them loose on\ntheir backs, dashed headlong, and unrestrained went off into unknown\nregions of the sky, in among the stars, hurling the chariot over\npathless places, now up in high heaven, now down almost to the earth.\nThe moon saw with astonishment her brother\u2019s chariot running beneath her\nown. The clouds begin to smoke, and the mountain tops take fire; the\nfields are parched with heat, the plants wither, the trees with their\nleafy branches burn, the harvest is ablaze! But these are small things.\nGreat cities perished, with their walls and towers; whole nations with\ntheir people were consumed to ashes! The forest-clad mountains burned,\nAthos and Taurus and Tmolus and \u0152te; Ida, once celebrated for fountains,\nbut now all dry; the Muses\u2019 mountain Helicon, and H\u00e6mus; \u00c6tna, with\nfires within and without, and Parnassus, with his two peaks, and\nRhodope, forced at last to part with his snowy crown. Her cold climate\nwas no protection to Scythia, Caucasus burned, and Ossa and Pindus, and,\ngreater than both, Olympus; the Alps high in air, and the Apennines\ncrowned with clouds.\n\nThen Pha\u00ebton beheld the world on fire, and felt the heat intolerable.\nThe air he breathed was like the air of a furnace and full of burning\nashes, and the smoke was of a pitchy darkness. He dashed forward he knew\nnot whither. Then, it is believed, the people of \u00c6thiopia became black\nby the blood being forced so suddenly to the surface, and the Libyan\ndesert was dried up to the condition in which it remains to this day.\nThe Nymphs of the fountains, with dishevelled hair, mourned their\nwaters, nor were the rivers safe beneath their banks: Tanais smoked, and\nCaicus, Xanthus, and Meander; Babylonian Euphrates and Ganges, Tagus\nwith golden sands, and Ca\u00ffster where the swans resort. Nile fled away\nand hid his head in the desert, and there it still remains concealed.\nWhere he used to discharge his waters through seven mouths into the sea,\nthere seven dry channels alone remained. The earth cracked open, and\nthrough the chinks light broke into Tartarus, and frightened the king of\nshadows and his queen. The sea shrank up. Where before was water, it\nbecame a dry plain; and the mountains that lie beneath the waves lifted\nup their heads and became islands. The fishes sought the lowest depths,\nand the dolphins no longer ventured as usual to sport on the surface.\nEven Nereus, and his wife Doris, with the Nereids, their daughters,\nsought the deepest caves for refuge. Thrice Neptune essayed to raise his\nhead above the surface, and thrice was driven back by the heat. Earth,\nsurrounded as she was by waters, yet with head and shoulders bare,\nscreening her face with her hand, looked up to heaven, and with a husky\nvoice called on Jupiter:\n\n\u201cO ruler of the gods, if I have deserved this treatment, and it is your\nwill that I perish with fire, why withhold your thunderbolts? Let me at\nleast fall by your hand. Is this the reward of my fertility, of my\nobedient service? Is it for this that I have supplied herbage for\ncattle, and fruits for men, and frankincense for your altars? But if I\nam unworthy of regard, what has my brother Ocean done to deserve such a\nfate? If neither of us can excite your pity, think, I pray you, of your\nown heaven, and behold how both the poles are smoking which sustain your\npalace, which must fall if they be destroyed. Atlas faints, and scarce\nholds up his burden. If sea, earth, and heaven perish, we fall into\nancient Chaos. Save what yet remains to us from the devouring flame. O,\ntake thought for our deliverance in this awful moment!\u201d\n\nThus spoke Earth, and overcome with heat and thirst, could say no more.\nThen Jupiter omnipotent, calling to witness all the gods, including him\nwho had lent the chariot, and showing them that all was lost unless\nspeedy remedy were applied, mounted the lofty tower from whence he\ndiffuses clouds over the earth, and hurls the forked lightnings. But at\nthat time not a cloud was to be found to interpose for a screen to\nearth, nor was a shower remaining unexhausted. He thundered, and\nbrandishing a lightning bolt in his right hand launched it against the\ncharioteer, and struck him at the same moment from his seat and from\nexistence! Pha\u00ebton, with his hair on fire, fell headlong, like a\nshooting star which marks the heavens with its brightness as it falls,\nand Eridanus, the great river, received him and cooled his burning\nframe. The Italian Naiads reared a tomb for him, and inscribed these\nwords upon the stone:\n\n \u201cDriver of Ph\u0153bus\u2019 chariot. Pha\u00ebton,\n Struck by Jove\u2019s thunder, rests beneath this stone.\n He could not rule his father\u2019s car of fire,\n Yet was it much so nobly to aspire.\u201d[10]\n\nHis sisters, the Heliades, as they lamented his fate, were turned into\npoplar trees, on the banks of the river, and their tears, which\ncontinued to flow, became amber as they dropped into the stream.\n\n\n\nMilman, in his poem of \u201cSamor,\u201d makes the following allusion to\nPha\u00ebton\u2019s story:\n\n \u201cAs when the palsied universe aghast\n Lay . . . mute and still,\n When drove, so poets sing, the Sun-born youth\n Devious through Heaven\u2019s affrighted signs his sire\u2019s\n Ill-granted chariot. Him the Thunderer hurled\n From th\u2019 empyrean headlong to the gulf\n Of the half-parched Eridanus, where weep\n Even now the sister trees their amber tears\n O\u2019er Pha\u00ebton untimely dead.\u201d\n\nIn the beautiful lines of Walter Savage Landor, descriptive of the\nSea-shell, there is an allusion to the Sun\u2019s palace and chariot. The\nwater-nymph says:\n\n \u201c. . . I have sinuous shells of pearly hue\n Within, and things that lustre have imbibed\n In the sun\u2019s palace porch, where when unyoked\n His chariot wheel stands midway on the wave.\n Shake one and it awakens; then apply\n Its polished lip to your attentive ear,\n And it remembers its august abodes,\n And murmurs as the ocean murmurs there.\u201d\n \u2014_Gebir_, Book I.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER VI\n\n MIDAS\u2014BAUCIS AND PHILEMON\n\nBACCHUS, on a certain occasion, found his old school-master and\nfoster-father, Silenus, missing. The old man had been drinking, and in\nthat state wandered away, and was found by some peasants, who carried\nhim to their king, Midas. Midas recognized him, and treated him\nhospitably, entertaining him for ten days and nights with an unceasing\nround of jollity. On the eleventh day he brought Silenus back, and\nrestored him in safety to his pupil. Whereupon Bacchus offered Midas his\nchoice of a reward, whatever he might wish. He asked that whatever he\nmight touch should be changed into _gold_. Bacchus consented, though\nsorry that he had not made a better choice. Midas went his way,\nrejoicing in his new-acquired power, which he hastened to put to the\ntest. He could scarce believe his eyes when he found a twig of an oak,\nwhich he plucked from the branch, become gold in his hand. He took up a\nstone; it changed to gold. He touched a sod; it did the same. He took an\napple from the tree; you would have thought he had robbed the garden of\nthe Hesperides. His joy knew no bounds, and as soon as he got home, he\nordered the servants to set a splendid repast on the table. Then he\nfound to his dismay that whether he touched bread, it hardened in his\nhand; or put a morsel to his lips, it defied his teeth. He took a glass\nof wine, but it flowed down his throat like melted gold.\n\nIn consternation at the unprecedented affliction, he strove to divest\nhimself of his power; he hated the gift he had lately coveted. But all\nin vain; starvation seemed to await him. He raised his arms, all shining\nwith gold, in prayer to Bacchus, begging to be delivered from his\nglittering destruction. Bacchus, merciful deity, heard and consented.\n\u201cGo,\u201d said he, \u201cto the River Pactolus, trace the stream to its\nfountain-head, there plunge your head and body in, and wash away your\nfault and its punishment.\u201d He did so, and scarce had he touched the\nwaters before the gold-creating power passed into them, and the\nriver-sands became changed into _gold_, as they remain to this day.\n\nThenceforth Midas, hating wealth and splendor, dwelt in the country, and\nbecame a worshipper of Pan, the god of the fields. On a certain occasion\nPan had the temerity to compare his music with that of Apollo, and to\nchallenge the god of the lyre to a trial of skill. The challenge was\naccepted, and Tmolus, the mountain god, was chosen umpire. The senior\ntook his seat, and cleared away the trees from his ears to listen. At a\ngiven signal Pan blew on his pipes, and with his rustic melody gave\ngreat satisfaction to himself and his faithful follower Midas, who\nhappened to be present. Then Tmolus turned his head toward the Sun-god,\nand all his trees turned with him. Apollo rose, his brow wreathed with\nParnassian laurel, while his robe of Tyrian purple swept the ground. In\nhis left hand he held the lyre, and with his right hand struck the\nstrings. Ravished with the harmony, Tmolus at once awarded the victory\nto the god of the lyre, and all but Midas acquiesced in the judgment. He\ndissented, and questioned the justice of the award. Apollo would not\nsuffer such a depraved pair of ears any longer to wear the human form,\nbut caused them to increase in length, grow hairy, within and without,\nand movable on their roots; in short, to be on the perfect pattern of\nthose of an ass.\n\nMortified enough was King Midas at this mishap; but he consoled himself\nwith the thought that it was possible to hide his misfortune, which he\nattempted to do by means of an ample turban or head-dress. But his\nhairdresser of course knew the secret. He was charged not to mention it,\nand threatened with dire punishment if he presumed to disobey. But he\nfound it too much for his discretion to keep such a secret; so he went\nout into the meadow, dug a hole in the ground, and stooping down,\nwhispered the story, and covered it up. Before long a thick bed of reeds\nsprang up in the meadow, and as soon as it had gained its growth, began\nwhispering the story, and has continued to do so, from that day to this,\nevery time a breeze passes over the place.\n\n\n\nThe story of King Midas has been told by others with some variations.\nDryden, in the \u201cWife of Bath\u2019s Tale,\u201d makes Midas\u2019s queen the betrayer\nof the secret:\n\n \u201cThis Midas knew, and durst communicate\n To none but to his wife his ears of state.\u201d\n\nMidas was king of Phrygia. He was the son of Gordius, a poor countryman,\nwho was taken by the people and made king, in obedience to the command\nof the oracle, which had said that their future king should come in a\nwagon. While the people were deliberating, Gordius with his wife and son\ncame driving his wagon into the public square.\n\nGordius, being made king, dedicated his wagon to the deity of the\noracle, and tied it up in its place with a fast knot. This was the\ncelebrated _Gordian knot_, which, in after times it was said, whoever\nshould untie should become lord of all Asia. Many tried to untie it, but\nnone succeeded, till Alexander the Great, in his career of conquest,\ncame to Phrygia. He tried his skill with as ill success as others, till\ngrowing impatient he drew his sword and cut the knot. When he afterwards\nsucceeded in subjecting all Asia to his sway, people began to think that\nhe had complied with the terms of the oracle according to its true\nmeaning.\n\n BAUCIS AND PHILEMON\n\nOn a certain hill in Phrygia stands a linden tree and an oak, enclosed\nby a low wall. Not far from the spot is a marsh, formerly good habitable\nland, but now indented with pools, the resort of fen-birds and\ncormorants. Once on a time Jupiter, in human shape, visited this\ncountry, and with him his son Mercury (he of the caduceus), without his\nwings. They presented themselves, as weary travellers, at many a door,\nseeking rest and shelter, but found all closed, for it was late, and the\ninhospitable inhabitants would not rouse themselves to open for their\nreception. At last a humble mansion received them, a small thatched\ncottage, where Baucis, a pious old dame, and her husband Philemon,\nunited when young, had grown old together. Not ashamed of their poverty,\nthey made it endurable by moderate desires and kind dispositions. One\nneed not look there for master or for servant; they two were the whole\nhousehold, master and servant alike. When the two heavenly guests\ncrossed the humble threshold, and bowed their heads to pass under the\nlow door, the old man placed a seat, on which Baucis, bustling and\nattentive, spread a cloth, and begged them to sit down. Then she raked\nout the coals from the ashes, and kindled up a fire, fed it with leaves\nand dry bark, and with her scanty breath blew it into a flame. She\nbrought out of a corner split sticks and dry branches, broke them up,\nand placed them under the small kettle. Her husband collected some\npot-herbs in the garden, and she shred them from the stalks, and\nprepared them for the pot. He reached down with a forked stick a flitch\nof bacon hanging in the chimney, cut a small piece, and put it in the\npot to boil with the herbs, setting away the rest for another time. A\nbeechen bowl was filled with warm water, that their guests might wash.\nWhile all was doing, they beguiled the time with conversation.\n\nOn the bench designed for the guests was laid a cushion stuffed with\nsea-weed; and a cloth, only produced on great occasions, but ancient and\ncoarse enough, was spread over that. The old lady, with her apron on,\nwith trembling hand set the table. One leg was shorter than the rest,\nbut a piece of slate put under restored the level. When fixed, she\nrubbed the table down with some sweet-smelling herbs. Upon it she set\nsome of chaste Minerva\u2019s olives, some cornel berries preserved in\nvinegar, and added radishes and cheese, with eggs lightly cooked in the\nashes. All were served in earthen dishes, and an earthenware pitcher,\nwith wooden cups, stood beside them. When all was ready, the stew,\nsmoking hot, was set on the table. Some wine, not of the oldest, was\nadded; and for dessert, apples and wild honey; and over and above all,\nfriendly faces, and simple but hearty welcome.\n\nNow while the repast proceeded, the old folks were astonished to see\nthat the wine, as fast as it was poured out, renewed itself in the\npitcher, of its own accord. Struck with terror, Baucis and Philemon\nrecognized their heavenly guests, fell on their knees, and with clasped\nhands implored forgiveness for their poor entertainment. There was an\nold goose, which they kept as the guardian of their humble cottage; and\nthey bethought them to make this a sacrifice in honor of their guests.\nBut the goose, too nimble, with the aid of feet and wings, for the old\nfolks, eluded their pursuit, and at last took shelter between the gods\nthemselves. They forbade it to be slain; and spoke in these words: \u201cWe\nare gods. This inhospitable village shall pay the penalty of its\nimpiety; you alone shall go free from the chastisement. Quit your house,\nand come with us to the top of yonder hill.\u201d They hastened to obey, and,\nstaff in hand, labored up the steep ascent. They had reached to within\nan arrow\u2019s flight of the top, when turning their eyes below, they beheld\nall the country sunk in a lake, only their own house left standing.\nWhile they gazed with wonder at the sight, and lamented the fate of\ntheir neighbors, that old house of theirs was changed into a _temple_.\nColumns took the place of the corner posts, the thatch grew yellow and\nappeared a gilded roof, the floors became marble, the doors were\nenriched with carving and ornaments of gold. Then spoke Jupiter in\nbenignant accents: \u201cExcellent old man, and woman worthy of such a\nhusband, speak, tell us your wishes; what favor have you to ask of us?\u201d\nPhilemon took counsel with Baucis a few moments; then declared to the\ngods their united wish. \u201cWe ask to be priests and guardians of this your\ntemple; and since here we have passed our lives in love and concord, we\nwish that one and the same hour may take us both from life, that I may\nnot live to see her grave, nor be laid in my own by her.\u201d Their prayer\nwas granted. They were the keepers of the temple as long as they lived.\nWhen grown very old, as they stood one day before the steps of the\nsacred edifice, and were telling the story of the place, Baucis saw\nPhilemon begin to put forth leaves, and old Philemon saw Baucis changing\nin like manner. And now a leafy crown had grown over their heads, while\nexchanging parting words, as long as they could speak. \u201cFarewell, dear\nspouse,\u201d they said, together, and at the same moment the bark closed\nover their mouths. The Tyanean shepherd still shows the two trees,\nstanding side by side, made out of the two good old people.\n\n\n\nThe story of Baucis and Philemon has been imitated by Swift, in a\nburlesque style, the actors in the change being two wandering saints,\nand the house being changed into a church, of which Philemon is made the\nparson. The following may serve as a specimen:\n\n \u201cThey scarce had spoke, when, fair and soft,\n The roof began to mount aloft;\n Aloft rose every beam and rafter;\n The heavy wall climbed slowly after.\n The chimney widened and grew higher,\n Became a steeple with a spire.\n The kettle to the top was hoist,\n And there stood fastened to a joist,\n But with the upside down, to show\n Its inclination for below;\n In vain, for a superior force,\n Applied at bottom, stops its course;\n Doomed ever in suspense to dwell,\n \u2019Tis now no kettle, but a bell.\n A wooden jack, which had almost\n Lost by disuse the art to roast,\n A sudden alteration feels.\n Increased by new intestine wheels;\n And, what exalts the wonder more,\n The number made the motion slower;\n The flier, though \u2019t had leaden feet,\n Turned round so quick you scarce could see \u2019t;\n But slackened by some secret power,\n Now hardly moves an inch an hour.\n The jack and chimney, near allied,\n Had never left each other\u2019s side:\n The chimney to a steeple grown,\n The jack would not be left alone;\n But up against the steeple reared,\n Became a clock, and still adhered;\n And still its love to household cares\n By a shrill voice at noon declares,\n Warning the cook-maid not to burn\n That roast meat which it cannot turn;\n The groaning chair began to crawl,\n Like a huge snail, along the wall;\n There stuck aloft in public view,\n And with small change, a pulpit grew.\n A bedstead of the antique mode,\n Compact of timber many a load,\n Such as our ancestors did use,\n Was metamorphosed into pews,\n Which still their ancient nature keep\n By lodging folks disposed to sleep.\u201d\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER VII\n\n PROSERPINE\u2014GLAUCUS AND SCYLLA\n\nWHEN Jupiter and his brothers had defeated the Titans and banished them\nto Tartarus, a new enemy rose up against the gods. They were the giants\nTyphon, Briareus, Enceladus, and others. Some of them had a hundred\narms, others breathed out fire. They were finally subdued and buried\nalive under Mount \u00c6tna, where they still sometimes struggle to get\nloose, and shake the whole island with earthquakes. Their breath comes\nup through the mountain, and is what men call the eruption of the\nvolcano.\n\nThe fall of these monsters shook the earth, so that Pluto was alarmed,\nand feared that his kingdom would be laid open to the light of day.\nUnder this apprehension, he mounted his chariot, drawn by black horses,\nand took a circuit of inspection to satisfy himself of the extent of the\ndamage. While he was thus engaged, Venus, who was sitting on Mount Eryx\nplaying with her boy Cupid, espied him, and said, \u201cMy son, take your\ndarts with which you conquer all, even Jove himself, and send one into\nthe breast of yonder dark monarch, who rules the realm of Tartarus. Why\nshould he alone escape? Seize the opportunity to extend your empire and\nmine. Do you not see that even in heaven some despise our power? Minerva\nthe wise, and Diana the huntress, defy us; and there is that daughter of\nCeres, who threatens to follow their example. Now do you, if you have\nany regard for your own interest or mine, join these two in one.\u201d The\nboy unbound his quiver, and selected his sharpest and truest arrow; then\nstraining the bow against his knee, he attached the string, and, having\nmade ready, shot the arrow with its barbed point right into the heart of\nPluto.\n\nIn the vale of Enna there is a lake embowered in woods, which screen it\nfrom the fervid rays of the sun, while the moist ground is covered with\nflowers, and Spring reigns perpetual. Here Proserpine was playing with\nher companions, gathering lilies and violets, and filling her basket and\nher apron with them, when Pluto saw her, loved her, and carried her off.\nShe screamed for help to her mother and companions; and when in her\nfright she dropped the corners of her apron and let the flowers fall,\nchildlike she felt the loss of them as an addition to her grief. The\nravisher urged on his steeds, calling them each by name, and throwing\nloose over their heads and necks his iron-colored reins. When he reached\nthe River Cyane, and it opposed his passage, he struck the river-bank\nwith his trident, and the earth opened and gave him a passage to\nTartarus.\n\nCeres sought her daughter all the world over. Bright-haired Aurora, when\nshe came forth in the morning, and Hesperus when he led out the stars in\nthe evening, found her still busy in the search. But it was all\nunavailing. At length, weary and sad, she sat down upon a stone, and\ncontinued sitting nine days and nights, in the open air, under the\nsunlight and moonlight and falling showers. It was where now stands the\ncity of Eleusis, then the home of an old man named Celeus. He was out in\nthe field, gathering acorns and blackberries, and sticks for his fire.\nHis little girl was driving home their two goats, and as she passed the\ngoddess, who appeared in the guise of an old woman, she said to her,\n\u201cMother,\u201d\u2014and the name was sweet to the ears of Ceres,\u2014\u201cwhy do you sit\nhere alone upon the rocks?\u201d The old man also stopped, though his load\nwas heavy, and begged her to come into his cottage, such as it was. She\ndeclined, and he urged her. \u201cGo in peace,\u201d she replied, \u201cand be happy in\nyour daughter; I have lost mine.\u201d As she spoke, tears\u2014or something like\ntears, for the gods never weep\u2014fell down her cheeks upon her bosom. The\ncompassionate old man and his child wept with her. Then said he, \u201cCome\nwith us, and despise not our humble roof; so may your daughter be\nrestored to you in safety.\u201d \u201cLead on,\u201d said she, \u201cI cannot resist that\nappeal!\u201d So she rose from the stone and went with them. As they walked\nhe told her that his only son, a little boy, lay very sick, feverish,\nand sleepless. She stooped and gathered some poppies. As they entered\nthe cottage, they found all in great distress, for the boy seemed past\nhope of recovery. Metanina, his mother, received her kindly, and the\ngoddess stooped and kissed the lips of the sick child. Instantly the\npaleness left his face, and healthy vigor returned to his body. The\nwhole family were delighted\u2014that is, the father, mother, and little\ngirl, for they were all; they had no servants. They spread the table,\nand put upon it curds and cream, apples, and honey in the comb. While\nthey ate, Ceres mingled poppy juice in the milk of the boy. When night\ncame and all was still, she arose, and taking the sleeping boy, moulded\nhis limbs with her hands, and uttered over him three times a solemn\ncharm, then went and laid him in the ashes. His mother, who had been\nwatching what her guest was doing, sprang forward with a cry and\nsnatched the child from the fire. Then Ceres assumed her own form, and a\ndivine splendor shone all around. While they were overcome with\nastonishment, she said, \u201cMother, you have been cruel in your fondness to\nyour son. I would have made him immortal, but you have frustrated my\nattempt. Nevertheless, he shall be great and useful. He shall teach men\nthe use of the plough, and the rewards which labor can win from the\ncultivated soil.\u201d So saying, she wrapped a cloud about her, and mounting\nher chariot rode away.\n\nCeres continued her search for her daughter, passing from land to land,\nand across seas and rivers, till at length she returned to Sicily,\nwhence she at first set out, and stood by the banks of the River Cyane,\nwhere Pluto made himself a passage with his prize to his own dominions.\nThe river nymph would have told the goddess all she had witnessed, but\ndared not, for fear of Pluto; so she only ventured to take up the girdle\nwhich Proserpine had dropped in her flight, and waft it to the feet of\nthe mother. Ceres, seeing this, was no longer in doubt of her loss, but\nshe did not yet know the cause, and laid the blame on the innocent land.\n\u201cUngrateful soil,\u201d said she, \u201cwhich I have endowed with fertility and\nclothed with herbage and nourishing grain, no more shall you enjoy my\nfavors.\u201d Then the cattle died, the plough broke in the furrow, the seed\nfailed to come up; there was too much sun, there was too much rain; the\nbirds stole the seeds\u2014thistles and brambles were the only growth.\nSeeing this, the fountain Arethusa interceded for the land. \u201cGoddess,\u201d\nsaid she, \u201cblame not the land; it opened unwillingly to yield a passage\nto your daughter. I can tell you of her fate, for I have seen her. This\nis not my native country; I came hither from Elis. I was a woodland\nnymph, and delighted in the chase. They praised my beauty, but I cared\nnothing for it, and rather boasted of my hunting exploits. One day I was\nreturning from the wood, heated with exercise, when I came to a stream\nsilently flowing, so clear that you might count the pebbles on the\nbottom. The willows shaded it, and the grassy bank sloped down to the\nwater\u2019s edge. I approached, I touched the water with my foot. I stepped\nin knee-deep, and not content with that, I laid my garments on the\nwillows and went in. While I sported in the water, I heard an indistinct\nmurmur coming up as out of the depths of the stream; and made haste to\nescape to the nearest bank. The voice said, \u2018Why do you fly, Arethusa? I\nam Alpheus, the god of this stream.\u2019 I ran, he pursued; he was not more\nswift than I, but he was stronger, and gained upon me, as my strength\nfailed. At last, exhausted, I cried for help to Diana. \u2018Help me,\ngoddess! help your votary!\u2019 The goddess heard, and wrapped me suddenly\nin a thick cloud. The river god looked now this way and now that, and\ntwice came close to me, but could not find me. \u2018Arethusa! Arethusa!\u2019 he\ncried. Oh, how I trembled,\u2014like a lamb that hears the wolf growling\noutside the fold. A cold sweat came over me, my hair flowed down in\nstreams; where my foot stood there was a pool. In short, in less time\nthan it takes to tell it I became a fountain. But in this form Alpheus\nknew me and attempted to mingle his stream with mine. Diana cleft the\nground, and I, endeavoring to escape him, plunged into the cavern, and\nthrough the bowels of the earth came out here in Sicily. While I passed\nthrough the lower parts of the earth, I saw your Proserpine. She was\nsad, but no longer showing alarm in her countenance. Her look was such\nas became a queen\u2014the queen of Erebus; the powerful bride of the\nmonarch of the realms of the dead.\u201d\n\nWhen Ceres heard this, she stood for a while like one stupefied; then\nturned her chariot towards heaven, and hastened to present herself\nbefore the throne of Jove. She told the story of her bereavement, and\nimplored Jupiter to interfere to procure the restitution of her\ndaughter. Jupiter consented on one condition, namely, that Proserpine\nshould not during her stay in the lower world have taken any food;\notherwise, the Fates forbade her release. Accordingly, Mercury was sent,\naccompanied by Spring, to demand Proserpine of Pluto. The wily monarch\nconsented; but, alas! the maiden had taken a pomegranate which Pluto\noffered her, and had sucked the sweet pulp from a few of the seeds. This\nwas enough to prevent her complete release; but a compromise was made,\nby which she was to pass half the time with her mother, and the rest\nwith her husband Pluto.\n\nCeres allowed herself to be pacified with this arrangement, and restored\nthe earth to her favor. Now she remembered Celeus and his family, and\nher promise to his infant son Triptolemus. When the boy grew up, she\ntaught him the use of the plough, and how to sow the seed. She took him\nin her chariot, drawn by winged dragons, through all the countries of\nthe earth, imparting to mankind valuable grains, and the knowledge of\nagriculture. After his return, Triptolemus built a magnificent temple to\nCeres in Eleusis, and established the worship of the goddess, under the\nname of the Eleusinian mysteries, which, in the splendor and solemnity\nof their observance, surpassed all other religious celebrations among\nthe Greeks.\n\n\n\nThere can be little doubt of this story of Ceres and Proserpine being an\nallegory. Proserpine signifies the seed-corn which when cast into the\nground lies there concealed\u2014that is, she is carried off by the god of\nthe underworld. It reappears\u2014that is, Proserpine is restored to her\nmother. Spring leads her back to the light of day.\n\n\n\nMilton alludes to the story of Proserpine in \u201cParadise Lost,\u201d Book IV.:\n\n \u201c. . . Not that fair field\n Of Enna where Proserpine gathering flowers,\n Herself a fairer flower, by gloomy Dis\n Was gathered, which cost Ceres all that pain\n To seek her through the world,\u2014\n . . . might with this Paradise\n Of Eden strive.\u201d\n\nHood, in his \u201cOde to Melancholy,\u201d uses the same allusion very\nbeautifully:\n\n \u201cForgive, if somewhile I forget,\n In woe to come the present bliss;\n As frighted Proserpine let fall\n Her flowers at the sight of Dis.\u201d\n\nThe River Alpheus does in fact disappear underground, in part of its\ncourse, finding its way through subterranean channels till it again\nappears on the surface. It was said that the Sicilian fountain Arethusa\nwas the same stream, which, after passing under the sea, came up again\nin Sicily. Hence the story ran that a cup thrown into the Alpheus\nappeared again in Arethusa. It is this fable of the underground course\nof Alpheus that Coleridge alludes to in his poem of \u201cKubla Khan\u201d:\n\n \u201cIn Xanadu did Kubla Khan\n A stately pleasure-dome decree,\n Where Alph, the sacred river, ran\n Through caverns measureless to man,\n Down to a sunless sea.\u201d\n\nIn one of Moore\u2019s juvenile poems he thus alludes to the same story, and\nto the practice of throwing garlands or other light objects on his\nstream to be carried downward by it, and afterwards reproduced at its\nemerging:\n\n \u201cO my beloved, how divinely sweet\n Is the pure joy when kindred spirits meet!\n Like him the river god, whose waters flow,\n With love their only light, through caves below,\n Wafting in triumph all the flowery braids\n And festal rings, with which Olympic maids\n Have decked his current, as an offering meet\n To lay at Arethusa\u2019s shining feet.\n Think, when he meets at last his fountain bride,\n What perfect love must thrill the blended tide!\n Each lost in each, till mingling into one,\n Their lot the same for shadow or for sun,\n A type of true love, to the deep they run.\u201d\n\nThe following extract from Moore\u2019s \u201cRhymes on the Road\u201d gives an account\nof a celebrated picture by Albano, at Milan, called a Dance of Loves:\n\n \u201c\u2019Tis for the theft of Enna\u2019s flower from earth\n These urchins celebrate their dance of mirth,\n Round the green tree, like fays upon a heath;\u2014\n Those that are nearest linked in order bright,\n Cheek after cheek, like rosebuds in a wreath;\n And those more distant showing from beneath\n The others\u2019 wings their little eyes of light.\n While see! among the clouds, their eldest brother,\n But just flown up, tells with a smile of bliss,\n This prank of Pluto to his charmed mother,\n Who turns to greet the tidings with a kiss.\u201d\n\n GLAUCUS AND SCYLLA\n\nGlaucus was a fisherman. One day he had drawn his nets to land, and had\ntaken a great many fishes of various kinds. So he emptied his net, and\nproceeded to sort the fishes on the grass. The place where he stood was\na beautiful island in the river, a solitary spot, uninhabited, and not\nused for pasturage of cattle, nor ever visited by any but himself. On a\nsudden, the fishes, which had been laid on the grass, began to revive\nand move their fins as if they were in the water; and while he looked on\nastonished, they one and all moved off to the water, plunged in, and\nswam away. He did not know what to make of this, whether some god had\ndone it or some secret power in the herbage. \u201cWhat herb has such a\npower?\u201d he exclaimed; and gathering some of it, he tasted it. Scarce had\nthe juices of the plant reached his palate when he found himself\nagitated with a longing desire for the water. He could no longer\nrestrain himself, but bidding farewell to earth, he plunged into the\nstream. The gods of the water received him graciously, and admitted him\nto the honor of their society. They obtained the consent of Oceanus and\nTethys, the sovereigns of the sea, that all that was mortal in him\nshould be washed away. A hundred rivers poured their waters over him.\nThen he lost all sense of his former nature and all consciousness. When\nhe recovered, he found himself changed in form and mind. His hair was\nsea-green, and trailed behind him on the water; his shoulders grew\nbroad, and what had been thighs and legs assumed the form of a fish\u2019s\ntail. The sea-gods complimented him on the change of his appearance, and\nhe fancied himself rather a good-looking personage.\n\nOne day Glaucus saw the beautiful maiden Scylla, the favorite of the\nwater-nymphs, rambling on the shore, and when she had found a sheltered\nnook, laving her limbs in the clear water. He fell in love with her, and\nshowing himself on the surface, spoke to her, saying such things as he\nthought most likely to win her to stay; for she turned to run\nimmediately on the sight of him, and ran till she had gained a cliff\noverlooking the sea. Here she stopped and turned round to see whether it\nwas a god or a sea animal, and observed with wonder his shape and color.\nGlaucus partly emerging from the water, and supporting himself against a\nrock, said, \u201cMaiden, I am no monster, nor a sea animal, but a god; and\nneither Proteus nor Triton ranks higher than I. Once I was a mortal, and\nfollowed the sea for a living; but now I belong wholly to it.\u201d Then he\ntold the story of his metamorphosis, and how he had been promoted to his\npresent dignity, and added, \u201cBut what avails all this if it fails to\nmove your heart?\u201d He was going on in this strain, but Scylla turned and\nhastened away.\n\nGlaucus was in despair, but it occurred to him to consult the\nenchantress Circe. Accordingly he repaired to her island\u2014the same where\nafterwards Ulysses landed, as we shall see in one of our later stories.\nAfter mutual salutations, he said, \u201cGoddess, I entreat your pity; you\nalone can relieve the pain I suffer. The power of herbs I know as well\nas any one, for it is to them I owe my change of form. I love Scylla. I\nam ashamed to tell you how I have sued and promised to her, and how\nscornfully she has treated me. I beseech you to use your incantations,\nor potent herbs, if they are more prevailing, not to cure me of my\nlove,\u2014for that I do not wish,\u2014but to make her share it and yield me a\nlike return.\u201d To which Circe replied, for she was not insensible to the\nattractions of the sea-green deity, \u201cYou had better pursue a willing\nobject; you are worthy to be sought, instead of having to seek in vain.\nBe not diffident, know your own worth. I protest to you that even I,\ngoddess though I be, and learned in the virtues of plants and spells,\nshould not know how to refuse you. If she scorns you scorn her; meet one\nwho is ready to meet you half way, and thus make a due return to both at\nonce.\u201d To these words Glaucus replied, \u201cSooner shall trees grow at the\nbottom of the ocean, and sea-weed on the top of the mountains, than I\nwill cease to love Scylla, and her alone.\u201d\n\nThe goddess was indignant, but she could not punish him, neither did she\nwish to do so, for she liked him too well; so she turned all her wrath\nagainst her rival, poor Scylla. She took plants of poisonous powers and\nmixed them together, with incantations and charms. Then she passed\nthrough the crowd of gambolling beasts, the victims of her art, and\nproceeded to the coast of Sicily, where Scylla lived. There was a little\nbay on the shore to which Scylla used to resort, in the heat of the day,\nto breathe the air of the sea, and to bathe in its waters. Here the\ngoddess poured her poisonous mixture, and muttered over it incantations\nof mighty power. Scylla came as usual and plunged into the water up to\nher waist. What was her horror to perceive a brood of serpents and\nbarking monsters surrounding her! At first she could not imagine they\nwere a part of herself, and tried to run from them, and to drive them\naway; but as she ran she carried them with her, and when she tried to\ntouch her limbs, she found her hands touch only the yawning jaws of\nmonsters. Scylla remained rooted to the spot. Her temper grew as ugly as\nher form, and she took pleasure in devouring hapless mariners who came\nwithin her grasp. Thus she destroyed six of the companions of Ulysses,\nand tried to wreck the ships of \u00c6neas, till at last she was turned into\na rock, and as such still continues to be a terror to mariners.\n\n\n\nKeats, in his \u201cEndymion,\u201d has given a new version of the ending of\n\u201cGlaucus and Scylla.\u201d Glaucus consents to Circe\u2019s blandishments, till he\nby chance is witness to her transactions with her beasts.[11] Disgusted\nwith her treachery and cruelty, he tries to escape from her, but is\ntaken and brought back, when with reproaches she banishes him,\nsentencing him to pass a thousand years in decrepitude and pain. He\nreturns to the sea, and there finds the body of Scylla, whom the goddess\nhas not transformed but drowned. Glaucus learns that his destiny is\nthat, if he passes his thousand years in collecting all the bodies of\ndrowned lovers, a youth beloved of the gods will appear and help him.\nEndymion fulfils this prophecy, and aids in restoring Glaucus to youth,\nand Scylla and all the drowned lovers to life.\n\nThe following is Glaucus\u2019s account of his feelings after his\n\u201csea-change\u201d:\n\n \u201cI plunged for life or death. To interknit\n One\u2019s senses with so dense a breathing stuff\n Might seem a work of pain; so not enough\n Can I admire how crystal-smooth it felt,\n And buoyant round my limbs. At first I dwelt\n Whole days and days in sheer astonishment;\n Forgetful utterly of self-intent,\n Moving but with the mighty ebb and flow.\n Then like a new-fledged bird that first doth show\n His spreaded feathers to the morrow chill,\n I tried in fear the pinions of my will.\n \u2019Twas freedom! and at once I visited\n The ceaseless wonders of this ocean-bed,\u201d etc.\n \u2014_Keats._\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER VIII\n\n PYGMALION\u2014DRYOPE\u2014VENUS AND ADONIS\u2014APOLLO AND HYACINTHUS\n\nPYGMALION saw so much to blame in women that he came at last to abhor\nthe sex, and resolved to live unmarried. He was a sculptor, and had made\nwith wonderful skill a statue of ivory, so beautiful that no living\nwoman came anywhere near it. It was indeed the perfect semblance of a\nmaiden that seemed to be alive, and only prevented from moving by\nmodesty. His art was so perfect that it concealed itself and its product\nlooked like the workmanship of nature. Pygmalion admired his own work,\nand at last fell in love with the counterfeit creation. Oftentimes he\nlaid his hand upon it as if to assure himself whether it were living or\nnot, and could not even then believe that it was only ivory. He caressed\nit, and gave it presents such as young girls love,\u2014bright shells and\npolished stones, little birds and flowers of various hues, beads and\namber. He put raiment on its limbs, and jewels on its fingers, and a\nnecklace about its neck. To the ears he hung earrings and strings of\npearls upon the breast. Her dress became her, and she looked not less\ncharming than when unattired. He laid her on a couch spread with cloths\nof Tyrian dye, and called her his wife, and put her head upon a pillow\nof the softest feathers, as if she could enjoy their softness.\n\nThe festival of Venus was at hand\u2014a festival celebrated with great pomp\nat Cyprus. Victims were offered, the altars smoked, and the odor of\nincense filled the air. When Pygmalion had performed his part in the\nsolemnities, he stood before the altar and timidly said, \u201cYe gods, who\ncan do all things, give me, I pray you, for my wife\u201d\u2014he dared not say\n\u201cmy ivory virgin,\u201d but said instead\u2014\u201cone like my ivory virgin.\u201d Venus,\nwho was present at the festival, heard him and knew the thought he would\nhave uttered; and as an omen of her favor, caused the flame on the altar\nto shoot up thrice in a fiery point into the air. When he returned home,\nhe went to see his statue, and leaning over the couch, gave a kiss to\nthe mouth. It seemed to be warm. He pressed its lips again, he laid his\nhand upon the limbs; the ivory felt soft to his touch and yielded to his\nfingers like the wax of Hymettus. While he stands astonished and glad,\nthough doubting, and fears he may be mistaken, again and again with a\nlover\u2019s ardor he touches the object of his hopes. It was indeed alive!\nThe veins when pressed yielded to the finger and again resumed their\nroundness. Then at last the votary of Venus found words to thank the\ngoddess, and pressed his lips upon lips as real as his own. The virgin\nfelt the kisses and blushed, and opening her timid eyes to the light,\nfixed them at the same moment on her lover. Venus blessed the nuptials\nshe had formed, and from this union Paphos was born, from whom the city,\nsacred to Venus, received its name.\n\n\n\nSchiller, in his poem the \u201cIdeals,\u201d applies this tale of Pygmalion to\nthe love of nature in a youthful heart. The following translation is\nfurnished by a friend:\n\n \u201cAs once with prayers in passion flowing,\n Pygmalion embraced the stone,\n Till from the frozen marble glowing,\n The light of feeling o\u2019er him shone,\n So did I clasp with young devotion\n Bright nature to a poet\u2019s heart;\n Till breath and warmth and vital motion\n Seemed through the statue form to dart.\n\n \u201cAnd then, in all my ardor sharing,\n The silent form expression found;\n Returned my kiss of youthful daring,\n And understood my heart\u2019s quick sound.\n Then lived for me the bright creation,\n The silver rill with song was rife;\n The trees, the roses shared sensation,\n An echo of my boundless life.\u201d\n \u2014_S. G. B._\n\n DRYOPE\n\nDryope and Iole were sisters. The former was the wife of Andr\u00e6mon,\nbeloved by her husband, and happy in the birth of her first child. One\nday the sisters strolled to the bank of a stream that sloped gradually\ndown to the water\u2019s edge, while the upland was overgrown with myrtles.\nThey were intending to gather flowers for forming garlands for the\naltars of the nymphs, and Dryope carried her child at her bosom,\nprecious burden, and nursed him as she walked. Near the water grew a\nlotus plant, full of purple flowers. Dryope gathered some and offered\nthem to the baby, and Iole was about to do the same, when she perceived\nblood dropping from the places where her sister had broken them off the\nstem. The plant was no other than the nymph Lotis, who, running from a\nbase pursuer, had been changed into this form. This they learned from\nthe country people when it was too late.\n\nDryope, horror-struck when she perceived what she had done, would gladly\nhave hastened from the spot, but found her feet rooted to the ground.\nShe tried to pull them away, but moved nothing but her upper limbs. The\nwoodiness crept upward, and by degrees invested her body. In anguish she\nattempted to tear her hair, but found her hands filled with leaves. The\ninfant felt his mother\u2019s bosom begin to harden, and the milk cease to\nflow. Iole looked on at the sad fate of her sister, and could render no\nassistance. She embraced the growing trunk, as if she would hold back\nthe advancing wood, and would gladly have been enveloped in the same\nbark. At this moment Andr\u00e6mon, the husband of Dryope, with her father,\napproached; and when they asked for Dryope, Iole pointed them to the\nnew-formed lotus. They embraced the trunk of the yet warm tree, and\nshowered their kisses on its leaves.\n\nNow there was nothing left of Dryope but her face. Her tears still\nflowed and fell on her leaves, and while she could she spoke. \u201cI am not\nguilty. I deserve not this fate. I have injured no one. If I speak\nfalsely, may my foliage perish with drought and my trunk be cut down and\nburned. Take this infant and give it to a nurse. Let it often be brought\nand nursed under my branches, and play in my shade; and when he is old\nenough to talk, let him be taught to call me mother, and to say with\nsadness, \u2018My mother lies hid under this bark.\u2019 But bid him be careful of\nriver banks, and beware how he plucks flowers, remembering that every\nbush he sees may be a goddess in disguise. Farewell, dear husband, and\nsister, and father. If you retain any love for me, let not the axe wound\nme, nor the flocks bite and tear my branches. Since I cannot stoop to\nyou, climb up hither and kiss me; and while my lips continue to feel,\nlift up my child that I may kiss him. I can speak no more, for already\nthe bark advances up my neck, and will soon shoot over me. You need not\nclose my eyes, the bark will close them without your aid.\u201d Then the lips\nceased to move, and life was extinct; but the branches retained for some\ntime longer the vital heat.\n\n\n\nKeats, in \u201cEndymion,\u201d alludes to Dryope thus:\n\n \u201cShe took a lute from which there pulsing came\n A lively prelude, fashioning the way\n In which her voice should wander. \u2019Twas a lay\n More subtle-cadenced, more forest-wild\n Than Dryope\u2019s lone lulling of her child;\u201d etc.\n\n VENUS AND ADONIS\n\nVenus, playing one day with her boy Cupid, wounded her bosom with one of\nhis arrows. She pushed him away, but the wound was deeper than she\nthought. Before it healed she beheld Adonis, and was captivated with\nhim. She no longer took any interest in her favorite resorts\u2014Paphos,\nand Cnidos, and Amathos, rich in metals. She absented herself even from\nheaven, for Adonis was dearer to her than heaven. Him she followed and\nbore him company. She who used to love to recline in the shade, with no\ncare but to cultivate her charms, now rambles through the woods and over\nthe hills, dressed like the huntress Diana; and calls her dogs, and\nchases hares and stags, or other game that it is safe to hunt, but keeps\nclear of the wolves and bears, reeking with the slaughter of the herd.\nShe charged Adonis, too, to beware of such dangerous animals. \u201cBe brave\ntowards the timid,\u201d said she; \u201ccourage against the courageous is not\nsafe. Beware how you expose yourself to danger and put my happiness to\nrisk. Attack not the beasts that Nature has armed with weapons. I do not\nvalue your glory so high as to consent to purchase it by such exposure.\nYour youth, and the beauty that charms Venus, will not touch the hearts\nof lions and bristly boars. Think of their terrible claws and prodigious\nstrength! I hate the whole race of them. Do you ask me why?\u201d Then she\ntold him the story of Atalanta and Hippomenes, who were changed into\nlions for their ingratitude to her.\n\nHaving given him this warning, she mounted her chariot drawn by swans,\nand drove away through the air. But Adonis was too noble to heed such\ncounsels. The dogs had roused a wild boar from his lair, and the youth\nthrew his spear and wounded the animal with a sidelong stroke. The beast\ndrew out the weapon with his jaws, and rushed after Adonis, who turned\nand ran; but the boar overtook him, and buried his tusks in his side,\nand stretched him dying upon the plain.\n\nVenus, in her swan-drawn chariot, had not yet reached Cyprus, when she\nheard coming up through mid-air the groans of her beloved, and turned\nher white-winged coursers back to earth. As she drew near and saw from\non high his lifeless body bathed in blood, she alighted and, bending\nover it, beat her breast and tore her hair. Reproaching the Fates, she\nsaid, \u201cYet theirs shall be but a partial triumph; memorials of my grief\nshall endure, and the spectacle of your death, my Adonis, and of my\nlamentations shall be annually renewed. Your blood shall be changed into\na flower; that consolation none can envy me.\u201d Thus speaking, she\nsprinkled nectar on the blood; and as they mingled, bubbles rose as in a\npool on which raindrops fall, and in an hour\u2019s time there sprang up a\nflower of bloody hue like that of the pomegranate. But it is\nshort-lived. It is said the wind blows the blossoms open, and afterwards\nblows the petals away; so it is called Anemone, or Wind Flower, from the\ncause which assists equally in its production and its decay.\n\n\n\nMilton alludes to the story of Venus and Adonis in his \u201cComus\u201d:\n\n \u201cBeds of hyacinth and roses\n Where young Adonis oft reposes,\n Waxing well of his deep wound\n In slumber soft, and on the ground\n Sadly sits th\u2019 Assyrian queen;\u201d etc.\n\n APOLLO AND HYACINTHUS\n\nApollo was passionately fond of a youth named Hyacinthus. He accompanied\nhim in his sports, carried the nets when he went fishing, led the dogs\nwhen he went to hunt, followed him in his excursions in the mountains,\nand neglected for him his lyre and his arrows. One day they played a\ngame of quoits together, and Apollo, heaving aloft the discus, with\nstrength mingled with skill, sent it high and far. Hyacinthus watched it\nas it flew, and excited with the sport ran forward to seize it, eager to\nmake his throw, when the quoit bounded from the earth and struck him in\nthe forehead. He fainted and fell. The god, as pale as himself, raised\nhim and tried all his art to stanch the wound and retain the flitting\nlife, but all in vain; the hurt was past the power of medicine. As when\none has broken the stem of a lily in the garden it hangs its head and\nturns its flowers to the earth, so the head of the dying boy, as if too\nheavy for his neck, fell over on his shoulder. \u201cThou diest, Hyacinth,\u201d\nso spoke Ph\u0153bus, \u201crobbed of thy youth by me. Thine is the suffering,\nmine the crime. Would that I could die for thee! But since that may not\nbe, thou shalt live with me in memory and in song. My lyre shall\ncelebrate thee, my song shall tell thy fate, and thou shalt become a\nflower inscribed with my regrets.\u201d While Apollo spoke, behold the blood\nwhich had flowed on the ground and stained the herbage ceased to be\nblood; but a flower of hue more beautiful than the Tyrian sprang up,\nresembling the lily, if it were not that this is purple and that silvery\nwhite.[12] And this was not enough for Ph\u0153bus; but to confer still\ngreater honor, he marked the petals with his sorrow, and inscribed \u201cAh!\nah!\u201d upon them as we see to this day. The flower bears the name of\nHyacinthus, and with every returning spring revives the memory of his\nfate.\n\n\n\nIt was said that Zephyrus (the West wind), who was also fond of\nHyacinthus and jealous of his preference of Apollo, blew the quoit out\nof its course to make it strike Hyacinthus. Keats alludes to this in his\n\u201cEndymion,\u201d where he describes the lookers-on at the game of quoits:\n\n \u201cOr they might watch the quoit-pitchers, intent\n On either side, pitying the sad death\n Of Hyacinthus, when the cruel breath\n Of Zephyr slew him; Zephyr penitent,\n Who now ere Ph\u0153bus mounts the firmament,\n Fondles the flower amid the sobbing rain.\u201d\n\nAn allusion to Hyacinthus will also be recognized in Milton\u2019s \u201cLycidas\u201d:\n\n \u201cLike to that sanguine flower inscribed with woe.\u201d\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER IX\n\n CEYX AND HALCYONE: OR, THE HALCYON BIRDS\n\nCEYX was king of Thessaly, where he reigned in peace, without violence\nor wrong. He was son of Hesperus, the Day-star, and the glow of his\nbeauty reminded one of his father. Halcyone, the daughter of \u00c6olus, was\nhis wife, and devotedly attached to him. Now Ceyx was in deep affliction\nfor the loss of his brother, and direful prodigies following his\nbrother\u2019s death made him feel as if the gods were hostile to him. He\nthought best, therefore, to make a voyage to Carlos in Ionia, to consult\nthe oracle of Apollo. But as soon as he disclosed his intention to his\nwife Halcyone, a shudder ran through her frame, and her face grew deadly\npale. \u201cWhat fault of mine, dearest husband, has turned your affection\nfrom me? Where is that love of me that used to be uppermost in your\nthoughts? Have you learned to feel easy in the absence of Halcyone?\nWould you rather have me away?\u201d She also endeavored to discourage him,\nby describing the violence of the winds, which she had known familiarly\nwhen she lived at home in her father\u2019s house,\u2014\u00c6olus being the god of\nthe winds, and having as much as he could do to restrain them. \u201cThey\nrush together,\u201d said she, \u201cwith such fury that fire flashes from the\nconflict. But if you must go,\u201d she added, \u201cdear husband, let me go with\nyou, otherwise I shall suffer not only the real evils which you must\nencounter, but those also which my fears suggest.\u201d\n\nThese words weighed heavily on the mind of King Ceyx, and it was no less\nhis own wish than hers to take her with him, but he could not bear to\nexpose her to the dangers of the sea. He answered, therefore, consoling\nher as well as he could, and finished with these words: \u201cI promise, by\nthe rays of my father the Day-star, that if fate permits I will return\nbefore the moon shall have twice rounded her orb.\u201d When he had thus\nspoken, he ordered the vessel to be drawn out of the shiphouse, and the\noars and sails to be put aboard. When Halcyone saw these preparations\nshe shuddered, as if with a presentiment of evil. With tears and sobs\nshe said farewell, and then fell senseless to the ground.\n\nCeyx would still have lingered, but now the young men grasped their oars\nand pulled vigorously through the waves, with long and measured strokes.\nHalcyone raised her streaming eyes, and saw her husband standing on the\ndeck, waving his hand to her. She answered his signal till the vessel\nhad receded so far that she could no longer distinguish his form from\nthe rest. When the vessel itself could no more be seen, she strained her\neyes to catch the last glimmer of the sail, till that too disappeared.\nThen, retiring to her chamber, she threw herself on her solitary couch.\n\nMeanwhile they glide out of the harbor, and the breeze plays among the\nropes. The seamen draw in their oars, and hoist their sails. When half\nor less of their course was passed, as night drew on, the sea began to\nwhiten with swelling waves, and the east wind to blow a gale. The master\ngave the word to take in sail, but the storm forbade obedience, for such\nis the roar of the winds and waves his orders are unheard. The men, of\ntheir own accord, busy themselves to secure the oars, to strengthen the\nship, to reef the sail. While they thus do what to each one seems best,\nthe storm increases. The shouting of the men, the rattling of the\nshrouds, and the dashing of the waves, mingle with the roar of the\nthunder. The swelling sea seems lifted up to the heavens, to scatter its\nfoam among the clouds; then sinking away to the bottom assumes the color\nof the shoal\u2014a Stygian blackness.\n\nThe vessel shares all these changes. It seems like a wild beast that\nrushes on the spears of the hunters. Rain falls in torrents, as if the\nskies were coming down to unite with the sea. When the lightning ceases\nfor a moment, the night seems to add its own darkness to that of the\nstorm; then comes the flash, rending the darkness asunder, and lighting\nup all with a glare. Skill fails, courage sinks, and death seems to come\non every wave. The men are stupefied with terror. The thought of\nparents, and kindred, and pledges left at home, comes over their minds.\nCeyx thinks of Halcyone. No name but hers is on his lips, and while he\nyearns for her, he yet rejoices in her absence. Presently the mast is\nshattered by a stroke of lightning, the rudder broken, and the\ntriumphant surge curling over looks down upon the wreck, then falls, and\ncrushes it to fragments. Some of the seamen, stunned by the stroke,\nsink, and rise no more; others cling to fragments of the wreck. Ceyx,\nwith the hand that used to grasp the sceptre, holds fast to a plank,\ncalling for help,\u2014alas, in vain,\u2014upon his father and his\nfather-in-law. But oftenest on his lips was the name of Halcyone. To her\nhis thoughts cling. He prays that the waves may bear his body to her\nsight, and that it may receive burial at her hands. At length the waters\noverwhelm him, and he sinks. The Day-star looked dim that night. Since\nit could not leave the heavens, it shrouded its face with clouds.\n\nIn the meanwhile Halcyone, ignorant of all these horrors, counted the\ndays till her husband\u2019s promised return. Now she gets ready the garments\nwhich he shall put on, and now what she shall wear when he arrives. To\nall the gods she offers frequent incense, but more than all to Juno. For\nher husband, who was no more, she prayed incessantly: that he might be\nsafe; that he might come home; that he might not, in his absence, see\nany one that he would love better than her. But of all these prayers,\nthe last was the only one destined to be granted. The goddess, at\nlength, could not bear any longer to be pleaded with for one already\ndead, and to have hands raised to her altars that ought rather to be\noffering funeral rites. So, calling Iris, she said, \u201cIris, my faithful\nmessenger, go to the drowsy dwelling of Somnus, and tell him to send a\nvision to Halcyone in the form of Ceyx, to make known to her the event.\u201d\n\nIris puts on her robe of many colors, and tingeing the sky with her bow,\nseeks the palace of the King of Sleep. Near the Cimmerian country, a\nmountain cave is the abode of the dull god Somnus. Here Ph\u0153bus dares not\ncome, either rising, at midday, or setting. Clouds and shadows are\nexhaled from the ground, and the light glimmers faintly. The bird of\ndawning, with crested head, never there calls aloud to Aurora, nor\nwatchful dog, nor more sagacious goose disturbs the silence. No wild\nbeast, nor cattle, nor branch moved with the wind, nor sound of human\nconversation, breaks the stillness. Silence reigns there; but from the\nbottom of the rock the River Lethe flows, and by its murmur invites to\nsleep. Poppies grow abundantly before the door of the cave, and other\nherbs, from whose juices Night collects slumbers, which she scatters\nover the darkened earth. There is no gate to the mansion, to creak on\nits hinges, nor any watchman; but in the midst a couch of black ebony,\nadorned with black plumes and black curtains. There the god reclines,\nhis limbs relaxed with sleep. Around him lie dreams, resembling all\nvarious forms, as many as the harvest bears stalks, or the forest\nleaves, or the seashore sand grains.\n\nAs soon as the goddess entered and brushed away the dreams that hovered\naround her, her brightness lit up all the cave. The god, scarce opening\nhis eyes, and ever and anon dropping his beard upon his breast, at last\nshook himself free from himself, and leaning on his arm, inquired her\nerrand,\u2014for he knew who she was. She answered, \u201cSomnus, gentlest of the\ngods, tranquillizer of minds and soother of care-worn hearts, Juno sends\nyou her commands that you despatch a dream to Halcyone, in the city of\nTrachine, representing her lost husband and all the events of the\nwreck.\u201d\n\nHaving delivered her message, Iris hasted away, for she could not longer\nendure the stagnant air, and as she felt drowsiness creeping over her,\nshe made her escape, and returned by her bow the way she came. Then\nSomnus called one of his numerous sons,\u2014Morpheus,\u2014the most expert in\ncounterfeiting forms, and in imitating the walk, the countenance, and\nmode of speaking, even the clothes and attitudes most characteristic of\neach. But he only imitates men, leaving it to another to personate\nbirds, beasts, and serpents. Him they call Icelos; and Phantasos is a\nthird, who turns himself into rocks, waters, woods, and other things\nwithout life. These wait upon kings and great personages in their\nsleeping hours, while others move among the common people. Somnus chose,\nfrom all the brothers, Morpheus, to perform the command of Iris; then\nlaid his head on his pillow and yielded himself to grateful repose.\n\nMorpheus flew, making no noise with his wings, and soon came to the\nH\u00e6monian city, where, laying aside his wings, he assumed the form of\nCeyx. Under that form, but pale like a dead man, naked, he stood before\nthe couch of the wretched wife. His beard seemed soaked with water, and\nwater trickled from his drowned locks. Leaning over the bed, tears\nstreaming from his eyes, he said, \u201cDo you recognize your Ceyx, unhappy\nwife, or has death too much changed my visage? Behold me, know me, your\nhusband\u2019s shade, instead of himself. Your prayers, Halcyone, availed me\nnothing. I am dead. No more deceive yourself with vain hopes of my\nreturn. The stormy winds sunk my ship in the \u00c6gean Sea, waves filled my\nmouth while it called aloud on you. No uncertain messenger tells you\nthis, no vague rumor brings it to your ears. I come in person, a\nshipwrecked man, to tell you my fate. Arise! give me tears, give me\nlamentations, let me not go down to Tartarus unwept.\u201d To these words\nMorpheus added the voice, which seemed to be that of her husband; he\nseemed to pour forth genuine tears; his hands had the gestures of Ceyx.\n\nHalcyone, weeping, groaned, and stretched out her arms in her sleep,\nstriving to embrace his body, but grasping only the air. \u201cStay!\u201d she\ncried; \u201cwhither do you fly? let us go together.\u201d Her own voice awakened\nher. Starting up, she gazed eagerly around, to see if he was still\npresent, for the servants, alarmed by her cries, had brought a light.\nWhen she found him not, she smote her breast and rent her garments. She\ncares not to unbind her hair, but tears it wildly. Her nurse asks what\nis the cause of her grief. \u201cHalcyone is no more,\u201d she answers, \u201cshe\nperished with her Ceyx. Utter not words of comfort, he is shipwrecked\nand dead. I have seen him, I have recognized him. I stretched out my\nhands to seize him and detain him. His shade vanished, but it was the\ntrue shade of my husband. Not with the accustomed features, not with the\nbeauty that was his, but pale, naked, and with his hair wet with\nsea-water, he appeared to wretched me. Here, in this very spot, the sad\nvision stood,\u201d\u2014and she looked to find the mark of his footsteps. \u201cThis\nit was, this that my presaging mind foreboded, when I implored him not\nto leave me, to trust himself to the waves. Oh, how I wish, since thou\nwouldst go, thou hadst taken me with thee! It would have been far\nbetter. Then I should have had no remnant of life to spend without thee,\nnor a separate death to die. If I could bear to live and struggle to\nendure, I should be more cruel to myself than the sea has been to me.\nBut I will not struggle, I will not be separated from thee, unhappy\nhusband. This time, at least, I will keep thee company. In death, if one\ntomb may not include us, one epitaph shall; if I may not lay my ashes\nwith thine, my name, at least, shall not be separated.\u201d Her grief\nforbade more words, and these were broken with tears and sobs.\n\nIt was now morning. She went to the seashore, and sought the spot where\nshe last saw him, on his departure. \u201cWhile he lingered here, and cast\noff his tacklings, he gave me his last kiss.\u201d While she reviews every\nobject, and strives to recall every incident, looking out over the sea,\nshe descries an indistinct object floating in the water. At first she\nwas in doubt what it was, but by degrees the waves bore it nearer, and\nit was plainly the body of a man. Though unknowing of whom, yet, as it\nwas of some shipwrecked one, she was deeply moved, and gave it her\ntears, saying, \u201cAlas! unhappy one, and unhappy, if such there be, thy\nwife!\u201d Borne by the waves, it came nearer. As she more and more nearly\nviews it, she trembles more and more. Now, now it approaches the shore.\nNow marks that she recognizes appear. It is her husband! Stretching out\nher trembling hands towards it, she exclaims, \u201cO dearest husband, is it\nthus you return to me?\u201d\n\nThere was built out from the shore a mole, constructed to break the\nassaults of the sea, and stem its violent ingress. She leaped upon this\nbarrier and (it was wonderful she could do so) she flew, and striking\nthe air with wings produced on the instant, skimmed along the surface of\nthe water, an unhappy bird. As she flew, her throat poured forth sounds\nfull of grief, and like the voice of one lamenting. When she touched the\nmute and bloodless body, she enfolded its beloved limbs with her\nnew-formed wings, and tried to give kisses with her horny beak. Whether\nCeyx felt it, or whether it was only the action of the waves, those who\nlooked on doubted, but the body seemed to raise its head. But indeed he\ndid feel it, and by the pitying gods both of them were changed into\nbirds. They mate and have their young ones. For seven placid days, in\nwinter time, Halcyone broods over her nest, which floats upon the sea.\nThen the way is safe to seamen. \u00c6olus guards the winds and keeps them\nfrom disturbing the deep. The sea is given up, for the time, to his\ngrandchildren.\n\n\n\nThe following lines from Byron\u2019s \u201cBride of Abydos\u201d might seem borrowed\nfrom the concluding part of this description, if it were not stated that\nthe author derived the suggestion from observing the motion of a\nfloating corpse:\n\n \u201cAs shaken on his restless pillow,\n His head heaves with the heaving billow,\n That hand, whose motion is not life,\n Yet feebly seems to menace strife,\n Flung by the tossing tide on high,\n Then levelled with the wave . . .\u201d\n\nMilton in his \u201cHymn on the Nativity,\u201d thus alludes to the fable of the\nHalcyon:\n\n \u201cBut peaceful was the night\n Wherein the Prince of light\n His reign of peace upon the earth began;\n The winds with wonder whist\n Smoothly the waters kist\n Whispering new joys to the mild ocean,\n Who now hath quite forgot to rave\n While birds of calm sit brooding on the charmed wave.\u201d\n\nKeats, also, in \u201cEndymion,\u201d says:\n\n \u201cO magic sleep! O comfortable bird\n That broodest o\u2019er the troubled sea of the mind\n Till it is hushed and smooth.\u201d\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER X\n\n VERTUMNUS AND POMONA\n\nTHE Hamadryads were Wood-nymphs. Pomona was of this class, and no one\nexcelled her in love of the garden and the culture of fruit. She cared\nnot for forests and rivers, but loved the cultivated country, and trees\nthat bear delicious apples. Her right hand bore for its weapon not a\njavelin, but a pruning-knife. Armed with this, she busied herself at one\ntime to repress the too luxuriant growths, and curtail the branches that\nstraggled out of place; at another, to split the twig and insert therein\na graft, making the branch adopt a nursling not its own. She took care,\ntoo, that her favorites should not suffer from drought, and led streams\nof water by them, that the thirsty roots might drink. This occupation\nwas her pursuit, her passion; and she was free from that which Venus\ninspires. She was not without fear of the country people, and kept her\norchard locked, and allowed not men to enter. The Fauns and Satyrs would\nhave given all they possessed to win her, and so would old Sylvanus, who\nlooks young for his years, and Pan, who wears a garland of pine leaves\naround his head. But Vertumnus loved her best of all; yet he sped no\nbetter than the rest. O how often, in the disguise of a reaper, did he\nbring her corn in a basket, and looked the very image of a reaper! With\na hay band tied round him, one would think he had just come from turning\nover the grass. Sometimes he would have an ox-goad in his hand, and you\nwould have said he had just unyoked his weary oxen. Now he bore a\npruning-hook, and personated a vine-dresser; and again, with a ladder on\nhis shoulder, he seemed as if he was going to gather apples. Sometimes\nhe trudged along as a discharged soldier, and again he bore a\nfishing-rod, as if going to fish. In this way he gained admission to her\nagain and again, and fed his passion with the sight of her.\n\nOne day he came in the guise of an old woman, her gray hair surmounted\nwith a cap, and a staff in her hand. She entered the garden and admired\nthe fruit. \u201cIt does you credit, my dear,\u201d she said, and kissed her, not\nexactly with an old woman\u2019s kiss. She sat down on a bank, and looked up\nat the branches laden with fruit which hung over her. Opposite was an\nelm entwined with a vine loaded with swelling grapes. She praised the\ntree and its associated vine, equally. \u201cBut,\u201d said she, \u201cif the tree\nstood alone, and had no vine clinging to it, it would have nothing to\nattract or offer us but its useless leaves. And equally the vine, if it\nwere not twined round the elm, would lie prostrate on the ground. Why\nwill you not take a lesson from the tree and the vine, and consent to\nunite yourself with some one? I wish you would. Helen herself had not\nmore numerous suitors, nor Penelope, the wife of shrewd Ulysses. Even\nwhile you spurn them, they court you,\u2014rural deities and others of every\nkind that frequent these mountains. But if you are prudent and want to\nmake a good alliance, and will let an old woman advise you,\u2014who loves\nyou better than you have any idea of,\u2014dismiss all the rest and accept\nVertumnus, on my recommendation. I know him as well as he knows himself.\nHe is not a wandering deity, but belongs to these mountains. Nor is he\nlike too many of the lovers nowadays, who love any one they happen to\nsee; he loves you, and you only. Add to this, he is young and handsome,\nand has the art of assuming any shape he pleases, and can make himself\njust what you command him. Moreover, he loves the same things that you\ndo, delights in gardening, and handles your apples with admiration. But\n_now_ he cares nothing for fruits nor flowers, nor anything else, but\nonly yourself. Take pity on him, and fancy him speaking now with my\nmouth. Remember that the gods punish cruelty, and that Venus hates a\nhard heart, and will visit such offences sooner or later. To prove this,\nlet me tell you a story, which is well known in Cyprus to be a fact; and\nI hope it will have the effect to make you more merciful.\n\n\u201cIphis was a young man of humble parentage, who saw and loved Anaxarete,\na noble lady of the ancient family of Teucer. He struggled long with his\npassion, but when he found he could not subdue it, he came a suppliant\nto her mansion. First he told his passion to her nurse, and begged her\nas she loved her foster-child to favor his suit. And then he tried to\nwin her domestics to his side. Sometimes he committed his vows to\nwritten tablets, and often hung at her door garlands which he had\nmoistened with his tears. He stretched himself on her threshold, and\nuttered his complaints to the cruel bolts and bars. She was deafer than\nthe surges which rise in the November gale; harder than steel from the\nGerman forges, or a rock that still clings to its native cliff. She\nmocked and laughed at him, adding cruel words to her ungentle treatment,\nand gave not the slightest gleam of hope.\n\n\u201cIphis could not any longer endure the torments of hopeless love, and,\nstanding before her doors, he spake these last words: \u2018Anaxarete, you\nhave conquered, and shall no longer have to bear my importunities. Enjoy\nyour triumph! Sing songs of joy, and bind your forehead with\nlaurel,\u2014you have conquered! I die; stony heart, rejoice! This at least\nI can do to gratify you and force you to praise me; and thus shall I\nprove that the love of you left me but with life. Nor will I leave it to\nrumor to tell you of my death. I will come myself, and you shall see me\ndie, and feast your eyes on the spectacle. Yet, O ye gods, who look down\non mortal woes, observe my fate! I ask but this: let me be remembered in\ncoming ages, and add those years to my fame which you have reft from my\nlife.\u2019 Thus he said, and, turning his pale face and weeping eyes towards\nher mansion, he fastened a rope to the gatepost, on which he had often\nhung garlands, and putting his head into the noose, he murmured, \u2018This\ngarland at least will please you, cruel girl!\u2019 and falling hung\nsuspended with his neck broken. As he fell he struck against the gate,\nand the sound was as the sound of a groan. The servants opened the door\nand found him dead, and with exclamations of pity raised him and carried\nhim home to his mother, for his father was not living. She received the\ndead body of her son, and folded the cold form to her bosom, while she\npoured forth the sad words which bereaved mothers utter. The mournful\nfuneral passed through the town, and the pale corpse was borne on a bier\nto the place of the funeral pile. By chance the home of Anaxarete was on\nthe street where the procession passed, and the lamentations of the\nmourners met the ears of her whom the avenging deity had already marked\nfor punishment.\n\n\u201c\u2018Let us see this sad procession,\u2019 said she, and mounted to a turret,\nwhence through an open window she looked upon the funeral. Scarce had\nher eyes rested upon the form of Iphis stretched on the bier, when they\nbegan to stiffen, and the warm blood in her body to become cold.\nEndeavoring to step back, she found she could not move her feet; trying\nto turn away her face, she tried in vain; and by degrees all her limbs\nbecame stony like her heart. That you may not doubt the fact, the statue\nstill remains, and stands in the temple of Venus at Salamis, in the\nexact form of the lady. Now think of these things, my dear, and lay\naside your scorn and your delays, and accept a lover. So may neither the\nvernal frosts blight your young fruits, nor furious winds scatter your\nblossoms!\u201d\n\nWhen Vertumnus had spoken thus, he dropped the disguise of an old woman,\nand stood before her in his proper person, as a comely youth. It\nappeared to her like the sun bursting through a cloud. He would have\nrenewed his entreaties, but there was no need; his arguments and the\nsight of his true form prevailed, and the Nymph no longer resisted, but\nowned a mutual flame.\n\n\n\nPomona was the especial patroness of the Apple-orchard, and as such she\nwas invoked by Phillips, the author of a poem on Cider, in blank verse.\nThomson in the \u201cSeasons\u201d alludes to him:\n\n \u201cPhillips, Pomona\u2019s bard, the second thou\n Who nobly durst, in rhyme-unfettered verse,\n With British freedom, sing the British song.\u201d\n\nBut Pomona was also regarded as presiding over other fruits, and as such\nis invoked by Thomson:\n\n \u201cBear me, Pomona, to thy citron groves,\n To where the lemon and the piercing lime,\n With the deep orange, glowing through the green,\n Their lighter glories blend. Lay me reclined\n Beneath the spreading tamarind, that shakes,\n Fanned by the breeze, its fever-cooling fruit.\u201d\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XI\n\n CUPID AND PSYCHE\n\nA CERTAIN king and queen had three daughters. The charms of the two\nelder were more than common, but the beauty of the youngest was so\nwonderful that the poverty of language is unable to express its due\npraise. The fame of her beauty was so great that strangers from\nneighboring countries came in crowds to enjoy the sight, and looked on\nher with amazement, paying her that homage which is due only to Venus\nherself. In fact Venus found her altars deserted, while men turned their\ndevotion to this young virgin. As she passed along, the people sang her\npraises, and strewed her way with chaplets and flowers.\n\nThis perversion of homage due only to the immortal powers to the\nexaltation of a mortal gave great offence to the real Venus. Shaking her\nambrosial locks with indignation, she exclaimed, \u201cAm I then to be\neclipsed in my honors by a mortal girl? In vain then did that royal\nshepherd, whose judgment was approved by Jove himself, give me the palm\nof beauty over my illustrious rivals, Pallas and Juno. But she shall not\nso quietly usurp my honors. I will give her cause to repent of so\nunlawful a beauty.\u201d\n\nThereupon she calls her winged son Cupid, mischievous enough in his own\nnature, and rouses and provokes him yet more by her complaints. She\npoints out Psyche to him and says, \u201cMy dear son, punish that\ncontumacious beauty; give thy mother a revenge as sweet as her injuries\nare great; infuse into the bosom of that haughty girl a passion for some\nlow, mean, unworthy being, so that she may reap a mortification as great\nas her present exultation and triumph.\u201d\n\nCupid prepared to obey the commands of his mother. There are two\nfountains in Venus\u2019s garden, one of sweet waters, the other of bitter.\nCupid filled two amber vases, one from each fountain, and suspending\nthem from the top of his quiver, hastened to the chamber of Psyche, whom\nhe found asleep. He shed a few drops from the bitter fountain over her\nlips, though the sight of her almost moved him to pity; then touched her\nside with the point of his arrow. At the touch she awoke, and opened\neyes upon Cupid (himself invisible), which so startled him that in his\nconfusion he wounded himself with his own arrow. Heedless of his wound,\nhis whole thought now was to repair the mischief he had done, and he\npoured the balmy drops of joy over all her silken ringlets.\n\nPsyche, henceforth frowned upon by Venus, derived no benefit from all\nher charms. True, all eyes were cast eagerly upon her, and every mouth\nspoke her praises; but neither king, royal youth, nor plebeian presented\nhimself to demand her in marriage. Her two elder sisters of moderate\ncharms had now long been married to two royal princes; but Psyche, in\nher lonely apartment, deplored her solitude, sick of that beauty which,\nwhile it procured abundance of flattery, had failed to awaken love.\n\nHer parents, afraid that they had unwittingly incurred the anger of the\ngods, consulted the oracle of Apollo, and received this answer: \u201cThe\nvirgin is destined for the bride of no mortal lover. Her future husband\nawaits her on the top of the mountain. He is a monster whom neither gods\nnor men can resist.\u201d\n\nThis dreadful decree of the oracle filled all the people with dismay,\nand her parents abandoned themselves to grief. But Psyche said, \u201cWhy, my\ndear parents, do you now lament me? You should rather have grieved when\nthe people showered upon me undeserved honors, and with one voice called\nme a Venus. I now perceive that I am a victim to that name. I submit.\nLead me to that rock to which my unhappy fate has destined me.\u201d\nAccordingly, all things being prepared, the royal maid took her place in\nthe procession, which more resembled a funeral than a nuptial pomp, and\nwith her parents, amid the lamentations of the people, ascended the\nmountain, on the summit of which they left her alone, and with sorrowful\nhearts returned home.\n\nWhile Psyche stood on the ridge of the mountain, panting with fear and\nwith eyes full of tears, the gentle Zephyr raised her from the earth and\nbore her with an easy motion into a flowery dale. By degrees her mind\nbecame composed, and she laid herself down on the grassy bank to sleep.\nWhen she awoke refreshed with sleep, she looked round and beheld near by\na pleasant grove of tall and stately trees. She entered it, and in the\nmidst discovered a fountain, sending forth clear and crystal waters, and\nfast by, a magnificent palace whose august front impressed the spectator\nthat it was not the work of mortal hands, but the happy retreat of some\ngod. Drawn by admiration and wonder, she approached the building and\nventured to enter. Every object she met filled her with pleasure and\namazement. Golden pillars supported the vaulted roof, and the walls were\nenriched with carvings and paintings representing beasts of the chase\nand rural scenes, adapted to delight the eye of the beholder. Proceeding\nonward, she perceived that besides the apartments of state there were\nothers filled with all manner of treasures, and beautiful and precious\nproductions of nature and art.\n\nWhile her eyes were thus occupied, a voice addressed her, though she saw\nno one, uttering these words: \u201cSovereign lady, all that you see is\nyours. We whose voices you hear are your servants and shall obey all\nyour commands with our utmost care and diligence. Retire, therefore, to\nyour chamber and repose on your bed of down, and when you see fit repair\nto the bath. Supper awaits you in the adjoining alcove when it pleases\nyou to take your seat there.\u201d\n\nPsyche gave ear to the admonitions of her vocal attendants, and after\nrepose and the refreshment of the bath, seated herself in the alcove,\nwhere a table immediately presented itself, without any visible aid from\nwaiters or servants, and covered with the greatest delicacies of food\nand the most nectareous wines. Her ears too were feasted with music from\ninvisible performers; of whom one sang, another played on the lute, and\nall closed in the wonderful harmony of a full chorus.\n\nShe had not yet seen her destined husband. He came only in the hours of\ndarkness and fled before the dawn of morning, but his accents were full\nof love, and inspired a like passion in her. She often begged him to\nstay and let her behold him, but he would not consent. On the contrary\nhe charged her to make no attempt to see him, for it was his pleasure,\nfor the best of reasons, to keep concealed. \u201cWhy should you wish to\nbehold me?\u201d he said; \u201chave you any doubt of my love? have you any wish\nungratified? If you saw me, perhaps you would fear me, perhaps adore me,\nbut all I ask of you is to love me. I would rather you would love me as\nan equal than adore me as a god.\u201d\n\nThis reasoning somewhat quieted Psyche for a time, and while the novelty\nlasted she felt quite happy. But at length the thought of her parents,\nleft in ignorance of her fate, and of her sisters, precluded from\nsharing with her the delights of her situation, preyed on her mind and\nmade her begin to feel her palace as but a splendid prison. When her\nhusband came one night, she told him her distress, and at last drew from\nhim an unwilling consent that her sisters should be brought to see her.\n\nSo, calling Zephyr, she acquainted him with her husband\u2019s commands, and\nhe, promptly obedient, soon brought them across the mountain down to\ntheir sister\u2019s valley. They embraced her and she returned their\ncaresses. \u201cCome,\u201d said Psyche, \u201center with me my house and refresh\nyourselves with whatever your sister has to offer.\u201d Then taking their\nhands she led them into her golden palace, and committed them to the\ncare of her numerous train of attendant voices, to refresh them in her\nbaths and at her table, and to show them all her treasures. The view of\nthese celestial delights caused envy to enter their bosoms, at seeing\ntheir young sister possessed of such state and splendor, so much\nexceeding their own.\n\nThey asked her numberless questions, among others what sort of a person\nher husband was. Psyche replied that he was a beautiful youth, who\ngenerally spent the daytime in hunting upon the mountains. The sisters,\nnot satisfied with this reply, soon made her confess that she had never\nseen him. Then they proceeded to fill her bosom with dark suspicions.\n\u201cCall to mind,\u201d they said, \u201cthe Pythian oracle that declared you\ndestined to marry a direful and tremendous monster. The inhabitants of\nthis valley say that your husband is a terrible and monstrous serpent,\nwho nourishes you for a while with dainties that he may by and by devour\nyou. Take our advice. Provide yourself with a lamp and a sharp knife;\nput them in concealment that your husband may not discover them, and\nwhen he is sound asleep, slip out of bed, bring forth your lamp, and see\nfor yourself whether what they say is true or not. If it is, hesitate\nnot to cut off the monster\u2019s head, and thereby recover your liberty.\u201d\n\nPsyche resisted these persuasions as well as she could, but they did not\nfail to have their effect on her mind, and when her sisters were gone,\ntheir words and her own curiosity were too strong for her to resist. So\nshe prepared her lamp and a sharp knife, and hid them out of sight of\nher husband. When he had fallen into his first sleep, she silently rose\nand uncovering her lamp beheld not a hideous monster, but the most\nbeautiful and charming of the gods, with his golden ringlets wandering\nover his snowy neck and crimson cheek, with two dewy wings on his\nshoulders, whiter than snow, and with shining feathers like the tender\nblossoms of spring. As she leaned the lamp over to have a nearer view of\nhis face a drop of burning oil fell on the shoulder of the god, startled\nwith which he opened his eyes and fixed them full upon her; then,\nwithout saying one word, he spread his white wings and flew out of the\nwindow. Psyche, in vain endeavoring to follow him, fell from the window\nto the ground. Cupid, beholding her as she lay in the dust, stopped his\nflight for an instant and said, \u201cO foolish Psyche, is it thus you repay\nmy love? After having disobeyed my mother\u2019s commands and made you my\nwife, will you think me a monster and cut off my head? But go; return to\nyour sisters, whose advice you seem to think preferable to mine. I\ninflict no other punishment on you than to leave you forever. Love\ncannot dwell with suspicion.\u201d So saying, he fled away, leaving poor\nPsyche prostrate on the ground, filling the place with mournful\nlamentations.\n\nWhen she had recovered some degree of composure she looked around her,\nbut the palace and gardens had vanished, and she found herself in the\nopen field not far from the city where her sisters dwelt. She repaired\nthither and told them the whole story of her misfortunes, at which,\npretending to grieve, those spiteful creatures inwardly rejoiced. \u201cFor\nnow,\u201d said they, \u201che will perhaps choose one of us.\u201d With this idea,\nwithout saying a word of her intentions, each of them rose early the\nnext morning and ascended the mountains, and having reached the top,\ncalled upon Zephyr to receive her and bear her to his lord; then leaping\nup, and not being sustained by Zephyr, fell down the precipice and was\ndashed to pieces.\n\nPsyche meanwhile wandered day and night, without food or repose, in\nsearch of her husband. Casting her eyes on a lofty mountain having on\nits brow a magnificent temple, she sighed and said to herself, \u201cPerhaps\nmy love, my lord, inhabits there,\u201d and directed her steps thither.\n\nShe had no sooner entered than she saw heaps of corn, some in loose ears\nand some in sheaves, with mingled ears of barley. Scattered about, lay\nsickles and rakes, and all the instruments of harvest, without order, as\nif thrown carelessly out of the weary reapers\u2019 hands in the sultry hours\nof the day.\n\nThis unseemly confusion the pious Psyche put an end to, by separating\nand sorting everything to its proper place and kind, believing that she\nought to neglect none of the gods, but endeavor by her piety to engage\nthem all in her behalf. The holy Ceres, whose temple it was, finding her\nso religiously employed, thus spoke to her: \u201cO Psyche, truly worthy of\nour pity, though I cannot shield you from the frowns of Venus, yet I can\nteach you how best to allay her displeasure. Go, then, and voluntarily\nsurrender yourself to your lady and sovereign, and try by modesty and\nsubmission to win her forgiveness, and perhaps her favor will restore\nyou the husband you have lost.\u201d\n\nPsyche obeyed the commands of Ceres and took her way to the temple of\nVenus, endeavoring to fortify her mind and ruminating on what she should\nsay and how best propitiate the angry goddess, feeling that the issue\nwas doubtful and perhaps fatal.\n\nVenus received her with angry countenance. \u201cMost undutiful and faithless\nof servants,\u201d said she, \u201cdo you at last remember that you really have a\nmistress? Or have you rather come to see your sick husband, yet laid up\nof the wound given him by his loving wife? You are so ill-favored and\ndisagreeable that the only way you can merit your lover must be by dint\nof industry and diligence. I will make trial of your housewifery.\u201d Then\nshe ordered Psyche to be led to the storehouse of her temple, where was\nlaid up a great quantity of wheat, barley, millet, vetches, beans, and\nlentils prepared for food for her pigeons, and said, \u201cTake and separate\nall these grains, putting all of the same kind in a parcel by\nthemselves, and see that you get it done before evening.\u201d Then Venus\ndeparted and left her to her task.\n\nBut Psyche, in a perfect consternation at the enormous work, sat stupid\nand silent, without moving a finger to the inextricable heap.\n\nWhile she sat despairing, Cupid stirred up the little ant, a native of\nthe fields, to take compassion on her. The leader of the ant hill,\nfollowed by whole hosts of his six-legged subjects, approached the heap,\nand with the utmost diligence, taking grain by grain, they separated the\npile, sorting each kind to its parcel; and when it was all done, they\nvanished out of sight in a moment.\n\nVenus at the approach of twilight returned from the banquet of the gods,\nbreathing odors and crowned with roses. Seeing the task done, she\nexclaimed, \u201cThis is no work of yours, wicked one, but his, whom to your\nown and his misfortune you have enticed.\u201d So saying, she threw her a\npiece of black bread for her supper and went away.\n\nNext morning Venus ordered Psyche to be called and said to her, \u201cBehold\nyonder grove which stretches along the margin of the water. There you\nwill find sheep feeding without a shepherd, with golden-shining fleeces\non their backs. Go, fetch me a sample of that precious wool gathered\nfrom every one of their fleeces.\u201d\n\nPsyche obediently went to the riverside, prepared to do her best to\nexecute the command. But the river god inspired the reeds with\nharmonious murmurs, which seemed to say, \u201cO maiden, severely tried,\ntempt not the dangerous flood, nor venture among the formidable rams on\nthe other side, for as long as they are under the influence of the\nrising sun, they burn with a cruel rage to destroy mortals with their\nsharp horns or rude teeth. But when the noontide sun has driven the\ncattle to the shade, and the serene spirit of the flood has lulled them\nto rest, you may then cross in safety, and you will find the woolly gold\nsticking to the bushes and the trunks of the trees.\u201d\n\nThus the compassionate river god gave Psyche instructions how to\naccomplish her task, and by observing his directions she soon returned\nto Venus with her arms full of the golden fleece; but she received not\nthe approbation of her implacable mistress, who said, \u201cI know very well\nit is by none of your own doings that you have succeeded in this task,\nand I am not satisfied yet that you have any capacity to make yourself\nuseful. But I have another task for you. Here, take this box and go your\nway to the infernal shades, and give this box to Proserpine and say, \u2018My\nmistress Venus desires you to send her a little of your beauty, for in\ntending her sick son she has lost some of her own.\u2019 Be not too long on\nyour errand, for I must paint myself with it to appear at the circle of\nthe gods and goddesses this evening.\u201d\n\nPsyche was now satisfied that her destruction was at hand, being obliged\nto go with her own feet directly down to Erebus. Wherefore, to make no\ndelay of what was not to be avoided, she goes to the top of a high tower\nto precipitate herself headlong, thus to descend the shortest way to the\nshades below. But a voice from the tower said to her, \u201cWhy, poor unlucky\ngirl, dost thou design to put an end to thy days in so dreadful a\nmanner? And what cowardice makes thee sink under this last danger who\nhast been so miraculously supported in all thy former?\u201d Then the voice\ntold her how by a certain cave she might reach the realms of Pluto, and\nhow to avoid all the dangers of the road, to pass by Cerberus, the\nthree-headed dog, and prevail on Charon, the ferryman, to take her\nacross the black river and bring her back again. But the voice added,\n\u201cWhen Proserpine has given you the box filled with her beauty, of all\nthings this is chiefly to be observed by you, that you never once open\nor look into the box nor allow your curiosity to pry into the treasure\nof the beauty of the goddesses.\u201d\n\nPsyche, encouraged by this advice, obeyed it in all things, and taking\nheed to her ways travelled safely to the kingdom of Pluto. She was\nadmitted to the palace of Proserpine, and without accepting the delicate\nseat or delicious banquet that was offered her, but contented with\ncoarse bread for her food, she delivered her message from Venus.\nPresently the box was returned to her, shut and filled with the precious\ncommodity. Then she returned the way she came, and glad was she to come\nout once more into the light of day.\n\nBut having got so far successfully through her dangerous task, a longing\ndesire seized her to examine the contents of the box. \u201cWhat,\u201d said she,\n\u201cshall I, the carrier of this divine beauty, not take the least bit to\nput on my cheeks to appear to more advantage in the eyes of my beloved\nhusband!\u201d So she carefully opened the box, but found nothing there of\nany beauty at all, but an infernal and truly Stygian sleep, which being\nthus set free from its prison, took possession of her, and she fell down\nin the midst of the road, a sleepy corpse without sense or motion.\n\nBut Cupid, being now recovered from his wound, and not able longer to\nbear the absence of his beloved Psyche, slipping through the smallest\ncrack of the window of his chamber which happened to be left open, flew\nto the spot where Psyche lay, and gathering up the sleep from her body\nclosed it again in the box, and waked Psyche with a light touch of one\nof his arrows. \u201cAgain,\u201d said he, \u201chast thou almost perished by the same\ncuriosity. But now perform exactly the task imposed on you by my mother,\nand I will take care of the rest.\u201d\n\nThen Cupid, as swift as lightning penetrating the heights of heaven,\npresented himself before Jupiter with his supplication. Jupiter lent a\nfavoring ear, and pleaded the cause of the lovers so earnestly with\nVenus that he won her consent. On this he sent Mercury to bring Psyche\nup to the heavenly assembly, and when she arrived, handing her a cup of\nambrosia, he said, \u201cDrink this, Psyche, and be immortal; nor shall Cupid\never break away from the knot in which he is tied, but these nuptials\nshall be perpetual.\u201d\n\nThus Psyche became at last united to Cupid, and in due time they had a\ndaughter born to them whose name was Pleasure.\n\n\n\nThe fable of Cupid and Psyche is usually considered allegorical. The\nGreek name for a _butterfly_ is Psyche, and the same word means the\n_soul_. There is no illustration of the immortality of the soul so\nstriking and beautiful as the butterfly, bursting on brilliant wings\nfrom the tomb in which it has lain, after a dull, grovelling,\ncaterpillar existence, to flutter in the blaze of day and feed on the\nmost fragrant and delicate productions of the spring. Psyche, then, is\nthe human soul, which is purified by sufferings and misfortunes, and is\nthus prepared for the enjoyment of true and pure happiness.\n\nIn works of art Psyche is represented as a maiden with the wings of a\nbutterfly, along with Cupid, in the different situations described in\nthe allegory.\n\nMilton alludes to the story of Cupid and Psyche in the conclusion of his\n\u201cComus\u201d:\n\n \u201cCelestial Cupid, her famed son, advanced,\n Holds his dear Psyche sweet entranced,\n After her wandering labors long,\n Till free consent the gods among\n Make her his eternal bride;\n And from her fair unspotted side\n Two blissful twins are to be born,\n Youth and Joy; so Jove hath sworn.\u201d\n\nThe allegory of the story of Cupid and Psyche is well presented in the\nbeautiful lines of T. K. Harvey:\n\n \u201cThey wove bright fables in the days of old,\n When reason borrowed fancy\u2019s painted wings;\n When truth\u2019s clear river flowed o\u2019er sands of gold,\n And told in song its high and mystic things!\n And such the sweet and solemn tale of her\n The pilgrim heart, to whom a dream was given.\n That led her through the world,\u2014Love\u2019s worshipper,\u2014\n To seek on earth for him whose home was heaven!\n\n \u201cIn the full city,\u2014by the haunted fount,\u2014\n Through the dim grotto\u2019s tracery of spars,\u2014\n \u2019Mid the pine temples, on the moonlit mount,\n Where silence sits to listen to the stars;\n In the deep glade where dwells the brooding dove,\n The painted valley, and the scented air,\n She heard far echoes of the voice of Love,\n And found his footsteps\u2019 traces everywhere.\n\n \u201cBut nevermore they met! since doubts and fears,\n Those phantom shapes that haunt and blight the earth,\n Had come \u2019twixt her, a child of sin and tears,\n And that bright spirit of immortal birth;\n Until her pining soul and weeping eyes\n Had learned to seek him only in the skies;\n Till wings unto the weary heart were given,\n And she became Love\u2019s angel bride in heaven!\u201d\n\nThe story of Cupid and Psyche first appears in the works of Apuleius, a\nwriter of the second century of our era. It is therefore of much more\nrecent date than most of the legends of the Age of Fable. It is this\nthat Keats alludes to in his \u201cOde to Psyche\u201d:\n\n \u201cO latest born and loveliest vision far\n Of all Olympus\u2019 faded hierarchy!\n Fairer than Ph\u0153be\u2019s sapphire-regioned star\n Or Vesper, amorous glow-worm of the sky;\n Fairer than these, though temple thou hast none,\n Nor altar heaped with flowers;\n Nor virgin choir to make delicious moan\n Upon the midnight hours;\n No voice, no lute, no pipe, no incense sweet,\n From chain-swung censor teeming;\n No shrine, no grove, no oracle, no heat\n Of pale-mouthed prophet dreaming.\u201d\n\nIn Moore\u2019s \u201cSummer F\u00eate\u201d a fancy ball is described, in which one of the\ncharacters personated is Psyche\u2014\n\n \u201c. . . not in dark disguise to-night\n Hath our young heroine veiled her light;\u2014\n For see, she walks the earth, Love\u2019s own.\n His wedded bride, by holiest vow\n Pledged in Olympus, and made known\n To mortals by the type which now\n Hangs glittering on her snowy brow.\n That butterfly, mysterious trinket,\n Which means the soul, (though few would think it,)\n And sparkling thus on brow so white\n Tells us we\u2019ve Psyche here to-night.\u201d\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XII\n\n CADMUS\u2014THE MYRMIDONS\n\nJUPITER, under the disguise of a bull, had carried away Europa, the\ndaughter of Agenor, king of Ph\u0153nicia. Agenor commanded his son Cadmus to\ngo in search of his sister, and not to return without her. Cadmus went\nand sought long and far for his sister, but could not find her, and not\ndaring to return unsuccessful, consulted the oracle of Apollo to know\nwhat country he should settle in. The oracle informed him that he should\nfind a cow in the field, and should follow her wherever she might\nwander, and where she stopped, should build a city and call it Thebes.\nCadmus had hardly left the Castalian cave, from which the oracle was\ndelivered, when he saw a young cow slowly walking before him. He\nfollowed her close, offering at the same time his prayers to Ph\u0153bus. The\ncow went on till she passed the shallow channel of Cephisus and came out\ninto the plain of Panope. There she stood still, and raising her broad\nforehead to the sky, filled the air with her lowings. Cadmus gave\nthanks, and stooping down kissed the foreign soil, then lifting his\neyes, greeted the surrounding mountains. Wishing to offer a sacrifice to\nJupiter, he sent his servants to seek pure water for a libation. Near by\nthere stood an ancient grove which had never been profaned by the axe,\nin the midst of which was a cave, thick covered with the growth of\nbushes, its roof forming a low arch, from beneath which burst forth a\nfountain of purest water. In the cave lurked a horrid serpent with a\ncrested head and scales glittering like gold. His eyes shone like fire,\nhis body was swollen with venom, he vibrated a triple tongue, and showed\na triple row of teeth. No sooner had the Tyrians dipped their pitchers\nin the fountain, and the in-gushing waters made a sound, than the\nglittering serpent raised his head out of the cave and uttered a fearful\nhiss. The vessels fell from their hands, the blood left their cheeks,\nthey trembled in every limb. The serpent, twisting his scaly body in a\nhuge coil, raised his head so as to overtop the tallest trees, and while\nthe Tyrians from terror could neither fight nor fly, slew some with his\nfangs, others in his folds, and others with his poisonous breath.\n\nCadmus, having waited for the return of his men till midday, went in\nsearch of them. His covering was a lion\u2019s hide, and besides his javelin\nhe carried in his hand a lance, and in his breast a bold heart, a surer\nreliance than either. When he entered the wood, and saw the lifeless\nbodies of his men, and the monster with his bloody jaws, he exclaimed,\n\u201cO faithful friends, I will avenge you, or share your death.\u201d So saying\nhe lifted a huge stone and threw it with all his force at the serpent.\nSuch a block would have shaken the wall of a fortress, but it made no\nimpression on the monster. Cadmus next threw his javelin, which met with\nbetter success, for it penetrated the serpent\u2019s scales, and pierced\nthrough to his entrails. Fierce with pain, the monster turned back his\nhead to view the wound, and attempted to draw out the weapon with his\nmouth, but broke it off, leaving the iron point rankling in his flesh.\nHis neck swelled with rage, bloody foam covered his jaws, and the breath\nof his nostrils poisoned the air around. Now he twisted himself into a\ncircle, then stretched himself out on the ground like the trunk of a\nfallen tree. As he moved onward, Cadmus retreated before him, holding\nhis spear opposite to the monster\u2019s opened jaws. The serpent snapped at\nthe weapon and attempted to bite its iron point. At last Cadmus,\nwatching his chance, thrust the spear at a moment when the animal\u2019s head\nthrown back came against the trunk of a tree, and so succeeded in\npinning him to its side. His weight bent the tree as he struggled in the\nagonies of death.\n\nWhile Cadmus stood over his conquered foe, contemplating its vast size,\na voice was heard (from whence he knew not, but he heard it distinctly)\ncommanding him to take the dragon\u2019s teeth and sow them in the earth. He\nobeyed. He made a furrow in the ground, and planted the teeth, destined\nto produce a crop of men. Scarce had he done so when the clods began to\nmove, and the points of spears to appear above the surface. Next helmets\nwith their nodding plumes came up, and next the shoulders and breasts\nand limbs of men with weapons, and in time a harvest of armed warriors.\nCadmus, alarmed, prepared to encounter a new enemy, but one of them said\nto him, \u201cMeddle not with our civil war.\u201d With that he who had spoken\nsmote one of his earth-born brothers with a sword, and he himself fell\npierced with an arrow from another. The latter fell victim to a fourth,\nand in like manner the whole crowd dealt with each other till all fell,\nslain with mutual wounds, except five survivors. One of these cast away\nhis weapons and said, \u201cBrothers, let us live in peace!\u201d These five\njoined with Cadmus in building his city, to which they gave the name of\nThebes.\n\nCadmus obtained in marriage Harmonia, the daughter of Venus. The gods\nleft Olympus to honor the occasion with their presence, and Vulcan\npresented the bride with a necklace of surpassing brilliancy, his own\nworkmanship. But a fatality hung over the family of Cadmus in\nconsequence of his killing the serpent sacred to Mars. Semele and Ino,\nhis daughters, and Act\u00e6on and Pentheus, his grandchildren, all perished\nunhappily, and Cadmus and Harmonia quitted Thebes, now grown odious to\nthem, and emigrated to the country of the Enchelians, who received them\nwith honor and made Cadmus their king. But the misfortunes of their\nchildren still weighed upon their minds; and one day Cadmus exclaimed,\n\u201cIf a serpent\u2019s life is so dear to the gods, I would I were myself a\nserpent.\u201d No sooner had he uttered the words than he began to change his\nform. Harmonia beheld it and prayed to the gods to let her share his\nfate. Both became serpents. They live in the woods, but mindful of their\norigin, they neither avoid the presence of man nor do they ever injure\nany one.\n\n\n\nThere is a tradition that Cadmus introduced into Greece the letters of\nthe alphabet which were invented by the Ph\u0153nicians. This is alluded to\nby Byron, where, addressing the modern Greeks, he says:\n\n \u201cYou have the letters Cadmus gave,\n Think you he meant them for a slave?\u201d\n\nMilton, describing the serpent which tempted Eve, is reminded of the\nserpents of the classical stories and says:\n\n . . . \u201c\u2014pleasing was his shape,\n And lovely; never since of serpent kind\n Lovelier; not those that in Illyria changed\n Hermione and Cadmus, nor the god\n In Epidaurus.\u201d\n\nFor an explanation of the last allusion, see Oracle of \u00c6sculapius, p.\n298.\n\n THE MYRMIDONS\n\nThe Myrmidons were the soldiers of Achilles, in the Trojan war. From\nthem all zealous and unscrupulous followers of a political chief are\ncalled by that name, down to this day. But the origin of the Myrmidons\nwould not give one the idea of a fierce and bloody race, but rather of a\nlaborious and peaceful one.\n\nCephalus, king of Athens, arrived in the island of \u00c6gina to seek\nassistance of his old friend and ally \u00c6acus, the king, in his war with\nMinos, king of Crete. Cephalus was most kindly received, and the desired\nassistance readily promised. \u201cI have people enough,\u201d said \u00c6acus, \u201cto\nprotect myself and spare you such a force as you need.\u201d \u201cI rejoice to\nsee it,\u201d replied Cephalus, \u201cand my wonder has been raised, I confess, to\nfind such a host of youths as I see around me, all apparently of about\nthe same age. Yet there are many individuals whom I previously knew,\nthat I look for now in vain. What has become of them?\u201d \u00c6acus groaned,\nand replied with a voice of sadness, \u201cI have been intending to tell you,\nand will now do so, without more delay, that you may see how from the\nsaddest beginning a happy result sometimes flows. Those whom you\nformerly knew are now dust and ashes! A plague sent by angry Juno\ndevastated the land. She hated it because it bore the name of one of her\nhusband\u2019s female favorites. While the disease appeared to spring from\nnatural causes we resisted it, as we best might, by natural remedies;\nbut it soon appeared that the pestilence was too powerful for our\nefforts, and we yielded. At the beginning the sky seemed to settle down\nupon the earth, and thick clouds shut in the heated air. For four months\ntogether a deadly south wind prevailed. The disorder affected the wells\nand springs; thousands of snakes crept over the land and shed their\npoison in the fountains. The force of the disease was first spent on the\nlower animals\u2014dogs, cattle, sheep, and birds. The luckless ploughman\nwondered to see his oxen fall in the midst of their work, and lie\nhelpless in the unfinished furrow. The wool fell from the bleating\nsheep, and their bodies pined away. The horse, once foremost in the\nrace, contested the palm no more, but groaned at his stall and died an\ninglorious death. The wild boar forgot his rage, the stag his swiftness,\nthe bears no longer attacked the herds. Everything languished; dead\nbodies lay in the roads, the fields, and the woods; the air was poisoned\nby them. I tell you what is hardly credible, but neither dogs nor birds\nwould touch them, nor starving wolves. Their decay spread the infection.\nNext the disease attacked the country people, and then the dwellers in\nthe city. At first the cheek was flushed, and the breath drawn with\ndifficulty. The tongue grew rough and swelled, and the dry mouth stood\nopen with its veins enlarged and gasped for the air. Men could not bear\nthe heat of their clothes or their beds, but preferred to lie on the\nbare ground; and the ground did not cool them, but, on the contrary,\nthey heated the spot where they lay. Nor could the physicians help, for\nthe disease attacked them also, and the contact of the sick gave them\ninfection, so that the most faithful were the first victims. At last all\nhope of relief vanished, and men learned to look upon death as the only\ndeliverer from disease. Then they gave way to every inclination, and\ncared not to ask what was expedient, for nothing was expedient. All\nrestraint laid aside, they crowded around the wells and fountains and\ndrank till they died, without quenching thirst. Many had not strength to\nget away from the water, but died in the midst of the stream, and others\nwould drink of it notwithstanding. Such was their weariness of their\nsick beds that some would creep forth, and if not strong enough to\nstand, would die on the ground. They seemed to hate their friends, and\ngot away from their homes, as if, not knowing the cause of their\nsickness, they charged it on the place of their abode. Some were seen\ntottering along the road, as long as they could stand, while others sank\non the earth, and turned their dying eyes around to take a last look,\nthen closed them in death.\n\n\u201cWhat heart had I left me, during all this, or what ought I to have had,\nexcept to hate life and wish to be with my dead subjects? On all sides\nlay my people strewn like over-ripened apples beneath the tree, or\nacorns under the storm-shaken oak. You see yonder a temple on the\nheight. It is sacred to Jupiter. O how many offered prayers there,\nhusbands for wives, fathers for sons, and died in the very act of\nsupplication! How often, while the priest made ready for sacrifice, the\nvictim fell, struck down by disease without waiting for the blow! At\nlength all reverence for sacred things was lost. Bodies were thrown out\nunburied, wood was wanting for funeral piles, men fought with one\nanother for the possession of them. Finally there were none left to\nmourn; sons and husbands, old men and youths, perished alike unlamented.\n\n\u201cStanding before the altar I raised my eyes to heaven. \u2018O Jupiter,\u2019 I\nsaid, \u2018if thou art indeed my father, and art not ashamed of thy\noffspring, give me back my people, or take me also away!\u2019 At these words\na clap of thunder was heard. \u2018I accept the omen,\u2019 I cried; \u2018O may it be\na sign of a favorable disposition towards me!\u2019 By chance there grew by\nthe place where I stood an oak with wide-spreading branches, sacred to\nJupiter. I observed a troop of ants busy with their labor, carrying\nminute grains in their mouths and following one another in a line up the\ntrunk of the tree. Observing their numbers with admiration, I said,\n\u2018Give me, O father, citizens as numerous as these, and replenish my\nempty city.\u2019 The tree shook and gave a rustling sound with its branches,\nthough no wind agitated them. I trembled in every limb, yet I kissed the\nearth and the tree. I would not confess to myself that I hoped, yet I\ndid hope. Night came on and sleep took possession of my frame oppressed\nwith cares. The tree stood before me in my dreams, with its numerous\nbranches all covered with living, moving creatures. It seemed to shake\nits limbs and throw down over the ground a multitude of those\nindustrious grain-gathering animals, which appeared to gain in size, and\ngrow larger and larger, and by and by to stand erect, lay aside their\nsuperfluous legs and their black color, and finally to assume the human\nform. Then I awoke, and my first impulse was to chide the gods who had\nrobbed me of a sweet vision and given me no reality in its place. Being\nstill in the temple, my attention was caught by the sound of many voices\nwithout; a sound of late unusual to my ears. While I began to think I\nwas yet dreaming, Telamon, my son, throwing open the temple gates,\nexclaimed: \u2018Father, approach, and behold things surpassing even your\nhopes!\u2019 I went forth; I saw a multitude of men, such as I had seen in my\ndream, and they were passing in procession in the same manner. While I\ngazed with wonder and delight they approached and kneeling hailed me as\ntheir king. I paid my vows to Jove, and proceeded to allot the vacant\ncity to the new-born race, and to parcel out the fields among them. I\ncalled them Myrmidons, from the ant (myrmex) from which they sprang. You\nhave seen these persons; their dispositions resemble those which they\nhad in their former shape. They are a diligent and industrious race,\neager to gain, and tenacious of their gains. Among them you may recruit\nyour forces. They will follow you to the war, young in years and bold in\nheart.\u201d\n\nThis description of the plague is copied by Ovid from the account which\nThucydides, the Greek historian, gives of the plague of Athens. The\nhistorian drew from life, and all the poets and writers of fiction since\nhis day, when they have had occasion to describe a similar scene, have\nborrowed their details from him.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XIII\n\n NISUS AND SCYLLA\u2014ECHO AND NARCISSUS\u2014CLYTIE\u2014HERO AND LEANDER\n\n NISUS AND SCYLLA\n\nMINOS, king of Crete, made war upon Megara. Nisus was king of Megara,\nand Scylla was his daughter. The siege had now lasted six months and the\ncity still held out, for it was decreed by fate that it should not be\ntaken so long as a certain purple lock, which glittered among the hair\nof King Nisus, remained on his head. There was a tower on the city\nwalls, which overlooked the plain where Minos and his army were\nencamped. To this tower Scylla used to repair, and look abroad over the\ntents of the hostile army. The siege had lasted so long that she had\nlearned to distinguish the persons of the leaders. Minos, in particular,\nexcited her admiration. Arrayed in his helmet, and bearing his shield,\nshe admired his graceful deportment; if he threw his javelin skill\nseemed combined with force in the discharge; if he drew his bow Apollo\nhimself could not have done it more gracefully. But when he laid aside\nhis helmet, and in his purple robes bestrode his white horse with its\ngay caparisons, and reined in its foaming mouth, the daughter of Nisus\nwas hardly mistress of herself; she was almost frantic with admiration.\nShe envied the weapon that he grasped, the reins that he held. She felt\nas if she could, if it were possible, go to him through the hostile\nranks; she felt an impulse to cast herself down from the tower into the\nmidst of his camp, or to open the gates to him, or to do anything else,\nso only it might gratify Minos. As she sat in the tower, she talked thus\nwith herself: \u201cI know not whether to rejoice or grieve at this sad war.\nI grieve that Minos is our enemy; but I rejoice at any cause that brings\nhim to my sight. Perhaps he would be willing to grant us peace, and\nreceive me as a hostage. I would fly down, if I could, and alight in his\ncamp, and tell him that we yield ourselves to his mercy. But then, to\nbetray my father! No! rather would I never see Minos again. And yet no\ndoubt it is sometimes the best thing for a city to be conquered, when\nthe conqueror is clement and generous. Minos certainly has right on his\nside. I think we shall be conquered; and if that must be the end of it,\nwhy should not love unbar the gates to him, instead of leaving it to be\ndone by war? Better spare delay and slaughter if we can. And O if any\none should wound or kill Minos! No one surely would have the heart to do\nit; yet ignorantly, not knowing him, one might. I will, I will surrender\nmyself to him, with my country as a dowry, and so put an end to the war.\nBut how? The gates are guarded, and my father keeps the keys; he only\nstands in my way. O that it might please the gods to take him away! But\nwhy ask the gods to do it? Another woman, loving as I do, would remove\nwith her own hands whatever stood in the way of her love. And can any\nother woman dare more than I? I would encounter fire and sword to gain\nmy object; but here there is no need of fire and sword. I only need my\nfather\u2019s purple lock. More precious than gold to me, that will give me\nall I wish.\u201d\n\nWhile she thus reasoned night came on, and soon the whole palace was\nburied in sleep. She entered her father\u2019s bedchamber and cut off the\nfatal lock; then passed out of the city and entered the enemy\u2019s camp.\nShe demanded to be led to the king, and thus addressed him: \u201cI am\nScylla, the daughter of Nisus. I surrender to you my country and my\nfather\u2019s house. I ask no reward but yourself; for love of you I have\ndone it. See here the purple lock! With this I give you my father and\nhis kingdom.\u201d She held out her hand with the fatal spoil. Minos shrunk\nback and refused to touch it. \u201cThe gods destroy thee, infamous woman,\u201d\nhe exclaimed; \u201cdisgrace of our time! May neither earth nor sea yield\nthee a resting-place! Surely, my Crete, where Jove himself was cradled,\nshall not be polluted with such a monster!\u201d Thus he said, and gave\norders that equitable terms should be allowed to the conquered city, and\nthat the fleet should immediately sail from the island.\n\nScylla was frantic. \u201cUngrateful man,\u201d she exclaimed, \u201cis it thus you\nleave me?\u2014me who have given you victory,\u2014who have sacrificed for you\nparent and country! I am guilty, I confess, and deserve to die, but not\nby your hand.\u201d As the ships left the shore, she leaped into the water,\nand seizing the rudder of the one which carried Minos, she was borne\nalong an unwelcome companion of their course. A sea-eagle soaring\naloft,\u2014it was her father who had been changed into that form,\u2014seeing\nher, pounced down upon her, and struck her with his beak and claws. In\nterror she let go the ship and would have fallen into the water, but\nsome pitying deity changed her into a bird. The sea-eagle still\ncherishes the old animosity; and whenever he espies her in his lofty\nflight you may see him dart down upon her, with beak and claws, to take\nvengeance for the ancient crime.\n\n ECHO AND NARCISSUS\n\nEcho was a beautiful nymph, fond of the woods and hills, where she\ndevoted herself to woodland sports. She was a favorite of Diana, and\nattended her in the chase. But Echo had one failing; she was fond of\ntalking, and whether in chat or argument, would have the last word. One\nday Juno was seeking her husband, who, she had reason to fear, was\namusing himself among the nymphs. Echo by her talk contrived to detain\nthe goddess till the nymphs made their escape. When Juno discovered it,\nshe passed sentence upon Echo in these words: \u201cYou shall forfeit the use\nof that tongue with which you have cheated me, except for that one\npurpose you are so fond of\u2014_reply_. You shall still have the last word,\nbut no power to speak first.\u201d\n\nThis nymph saw Narcissus, a beautiful youth, as he pursued the chase\nupon the mountains. She loved him and followed his footsteps. O how she\nlonged to address him in the softest accents, and win him to converse!\nbut it was not in her power. She waited with impatience for him to speak\nfirst, and had her answer ready. One day the youth, being separated from\nhis companions, shouted aloud, \u201cWho\u2019s here?\u201d Echo replied, \u201cHere.\u201d\nNarcissus looked around, but seeing no one called out, \u201cCome.\u201d Echo\nanswered, \u201cCome.\u201d As no one came, Narcissus called again, \u201cWhy do you\nshun me?\u201d Echo asked the same question. \u201cLet us join one another,\u201d said\nthe youth. The maid answered with all her heart in the same words, and\nhastened to the spot, ready to throw her arms about his neck. He started\nback, exclaiming, \u201cHands off! I would rather die than you should have\nme!\u201d \u201cHave me,\u201d said she; but it was all in vain. He left her, and she\nwent to hide her blushes in the recesses of the woods. From that time\nforth she lived in caves and among mountain cliffs. Her form faded with\ngrief, till at last all her flesh shrank away. Her bones were changed\ninto rocks and there was nothing left of her but her voice. With that\nshe is still ready to reply to any one who calls her, and keeps up her\nold habit of having the last word.\n\nNarcissus\u2019s cruelty in this case was not the only instance. He shunned\nall the rest of the nymphs, as he had done poor Echo. One day a maiden\nwho had in vain endeavored to attract him uttered a prayer that he might\nsome time or other feel what it was to love and meet no return of\naffection. The avenging goddess heard and granted the prayer.\n\nThere was a clear fountain, with water like silver, to which the\nshepherds never drove their flocks, nor the mountain goats resorted, nor\nany of the beasts of the forest; neither was it defaced with fallen\nleaves or branches; but the grass grew fresh around it, and the rocks\nsheltered it from the sun. Hither came one day the youth, fatigued with\nhunting, heated and thirsty. He stooped down to drink, and saw his own\nimage in the water; he thought it was some beautiful water-spirit living\nin the fountain. He stood gazing with admiration at those bright eyes,\nthose locks curled like the locks of Bacchus or Apollo, the rounded\ncheeks, the ivory neck, the parted lips, and the glow of health and\nexercise over all. He fell in love with himself. He brought his lips\nnear to take a kiss; he plunged his arms in to embrace the beloved\nobject. It fled at the touch, but returned again after a moment and\nrenewed the fascination. He could not tear himself away; he lost all\nthought of food or rest, while he hovered over the brink of the fountain\ngazing upon his own image. He talked with the supposed spirit: \u201cWhy,\nbeautiful being, do you shun me? Surely my face is not one to repel you.\nThe nymphs love me, and you yourself look not indifferent upon me. When\nI stretch forth my arms you do the same; and you smile upon me and\nanswer my beckonings with the like.\u201d His tears fell into the water and\ndisturbed the image. As he saw it depart, he exclaimed, \u201cStay, I entreat\nyou! Let me at least gaze upon you, if I may not touch you.\u201d With this,\nand much more of the same kind, he cherished the flame that consumed\nhim, so that by degrees he lost his color, his vigor, and the beauty\nwhich formerly had so charmed the nymph Echo. She kept near him,\nhowever, and when he exclaimed, \u201cAlas! alas!\u201d she answered him with the\nsame words. He pined away and died; and when his shade passed the\nStygian river, it leaned over the boat to catch a look of itself in the\nwaters. The nymphs mourned for him, especially the water-nymphs; and\nwhen they smote their breasts Echo smote hers also. They prepared a\nfuneral pile and would have burned the body, but it was nowhere to be\nfound; but in its place a flower, purple within, and surrounded with\nwhite leaves, which bears the name and preserves the memory of\nNarcissus.\n\nMilton alludes to the story of Echo and Narcissus in the Lady\u2019s song in\n\u201cComus.\u201d She is seeking her brothers in the forest, and sings to attract\ntheir attention:\n\n \u201cSweet Echo, sweetest nymph, that liv\u2019st unseen\n Within thy a\u00ebry shell\n By slow Meander\u2019s margent green,\n And in the violet-embroidered vale,\n Where the love-lorn nightingale\n Nightly to thee her sad song mourneth well;\n Canst thou not tell me of a gentle pair\n That likest thy Narcissus are?\n O, if thou have\n Hid them in some flowery cave,\n Tell me but where,\n Sweet queen of parly, daughter of the sphere,\n So may\u2019st thou be translated to the skies,\n And give resounding grace to all heaven\u2019s harmonies.\u201d\n\nMilton has imitated the story of Narcissus in the account which he makes\nEve give of the first sight of herself reflected in the fountain:\n\n \u201cThat day I oft remember when from sleep\n I first awaked, and found myself reposed\n Under a shade on flowers, much wondering where\n And what I was, whence thither brought, and how.\n Not distant far from thence a murmuring sound\n Of waters issued from a cave, and spread\n Into a liquid plain, then stood unmoved\n Pure as the expanse of heaven; I thither went\n With unexperienced thought, and laid me down\n On the green bank, to look into the clear\n Smooth lake that to me seemed another sky.\n As I bent down to look, just opposite\n A shape within the watery gleam appeared,\n Bending to look on me. I started back;\n It started back; but pleased I soon returned,\n Pleased it returned as soon with answering looks\n Of sympathy and love. There had I fixed\n Mine eyes till now, and pined with vain desire,\n Had not a voice thus warned me: \u2018What thou seest,\n What there thou seest, fair creature, is thyself;\u2019\u201d etc.\n \u2014_Paradise Lost_, Book IV.\n\nNo one of the fables of antiquity has been oftener alluded to by the\npoets than that of Narcissus. Here are two epigrams which treat it in\ndifferent ways. The first is by Goldsmith:\n\n \u201cON A BEAUTIFUL YOUTH, STRUCK BLIND BY LIGHTNING\n \u201cSure \u2019twas by Providence designed,\n Rather in pity than in hate,\n That he should be like Cupid blind,\n To save him from Narcissus\u2019 fate.\u201d\n\nThe other is by Cowper:\n\n \u201cON AN UGLY FELLOW\n \u201cBeware, my friend, of crystal brook\n Or fountain, lest that hideous hook,\n Thy nose, thou chance to see;\n Narcissus\u2019 fate would then be thine,\n And self-detested thou would\u2019st pine,\n As self-enamoured he.\u201d\n\n CLYTIE\n\nClytie was a water-nymph and in love with Apollo, who made her no\nreturn. So she pined away, sitting all day long upon the cold ground,\nwith her unbound tresses streaming over her shoulders. Nine days she sat\nand tasted neither food nor drink, her own tears and the chilly dew her\nonly food. She gazed on the sun when he rose, and as he passed through\nhis daily course to his setting; she saw no other object, her face\nturned constantly on him. At last, they say, her limbs rooted in the\nground, her face became a flower[13] which turns on its stem so as\nalways to face the sun throughout its daily course; for it retains to\nthat extent the feeling of the nymph from whom it sprang.\n\n\n\nHood, in his \u201cFlowers,\u201d thus alludes to Clytie:\n\n \u201cI will not have the mad Clytie,\n Whose head is turned by the sun;\n The tulip is a courtly quean,\n Whom therefore I will shun;\n The cowslip is a country wench,\n The violet is a nun;\u2014\n But I will woo the dainty rose,\n The queen of every one.\u201d\n\nThe sunflower is a favorite emblem of constancy. Thus Moore uses it:\n\n \u201cThe heart that has truly loved never forgets,\n But as truly loves on to the close;\n As the sunflower turns on her god when he sets\n The same look that she turned when he rose.\u201d\n\n HERO AND LEANDER\n\nLeander was a youth of Abydos, a town of the Asian side of the strait\nwhich separates Asia and Europe. On the opposite shore, in the town of\nSestos, lived the maiden Hero, a priestess of Venus. Leander loved her,\nand used to swim the strait nightly to enjoy the company of his\nmistress, guided by a torch which she reared upon the tower for the\npurpose. But one night a tempest arose and the sea was rough; his\nstrength failed, and he was drowned. The waves bore his body to the\nEuropean shore, where Hero became aware of his death, and in her despair\ncast herself down from the tower into the sea and perished.\n\n\n\nThe following sonnet is by Keats:\n\n \u201cON A PICTURE OF LEANDER\n \u201cCome hither all sweet maidens soberly,\n Down looking aye, and with a chasten\u2019d light\n Hid in the fringes of your eyelids white,\n And meekly let your fair hands joined be.\n As if so gentle that ye could not see,\n Untouch\u2019d, a victim of your beauty bright,\n Sinking away to his young spirit\u2019s night,\n Sinking bewilder\u2019d \u2019mid the dreary sea.\n \u2019Tis young Leander toiling to his death.\n Nigh swooning he doth purse his weary lips\n For Hero\u2019s cheek, and smiles against her smile.\n O horrid dream! see how his body dips\n Dead-heavy; arms and shoulders gleam awhile;\n He\u2019s gone; up bubbles all his amorous breath!\u201d\n\nThe story of Leander\u2019s swimming the Hellespont was looked upon as\nfabulous, and the feat considered impossible, till Lord Byron proved its\npossibility by performing it himself. In the \u201cBride of Abydos\u201d he says,\n\n \u201cThese limbs that buoyant wave hath borne.\u201d\n\nThe distance in the narrowest part is almost a mile, and there is a\nconstant current setting out from the Sea of Marmora into the\nArchipelago. Since Byron\u2019s time the feat has been achieved by others;\nbut it yet remains a test of strength and skill in the art of swimming\nsufficient to give a wide and lasting celebrity to any one of our\nreaders who may dare to make the attempt and succeed in accomplishing\nit.\n\n\n\nIn the beginning of the second canto of the same poem, Byron thus\nalludes to this story:\n\n \u201cThe winds are high on Helle\u2019s wave,\n As on that night of stormiest water,\n When Love, who sent, forgot to save\n The young, the beautiful, the brave,\n The lonely hope of Sestos\u2019 daughter.\n O, when alone along the sky\n The turret-torch was blazing high,\n Though rising gale and breaking foam,\n And shrieking sea-birds warned him home;\n And clouds aloft and tides below,\n With signs and sounds forbade to go,\n He could not see, he would not hear\n Or sound or sight foreboding fear.\n His eye but saw that light of love,\n The only star it hailed above;\n His ear but rang with Hero\u2019s song,\n \u2018Ye waves, divide not lovers long.\u2019\n That tale is old, but love anew\n May nerve young hearts to prove as true.\u201d\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XIV\n\n MINERVA\u2014NIOBE\n\n MINERVA\n\nMINERVA, the goddess of wisdom, was the daughter of Jupiter. She was\nsaid to have leaped forth from his brain, mature, and in complete armor.\nShe presided over the useful and ornamental arts, both those of\nmen\u2014such as agriculture and navigation\u2014and those of women,\u2014spinning,\nweaving, and needlework. She was also a warlike divinity; but it was\ndefensive war only that she patronized, and she had no sympathy with\nMars\u2019s savage love of violence and bloodshed. Athens was her chosen\nseat, her own city, awarded to her as the prize of a contest with\nNeptune, who also aspired to it. The tale ran that in the reign of\nCecrops, the first king of Athens, the two deities contended for the\npossession of the city. The gods decreed that it should be awarded to\nthat one who produced the gift most useful to mortals. Neptune gave the\nhorse; Minerva produced the olive. The gods gave judgment that the olive\nwas the more useful of the two, and awarded the city to the goddess; and\nit was named after her, Athens, her name in Greek being Athene.\n\nThere was another contest, in which a mortal dared to come in\ncompetition with Minerva. That mortal was Arachne, a maiden who had\nattained such skill in the arts of weaving and embroidery that the\nnymphs themselves would leave their groves and fountains to come and\ngaze upon her work. It was not only beautiful when it was done, but\nbeautiful also in the doing. To watch her, as she took the wool in its\nrude state and formed it into rolls, or separated it with her fingers\nand carded it till it looked as light and soft as a cloud, or twirled\nthe spindle with skilful touch, or wove the web, or, after it was woven,\nadorned it with her needle, one would have said that Minerva herself had\ntaught her. But this she denied, and could not bear to be thought a\npupil even of a goddess. \u201cLet Minerva try her skill with mine,\u201d said\nshe; \u201cif beaten I will pay the penalty.\u201d Minerva heard this and was\ndispleased. She assumed the form of an old woman and went and gave\nArachne some friendly advice. \u201cI have had much experience,\u201d said she,\n\u201cand I hope you will not despise my counsel. Challenge your\nfellow-mortals as you will, but do not compete with a goddess. On the\ncontrary, I advise you to ask her forgiveness for what you have said,\nand as she is merciful perhaps she will pardon you.\u201d Arachne stopped her\nspinning and looked at the old dame with anger in her countenance. \u201cKeep\nyour counsel,\u201d said she, \u201cfor your daughters or handmaids; for my part I\nknow what I say, and I stand to it. I am not afraid of the goddess; let\nher try her skill, if she dare venture.\u201d \u201cShe comes,\u201d said Minerva; and\ndropping her disguise stood confessed. The nymphs bent low in homage,\nand all the bystanders paid reverence. Arachne alone was unterrified.\nShe blushed, indeed; a sudden color dyed her cheek, and then she grew\npale. But she stood to her resolve, and with a foolish conceit of her\nown skill rushed on her fate. Minerva forbore no longer nor interposed\nany further advice. They proceed to the contest. Each takes her station\nand attaches the web to the beam. Then the slender shuttle is passed in\nand out among the threads. The reed with its fine teeth strikes up the\nwoof into its place and compacts the web. Both work with speed; their\nskilful hands move rapidly, and the excitement of the contest makes the\nlabor light. Wool of Tyrian dye is contrasted with that of other colors,\nshaded off into one another so adroitly that the joining deceives the\neye. Like the bow, whose long arch tinges the heavens, formed by\nsunbeams reflected from the shower,[14] in which, where the colors meet\nthey seem as one, but at a little distance from the point of contact are\nwholly different.\n\nMinerva wrought on her web the scene of her contest with Neptune. Twelve\nof the heavenly powers are represented, Jupiter, with august gravity,\nsitting in the midst. Neptune, the ruler of the sea, holds his trident,\nand appears to have just smitten the earth, from which a horse has\nleaped forth. Minerva depicted herself with helmed head, her \u00c6gis\ncovering her breast. Such was the central circle; and in the four\ncorners were represented incidents illustrating the displeasure of the\ngods at such presumptuous mortals as had dared to contend with them.\nThese were meant as warnings to her rival to give up the contest before\nit was too late.\n\nArachne filled her web with subjects designedly chosen to exhibit the\nfailings and errors of the gods. One scene represented Leda caressing\nthe swan, under which form Jupiter had disguised himself; and another,\nDana\u00eb, in the brazen tower in which her father had imprisoned her, but\nwhere the god effected his entrance in the form of a golden shower.\nStill another depicted Europa deceived by Jupiter under the disguise of\na bull. Encouraged by the tameness of the animal Europa ventured to\nmount his back, whereupon Jupiter advanced into the sea and swam with\nher to Crete. You would have thought it was a real bull, so naturally\nwas it wrought, and so natural the water in which it swam. She seemed to\nlook with longing eyes back upon the shore she was leaving, and to call\nto her companions for help. She appeared to shudder with terror at the\nsight of the heaving waves, and to draw back her feet from the water.\n\nArachne filled her canvas with similar subjects, wonderfully well done,\nbut strongly marking her presumption and impiety. Minerva could not\nforbear to admire, yet felt indignant at the insult. She struck the web\nwith her shuttle and rent it in pieces; she then touched the forehead of\nArachne and made her feel her guilt and shame. She could not endure it\nand went and hanged herself. Minerva pitied her as she saw her suspended\nby a rope. \u201cLive,\u201d she said, \u201cguilty woman! and that you may preserve\nthe memory of this lesson, continue to hang, both you and your\ndescendants, to all future times.\u201d She sprinkled her with the juices of\naconite, and immediately her hair came off, and her nose and ears\nlikewise. Her form shrank up, and her head grew smaller yet; her fingers\ncleaved to her side and served for legs. All the rest of her is body,\nout of which she spins her thread, often hanging suspended by it, in the\nsame attitude as when Minerva touched her and transformed her into a\nspider.\n\n\n\nSpenser tells the story of Arachne in his \u201cMuiopotmos,\u201d adhering very\nclosely to his master Ovid, but improving upon him in the conclusion of\nthe story. The two stanzas which follow tell what was done after the\ngoddess had depicted her creation of the olive tree:\n\n \u201cAmongst these leaves she made a Butterfly,\n With excellent device and wondrous slight,\n Fluttering among the olives wantonly,\n That seemed to live, so like it was in sight;\n The velvet nap which on his wings doth lie,\n The silken down with which his back is dight,\n His broad outstretched horns, his hairy thighs,\n His glorious colors, and his glistening eyes.\u201d[15]\n\n \u201cWhich when Arachne saw, as overlaid\n And mastered with workmanship so rare,\n She stood astonied long, ne aught gainsaid;\n And with fast-fixed eyes on her did stare,\n And by her silence, sign of one dismayed,\n The victory did yield her as her share:\n Yet did she inly fret and felly burn,\n And all her blood to poisonous rancor turn.\u201d\n\nAnd so the metamorphosis is caused by Arachne\u2019s own mortification and\nvexation, and not by any direct act of the goddess.\n\n\n\nThe following specimen of old-fashioned gallantry is by Garrick:\n\n \u201cUPON A LADY\u2019S EMBROIDERY\n \u201cArachne once, as poets tell,\n A goddess at her art defied,\n And soon the daring mortal fell\n The hapless victim of her pride.\n\n \u201cO, then beware Arachne\u2019s fate;\n Be prudent, Chloe, and submit,\n For you\u2019ll most surely meet her hate,\n Who rival both her art and wit.\u201d\n\nTennyson, in his \u201cPalace of Art,\u201d describing the works of art with which\nthe palace was adorned, thus alludes to Europa:\n\n \u201c. . . sweet Europa\u2019s mantle blew unclasped\n From off her shoulder, backward borne,\n From one hand drooped a crocus, one hand grasped\n The mild bull\u2019s golden horn.\u201d\n\nIn his \u201cPrincess\u201d there is this allusion to Dana\u00eb:\n\n \u201cNow lies the earth all Dana\u00eb to the stars,\n And all thy heart lies open unto me.\u201d\n\n NIOBE\n\nThe fate of Arachne was noised abroad through all the country, and\nserved as a warning to all presumptuous mortals not to compare\nthemselves with the divinities. But one, and she a matron too, failed to\nlearn the lesson of humility. It was Niobe, the queen of Thebes. She had\nindeed much to be proud of; but it was not her husband\u2019s fame, nor her\nown beauty, nor their great descent, nor the power of their kingdom that\nelated her. It was her children; and truly the happiest of mothers would\nNiobe have been if only she had not claimed to be so. It was on occasion\nof the annual celebration in honor of Latona and her offspring, Apollo\nand Diana,\u2014when the people of Thebes were assembled, their brows\ncrowned with laurel, bearing frankincense to the altars and paying their\nvows,\u2014that Niobe appeared among the crowd. Her attire was splendid with\ngold and gems, and her aspect beautiful as the face of an angry woman\ncan be. She stood and surveyed the people with haughty looks. \u201cWhat\nfolly,\u201d said she, \u201cis this!\u2014to prefer beings whom you never saw to\nthose who stand before your eyes! Why should Latona be honored with\nworship, and none be paid to me? My father was Tantalus, who was\nreceived as a guest at the table of the gods; my mother was a goddess.\nMy husband built and rules this city, Thebes, and Phrygia is my paternal\ninheritance. Wherever I turn my eyes I survey the elements of my power;\nnor is my form and presence unworthy of a goddess. To all this let me\nadd I have seven sons and seven daughters, and look for sons-in-law and\ndaughters-in-law of pretensions worthy of my alliance. Have I not cause\nfor pride? Will you prefer to me this Latona, the Titan\u2019s daughter, with\nher two children? I have seven times as many. Fortunate indeed am I, and\nfortunate I shall remain! Will any one deny this? My abundance is my\nsecurity. I feel myself too strong for Fortune to subdue. She may take\nfrom me much; I shall still have much left. Were I to lose some of my\nchildren, I should hardly be left as poor as Latona with her two only.\nAway with you from these solemnities,\u2014put off the laurel from your\nbrows,\u2014have done with this worship!\u201d The people obeyed, and left the\nsacred services uncompleted.\n\nThe goddess was indignant. On the Cynthian mountain top where she dwelt\nshe thus addressed her son and daughter: \u201cMy children, I who have been\nso proud of you both, and have been used to hold myself second to none\nof the goddesses except Juno alone, begin now to doubt whether I am\nindeed a goddess. I shall be deprived of my worship altogether unless\nyou protect me.\u201d She was proceeding in this strain, but Apollo\ninterrupted her. \u201cSay no more,\u201d said he; \u201cspeech only delays\npunishment.\u201d So said Diana also. Darting through the air, veiled in\nclouds, they alighted on the towers of the city. Spread out before the\ngates was a broad plain, where the youth of the city pursued their\nwarlike sports. The sons of Niobe were there with the rest,\u2014some\nmounted on spirited horses richly caparisoned, some driving gay\nchariots. Ismenos, the first-born, as he guided his foaming steeds,\nstruck with an arrow from above, cried out, \u201cAh me!\u201d dropped the reins,\nand fell lifeless. Another, hearing the sound of the bow,\u2014like a\nboatman who sees the storm gathering and makes all sail for the\nport,\u2014gave the reins to his horses and attempted to escape. The\ninevitable arrow overtook him as he fled. Two others, younger boys, just\nfrom their tasks, had gone to the playground to have a game of\nwrestling. As they stood breast to breast, one arrow pierced them both.\nThey uttered a cry together, together cast a parting look around them,\nand together breathed their last. Alphenor, an elder brother, seeing\nthem fall, hastened to the spot to render assistance, and fell stricken\nin the act of brotherly duty. One only was left, Ilioneus. He raised his\narms to heaven to try whether prayer might not avail. \u201cSpare me, ye\ngods!\u201d he cried, addressing all, in his ignorance that all needed not\nhis intercessions; and Apollo would have spared him, but the arrow had\nalready left the string, and it was too late.\n\nThe terror of the people and grief of the attendants soon made Niobe\nacquainted with what had taken place. She could hardly think it\npossible; she was indignant that the gods had dared and amazed that they\nhad been able to do it. Her husband, Amphion, overwhelmed with the blow,\ndestroyed himself. Alas! how different was this Niobe from her who had\nso lately driven away the people from the sacred rites, and held her\nstately course through the city, the envy of her friends, now the pity\neven of her foes! She knelt over the lifeless bodies, and kissed now\none, now another of her dead sons. Raising her pallid arms to heaven,\n\u201cCruel Latona,\u201d said she, \u201cfeed full your rage with my anguish! Satiate\nyour hard heart, while I follow to the grave my seven sons. Yet where is\nyour triumph? Bereaved as I am, I am still richer than you, my\nconqueror.\u201d Scarce had she spoken, when the bow sounded and struck\nterror into all hearts except Niobe\u2019s alone. She was brave from excess\nof grief. The sisters stood in garments of mourning over the biers of\ntheir dead brothers. One fell, struck by an arrow, and died on the\ncorpse she was bewailing. Another, attempting to console her mother,\nsuddenly ceased to speak, and sank lifeless to the earth. A third tried\nto escape by flight, a fourth by concealment, another stood trembling,\nuncertain what course to take. Six were now dead, and only one remained,\nwhom the mother held clasped in her arms, and covered as it were with\nher whole body. \u201cSpare me one, and that the youngest! O spare me one of\nso many!\u201d she cried; and while she spoke, that one fell dead. Desolate\nshe sat, among sons, daughters, husband, all dead, and seemed torpid\nwith grief. The breeze moved not her hair, no color was on her cheek,\nher eyes glared fixed and immovable, there was no sign of life about\nher. Her very tongue cleaved to the roof of her mouth, and her veins\nceased to convey the tide of life. Her neck bent not, her arms made no\ngesture, her foot no step. She was changed to stone, within and without.\nYet tears continued to flow; and borne on a whirlwind to her native\nmountain, she still remains, a mass of rock, from which a trickling\nstream flows, the tribute of her never-ending grief.\n\n\n\nThe story of Niobe has furnished Byron with a fine illustration of the\nfallen condition of modern Rome:\n\n \u201cThe Niobe of nations! there she stands,\n Childless and crownless in her voiceless woe;\n An empty urn within her withered hands,\n Whose holy dust was scattered long ago;\n The Scipios\u2019 tomb contains no ashes now:\n The very sepulchres lie tenantless\n Of their heroic dwellers; dost thou flow,\n Old Tiber! through a marble wilderness?\n Rise with thy yellow waves, and mantle her distress.\u201d\n _Childe Harold_, IV. 79.\n\nThis affecting story has been made the subject of a celebrated statue in\nthe imperial gallery of Florence. It is the principal figure of a group\nsupposed to have been originally arranged in the pediment of a temple.\nThe figure of the mother clasped by the arm of her terrified child is\none of the most admired of the ancient statues. It ranks with the\nLaoco\u00f6n and the Apollo among the masterpieces of art. The following is a\ntranslation of a Greek epigram supposed to relate to this statue:\n\n \u201cTo stone the gods have changed her, but in vain;\n The sculptor\u2019s art has made her breathe again.\u201d\n\nTragic as is the story of Niobe, we cannot forbear to smile at the use\nMoore has made of it in \u201cRhymes on the Road\u201d:\n\n \u201c\u2019Twas in his carriage the sublime\n Sir Richard Blackmore used to rhyme,\n And, if the wits don\u2019t do him wrong,\n \u2019Twixt death and epics passed his time,\n Scribbling and killing all day long;\n Like Ph\u0153bus in his car at ease,\n Now warbling forth a lofty song,\n Now murdering the young Niobes.\u201d\n\nSir Richard Blackmore was a physician, and at the same time a very\nprolific and very tasteless poet, whose works are now forgotten, unless\nwhen recalled to mind by some wit like Moore for the sake of a joke.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XV\n\n THE GR\u00c6\u00c6 OR GRAY-MAIDS\u2014PERSEUS\u2014MEDUSA\u2014ATLAS\u2014ANDROMEDA\n\n THE GR\u00c6\u00c6 AND THE GORGONS\n\nTHE Gr\u00e6\u00e6 were three sisters who were gray-haired from their birth,\nwhence their name. The Gorgons were monstrous females with huge teeth\nlike those of swine, brazen claws, and snaky hair. None of these beings\nmake much figure in mythology except Medusa, the Gorgon, whose story we\nshall next advert to. We mention them chiefly to introduce an ingenious\ntheory of some modern writers, namely, that the Gorgons and Gr\u00e6\u00e6 were\nonly personifications of the terrors of the sea, the former denoting the\n_strong_ billows of the wide open main, and the latter the\n_white_-crested waves that dash against the rocks of the coast. Their\nnames in Greek signify the above epithets.\n\n PERSEUS AND MEDUSA\n\nPerseus was the son of Jupiter and Dana\u00eb. His grandfather Acrisius,\nalarmed by an oracle which had told him that his daughter\u2019s child would\nbe the instrument of his death, caused the mother and child to be shut\nup in a chest and set adrift on the sea. The chest floated towards\nSeriphus, where it was found by a fisherman who conveyed the mother and\ninfant to Polydectes, the king of the country, by whom they were treated\nwith kindness. When Perseus was grown up Polydectes sent him to attempt\nthe conquest of Medusa, a terrible monster who had laid waste the\ncountry. She was once a beautiful maiden whose hair was her chief glory,\nbut as she dared to vie in beauty with Minerva, the goddess deprived her\nof her charms and changed her beautiful ringlets into hissing serpents.\nShe became a cruel monster of so frightful an aspect that no living\nthing could behold her without being turned into stone. All around the\ncavern where she dwelt might be seen the stony figures of men and\nanimals which had chanced to catch a glimpse of her and had been\npetrified with the sight. Perseus, favored by Minerva and Mercury, the\nformer of whom lent him her shield and the latter his winged shoes,\napproached Medusa while she slept, and taking care not to look directly\nat her, but guided by her image reflected in the bright shield which he\nbore, he cut off her head and gave it to Minerva, who fixed it in the\nmiddle of her \u00c6gis.\n\n\n\nMilton, in his \u201cComus,\u201d thus alludes to the \u00c6gis:\n\n \u201cWhat was that snaky-headed Gorgon-shield\n That wise Minerva wore, unconquered virgin,\n Wherewith she freezed her foes to congealed stone,\n But rigid looks of chaste austerity,\n And noble grace that dashed brute violence\n With sudden adoration and blank awe!\u201d\n\nArmstrong, the poet of the \u201cArt of Preserving Health,\u201d thus describes\nthe effect of frost upon the waters:\n\n \u201cNow blows the surly North and chills throughout\n The stiffening regions, while by stronger charms\n Than Circe e\u2019er or fell Medea brewed,\n Each brook that wont to prattle to its banks\n Lies all bestilled and wedged betwixt its banks,\n Nor moves the withered reeds . . .\n The surges baited by the fierce North-east,\n Tossing with fretful spleen their angry heads,\n E\u2019en in the foam of all their madness struck\n To monumental ice.\n . . . . . . .\n Such execution,\n So stern, so sudden, wrought the grisly aspect\n Of terrible Medusa,\n When wandering through the woods she turned to stone\n Their savage tenants; just as the foaming Lion\n Sprang furious on his prey, her speedier power\n Outran his haste,\n And fixed in that fierce attitude he stands\n Like Rage in marble!\u201d\n \u2014_Imitations of Shakspeare._\n\n PERSEUS AND ATLAS\n\nAfter the slaughter of Medusa, Perseus, bearing with him the head of the\nGorgon, flew far and wide, over land and sea. As night came on, he\nreached the western limit of the earth, where the sun goes down. Here he\nwould gladly have rested till morning. It was the realm of King Atlas,\nwhose bulk surpassed that of all other men. He was rich in flocks and\nherds and had no neighbor or rival to dispute his state. But his chief\npride was in his gardens, whose fruit was of gold, hanging from golden\nbranches, half hid with golden leaves. Perseus said to him, \u201cI come as a\nguest. If you honor illustrious descent, I claim Jupiter for my father;\nif mighty deeds, I plead the conquest of the Gorgon. I seek rest and\nfood.\u201d But Atlas remembered that an ancient prophecy had warned him that\na son of Jove should one day rob him of his golden apples. So he\nanswered, \u201cBegone! or neither your false claims of glory nor parentage\nshall protect you;\u201d and he attempted to thrust him out. Perseus, finding\nthe giant too strong for him, said, \u201cSince you value my friendship so\nlittle, deign to accept a present;\u201d and turning his face away, he held\nup the Gorgon\u2019s head. Atlas, with all his bulk, was changed into stone.\nHis beard and hair became forests, his arms and shoulders cliffs, his\nhead a summit, and his bones rocks. Each part increased in bulk till he\nbecame a mountain, and (such was the pleasure of the gods) heaven with\nall its stars rests upon his shoulders.\n\n THE SEA-MONSTER\n\nPerseus, continuing his flight, arrived at the country of the\n\u00c6thiopians, of which Cepheus was king. Cassiopeia his queen, proud of\nher beauty, had dared to compare herself to the Sea-Nymphs, which roused\ntheir indignation to such a degree that they sent a prodigious\nsea-monster to ravage the coast. To appease the deities, Cepheus was\ndirected by the oracle to expose his daughter Andromeda to be devoured\nby the monster. As Perseus looked down from his aerial height he beheld\nthe virgin chained to a rock, and waiting the approach of the serpent.\nShe was so pale and motionless that if it had not been for her flowing\ntears and her hair that moved in the breeze, he would have taken her for\na marble statue. He was so startled at the sight that he almost forgot\nto wave his wings. As he hovered over her he said, \u201cO virgin,\nundeserving of those chains, but rather of such as bind fond lovers\ntogether, tell me, I beseech you, your name, and the name of your\ncountry, and why you are thus bound.\u201d At first she was silent from\nmodesty, and, if she could, would have hid her face with her hands; but\nwhen he repeated his questions, for fear she might be thought guilty of\nsome fault which she dared not tell, she disclosed her name and that of\nher country, and her mother\u2019s pride of beauty. Before she had done\nspeaking, a sound was heard off upon the water, and the sea-monster\nappeared, with his head raised above the surface, cleaving the waves\nwith his broad breast. The virgin shrieked, the father and mother who\nhad now arrived at the scene, wretched both, but the mother more justly\nso, stood by, not able to afford protection, but only to pour forth\nlamentations and to embrace the victim. Then spoke Perseus: \u201cThere will\nbe time enough for tears; this hour is all we have for rescue. My rank\nas the son of Jove and my renown as the slayer of the Gorgon might make\nme acceptable as a suitor; but I will try to win her by services\nrendered, if the gods will only be propitious. If she be rescued by my\nvalor, I demand that she be my reward.\u201d The parents consent (how could\nthey hesitate?) and promise a royal dowry with her.\n\nAnd now the monster was within the range of a stone thrown by a skilful\nslinger, when with a sudden bound the youth soared into the air. As an\neagle, when from his lofty flight he sees a serpent basking in the sun,\npounces upon him and seizes him by the neck to prevent him from turning\nhis head round and using his fangs, so the youth darted down upon the\nback of the monster and plunged his sword into its shoulder. Irritated\nby the wound, the monster raised himself in the air, then plunged into\nthe depth; then, like a wild boar surrounded by a pack of barking dogs,\nturned swiftly from side to side, while the youth eluded its attacks by\nmeans of his wings. Wherever he can find a passage for his sword between\nthe scales he makes a wound, piercing now the side, now the flank, as it\nslopes towards the tail. The brute spouts from his nostrils water mixed\nwith blood. The wings of the hero are wet with it, and he dares no\nlonger trust to them. Alighting on a rock which rose above the waves,\nand holding on by a projecting fragment, as the monster floated near he\ngave him a death stroke. The people who had gathered on the shore\nshouted so that the hills re\u00ebchoed the sound. The parents, transported\nwith joy, embraced their future son-in-law, calling him their deliverer\nand the savior of their house, and the virgin, both cause and reward of\nthe contest, descended from the rock.\n\n\n\nCassiopeia was an \u00c6thiopian, and consequently, in spite of her boasted\nbeauty, black; at least so Milton seems to have thought, who alludes to\nthis story in his \u201cPenseroso,\u201d where he addresses Melancholy as the\n\n \u201c. . . . goddess, sage and holy,\n Whose saintly visage is too bright\n To hit the sense of human sight,\n And, therefore, to our weaker view\n O\u2019erlaid with black, staid Wisdom\u2019s hue.\n Black, but such as in esteem\n Prince Memnon\u2019s sister might beseem,\n Or that starred \u00c6thiop queen that strove\n To set her beauty\u2019s praise above\n The sea-nymphs, and their powers offended.\u201d\n\nCassiopeia is called \u201cthe starred \u00c6thiop queen\u201d because after her death\nshe was placed among the stars, forming the constellation of that name.\nThough she attained this honor, yet the Sea-Nymphs, her old enemies,\nprevailed so far as to cause her to be placed in that part of the heaven\nnear the pole, where every night she is half the time held with her head\ndownward, to give her a lesson of humility.\n\nMemnon was an \u00c6thiopian prince, of whom we shall tell in a future\nchapter.\n\n THE WEDDING FEAST\n\nThe joyful parents, with Perseus and Andromeda, repaired to the palace,\nwhere a banquet was spread for them, and all was joy and festivity. But\nsuddenly a noise was heard of warlike clamor, and Phineus, the betrothed\nof the virgin, with a party of his adherents, burst in, demanding the\nmaiden as his own. It was in vain that Cepheus remonstrated\u2014\u201cYou should\nhave claimed her when she lay bound to the rock, the monster\u2019s victim.\nThe sentence of the gods dooming her to such a fate dissolved all\nengagements, as death itself would have done.\u201d Phineus made no reply,\nbut hurled his javelin at Perseus, but it missed its mark and fell\nharmless. Perseus would have thrown his in turn, but the cowardly\nassailant ran and took shelter behind the altar. But his act was a\nsignal for an onset by his band upon the guests of Cepheus. They\ndefended themselves and a general conflict ensued, the old king\nretreating from the scene after fruitless expostulations, calling the\ngods to witness that he was guiltless of this outrage on the rights of\nhospitality.\n\nPerseus and his friends maintained for some time the unequal contest;\nbut the numbers of the assailants were too great for them, and\ndestruction seemed inevitable, when a sudden thought struck Perseus,\u2014\u201cI\nwill make my enemy defend me.\u201d Then with a loud voice he exclaimed, \u201cIf\nI have any friend here let him turn away his eyes!\u201d and held aloft the\nGorgon\u2019s head. \u201cSeek not to frighten us with your jugglery,\u201d said\nThescelus, and raised his javelin in act to throw, and became stone in\nthe very attitude. Ampyx was about to plunge his sword into the body of\na prostrate foe, but his arm stiffened and he could neither thrust\nforward nor withdraw it. Another, in the midst of a vociferous\nchallenge, stopped, his mouth open, but no sound issuing. One of\nPerseus\u2019s friends, Aconteus, caught sight of the Gorgon and stiffened\nlike the rest. Astyages struck him with his sword, but instead of\nwounding, it recoiled with a ringing noise.\n\nPhineus beheld this dreadful result of his unjust aggression, and felt\nconfounded. He called aloud to his friends, but got no answer; he\ntouched them and found them stone. Falling on his knees and stretching\nout his hands to Perseus, but turning his head away he begged for mercy.\n\u201cTake all,\u201d said he, \u201cgive me but my life.\u201d \u201cBase coward,\u201d said Perseus,\n\u201cthus much I will grant you; no weapon shall touch you; moreover, you\nshall be preserved in my house as a memorial of these events.\u201d So\nsaying, he held the Gorgon\u2019s head to the side where Phineus was looking,\nand in the very form in which he knelt, with his hands outstretched and\nface averted, he became fixed immovably, a mass of stone!\n\nThe following allusion to Perseus is from Milman\u2019s \u201cSamor\u201d:\n\n \u201cAs \u2019mid the fabled Libyan bridal stood\n Perseus in stern tranquillity of wrath,\n Half stood, half floated on his ankle-plumes\n Out-swelling, while the bright face on his shield\n Looked into stone the raging fray; so rose,\n But with no magic arms, wearing alone\n Th\u2019 appalling and control of his firm look,\n The Briton Samor; at his rising awe\n Went abroad, and the riotous hall was mute.\u201d\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XVI\n\n MONSTERS\n\n GIANTS, SPHINX, PEGASUS AND CHIM\u00c6RA, CENTAURS, GRIFFIN, AND PYGMIES\n\nMONSTERS, in the language of mythology, were beings of unnatural\nproportions or parts, usually regarded with terror, as possessing\nimmense strength and ferocity, which they employed for the injury and\nannoyance of men. Some of them were supposed to combine the members of\ndifferent animals; such were the Sphinx and Chim\u00e6ra; and to these all\nthe terrible qualities of wild beasts were attributed, together with\nhuman sagacity and faculties. Others, as the giants, differed from men\nchiefly in their size; and in this particular we must recognize a wide\ndistinction among them. The human giants, if so they may be called, such\nas the Cyclopes, Ant\u00e6us, Orion, and others, must be supposed not to be\naltogether disproportioned to human beings, for they mingled in love and\nstrife with them. But the superhuman giants, who warred with the gods,\nwere of vastly larger dimensions. Tityus, we are told, when stretched on\nthe plain, covered nine acres, and Enceladus required the whole of Mount\n\u00c6tna to be laid upon him to keep him down.\n\nWe have already spoken of the war which the giants waged against the\ngods, and of its result. While this war lasted the giants proved a\nformidable enemy. Some of them, like Briareus, had a hundred arms;\nothers, like Typhon, breathed out fire. At one time they put the gods to\nsuch fear that they fled into Egypt and hid themselves under various\nforms. Jupiter took the form of a ram, whence he was afterwards\nworshipped in Egypt as the god Ammon, with curved horns. Apollo became a\ncrow, Bacchus a goat, Diana a cat, Juno a cow, Venus a fish, Mercury a\nbird. At another time the giants attempted to climb up into heaven, and\nfor that purpose took up the mountain Ossa and piled it on Pelion.[16]\nThey were at last subdued by thunderbolts, which Minerva invented, and\ntaught Vulcan and his Cyclopes to make for Jupiter.\n\n THE SPHINX\n\nLaius, king of Thebes, was warned by an oracle that there was danger to\nhis throne and life if his new-born son should be suffered to grow up.\nHe therefore committed the child to the care of a herdsman with orders\nto destroy him; but the herdsman, moved with pity, yet not daring\nentirely to disobey, tied up the child by the feet and left him hanging\nto the branch of a tree. In this condition the infant was found by a\npeasant, who carried him to his master and mistress, by whom he was\nadopted and called \u0152dipus, or Swollen-foot.\n\nMany years afterwards Laius being on his way to Delphi, accompanied only\nby one attendant, met in a narrow road a young man also driving in a\nchariot. On his refusal to leave the way at their command the attendant\nkilled one of his horses, and the stranger, filled with rage, slew both\nLaius and his attendant. The young man was \u0152dipus, who thus unknowingly\nbecame the slayer of his own father.\n\nShortly after this event the city of Thebes was afflicted with a monster\nwhich infested the highroad. It was called the Sphinx. It had the body\nof a lion and the upper part of a woman. It lay crouched on the top of a\nrock, and arrested all travellers who came that way, proposing to them a\nriddle, with the condition that those who could solve it should pass\nsafe, but those who failed should be killed. Not one had yet succeeded\nin solving it, and all had been slain. \u0152dipus was not daunted by these\nalarming accounts, but boldly advanced to the trial. The Sphinx asked\nhim, \u201cWhat animal is that which in the morning goes on four feet, at\nnoon on two, and in the evening upon three?\u201d \u0152dipus replied, \u201cMan, who\nin childhood creeps on hands and knees, in manhood walks erect, and in\nold age with the aid of a staff.\u201d The Sphinx was so mortified at the\nsolving of her riddle that she cast herself down from the rock and\nperished.\n\nThe gratitude of the people for their deliverance was so great that they\nmade \u0152dipus their king, giving him in marriage their queen Jocasta.\n\u0152dipus, ignorant of his parentage, had already become the slayer of his\nfather; in marrying the queen he became the husband of his mother. These\nhorrors remained undiscovered, till at length Thebes was afflicted with\nfamine and pestilence, and the oracle being consulted, the double crime\nof \u0152dipus came to light. Jocasta put an end to her own life, and \u0152dipus,\nseized with madness, tore out his eyes and wandered away from Thebes,\ndreaded and abandoned by all except his daughters, who faithfully\nadhered to him, till after a tedious period of miserable wandering he\nfound the termination of his wretched life.\n\n PEGASUS AND THE CHIM\u00c6RA\n\nWhen Perseus cut off Medusa\u2019s head, the blood sinking into the earth\nproduced the winged horse Pegasus. Minerva caught him and tamed him and\npresented him to the Muses. The fountain Hippocrene, on the Muses\u2019\nmountain Helicon, was opened by a kick from his hoof.\n\nThe Chim\u00e6ra was a fearful monster, breathing fire. The fore part of its\nbody was a compound of the lion and the goat, and the hind part a\ndragon\u2019s. It made great havoc in Lycia, so that the king, Iobates,\nsought for some hero to destroy it. At that time there arrived at his\ncourt a gallant young warrior, whose name was Bellerophon. He brought\nletters from Pr\u0153tus, the son-in-law of Iobates, recommending Bellerophon\nin the warmest terms as an unconquerable hero, but added at the close a\nrequest to his father-in-law to put him to death. The reason was that\nPr\u0153tus was jealous of him, suspecting that his wife Antea looked with\ntoo much admiration on the young warrior. From this instance of\nBellerophon being unconsciously the bearer of his own death warrant, the\nexpression \u201cBellerophontic letters\u201d arose, to describe any species of\ncommunication which a person is made the bearer of, containing matter\nprejudicial to himself.\n\nIobates, on perusing the letters, was puzzled what to do, not willing to\nviolate the claims of hospitality, yet wishing to oblige his son-in-law.\nA lucky thought occurred to him, to send Bellerophon to combat with the\nChim\u00e6ra. Bellerophon accepted the proposal, but before proceeding to the\ncombat consulted the soothsayer Polyidus, who advised him to procure if\npossible the horse Pegasus for the conflict. For this purpose he\ndirected him to pass the night in the temple of Minerva. He did so, and\nas he slept Minerva came to him and gave him a golden bridle. When he\nawoke the bridle remained in his hand. Minerva also showed him Pegasus\ndrinking at the well of Pirene, and at sight of the bridle the winged\nsteed came willingly and suffered himself to be taken. Bellerophon\nmounted him, rose with him into the air, soon found the Chim\u00e6ra, and\ngained an easy victory over the monster.\n\nAfter the conquest of the Chim\u00e6ra Bellerophon was exposed to further\ntrials and labors by his unfriendly host, but by the aid of Pegasus he\ntriumphed in them all, till at length Iobates, seeing that the hero was\na special favorite of the gods, gave him his daughter in marriage and\nmade him his successor on the throne. At last Bellerophon by his pride\nand presumption drew upon himself the anger of the gods; it is said he\neven attempted to fly up into heaven on his winged steed, but Jupiter\nsent a gadfly which stung Pegasus and made him throw his rider, who\nbecame lame and blind in consequence. After this Bellerophon wandered\nlonely through the Aleian field, avoiding the paths of men, and died\nmiserably.\n\n\n\nMilton alludes to Bellerophon in the beginning of the seventh book of\n\u201cParadise Lost\u201d:\n\n \u201cDescend from Heaven, Urania, by that name\n If rightly thou art called, whose voice divine\n Following above the Olympian hill I soar,\n Above the flight of Pegasean wing.\n Upled by thee,\n Into the Heaven of Heavens I have presumed,\n An earthly guest, and drawn empyreal air\n (Thy tempering); with like safety guided down\n Return me to my native element;\n Lest from this flying steed unreined (as once\n Bellerophon, though from a lower sphere),\n Dismounted on the Aleian field I fall,\n Erroneous there to wander and forlorn.\u201d\n\nYoung, in his \u201cNight Thoughts,\u201d speaking of the sceptic, says:\n\n \u201cHe whose blind thought futurity denies,\n Unconscious bears, Bellerophon, like thee\n His own indictment; he condemns himself.\n Who reads his bosom reads immortal life,\n Or nature there, imposing on her sons,\n Has written fables; man was made a lie.\u201d\n Vol. II., p. 12.\n\nPegasus, being the horse of the Muses, has always been at the service of\nthe poets. Schiller tells a pretty story of his having been sold by a\nneedy poet and put to the cart and the plough. He was not fit for such\nservice, and his clownish master could make nothing of him. But a youth\nstepped forth and asked leave to try him. As soon as he was seated on\nhis back the horse, which had appeared at first vicious, and afterwards\nspirit-broken, rose kingly, a spirit, a god, unfolded the splendor of\nhis wings, and soared towards heaven. Our own poet Longfellow also\nrecords an adventure of this famous steed in his \u201cPegasus in Pound.\u201d\n\n\n\nShakspeare alludes to Pegasus in \u201cHenry IV.,\u201d where Vernon describes\nPrince Henry:\n\n \u201cI saw young Harry, with his beaver on,\n His cuishes on his thighs, gallantly armed,\n Rise from the ground like feathered Mercury,\n And vaulted with such ease into his seat,\n As if an angel dropped down from the clouds,\n To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus,\n And witch the world with noble horsemanship.\u201d\n\n THE CENTAURS\n\nThese monsters were represented as men from the head to the loins, while\nthe remainder of the body was that of a horse. The ancients were too\nfond of a horse to consider the union of his nature with man\u2019s as\nforming a very degraded compound, and accordingly the Centaur is the\nonly one of the fancied monsters of antiquity to which any good traits\nare assigned. The Centaurs were admitted to the companionship of man,\nand at the marriage of Pirithous with Hippodamia they were among the\nguests. At the feast Eurytion, one of the Centaurs, becoming intoxicated\nwith the wine, attempted to offer violence to the bride; the other\nCentaurs followed his example, and a dreadful conflict arose in which\nseveral of them were slain. This is the celebrated battle of the Lapith\u00e6\nand Centaurs, a favorite subject with the sculptors and poets of\nantiquity.\n\nBut not all the Centaurs were like the rude guests of Pirithous. Chiron\nwas instructed by Apollo and Diana, and was renowned for his skill in\nhunting, medicine, music, and the art of prophecy. The most\ndistinguished heroes of Grecian story were his pupils. Among the rest\nthe infant \u00c6sculapius was intrusted to his charge by Apollo, his father.\nWhen the sage returned to his home bearing the infant, his daughter\nOcyroe came forth to meet him, and at sight of the child burst forth\ninto a prophetic strain (for she was a prophetess), foretelling the\nglory that he was to achieve. \u00c6sculapius when grown up became a renowned\nphysician, and even in one instance succeeded in restoring the dead to\nlife. Pluto resented this, and Jupiter, at his request, struck the bold\nphysician with lightning, and killed him, but after his death received\nhim into the number of the gods.\n\nChiron was the wisest and justest of all the Centaurs, and at his death\nJupiter placed him among the stars as the constellation Sagittarius.\n\n THE PYGMIES\n\nThe Pygmies were a nation of dwarfs, so called from a Greek word which\nmeans the cubit or measure of about thirteen inches, which was said to\nbe the height of these people. They lived near the sources of the Nile,\nor according to others, in India. Homer tells us that the cranes used to\nmigrate every winter to the Pygmies\u2019 country, and their appearance was\nthe signal of bloody warfare to the puny inhabitants, who had to take up\narms to defend their cornfields against the rapacious strangers. The\nPygmies and their enemies the Cranes form the subject of several works\nof art.\n\nLater writers tell of an army of Pygmies which finding Hercules asleep\nmade preparations to attack him, as if they were about to attack a city.\nBut the hero, awaking, laughed at the little warriors, wrapped some of\nthem up in his lion\u2019s skin, and carried them to Eurystheus.\n\n\n\nMilton uses the Pygmies for a simile, \u201cParadise Lost,\u201d Book I.:\n\n \u201c. . . like that Pygm\u00e6an race\n Beyond the Indian mount, or fairy elves\n Whose midnight revels by a forest side,\n Or fountain, some belated peasant sees\n (Or dreams he sees), while overhead the moon\n Sits arbitress, and nearer to the earth\n Wheels her pale course; they on their mirth and dance\n Intent, with jocund music charm his ear.\n At once with joy and fear his heart rebounds.\u201d\n\n THE GRIFFIN, OR GRYPHON\n\nThe Griffin is a monster with the body of a lion, the head and wings of\nan eagle, and back covered with feathers. Like birds it builds its nest,\nand instead of an egg lays an agate therein. It has long claws and\ntalons of such a size that the people of that country make them into\ndrinking-cups. India was assigned as the native country of the Griffins.\nThey found gold in the mountains and build their nests of it, for which\nreason their nests were very tempting to the hunters, and they were\nforced to keep vigilant guard over them. Their instinct led them to know\nwhere buried treasures lay, and they did their best to keep plunderers\nat a distance. The Arimaspians, among whom the Griffins flourished, were\na one-eyed people of Scythia.\n\n\n\nMilton borrows a simile from the Griffins, \u201cParadise Lost,\u201d Book II.:\n\n \u201cAs when a Gryphon through the wilderness,\n With winged course, o\u2019er hill and moory dale,\n Pursues the Arimaspian who by stealth\n Hath from his wakeful custody purloined\n His guarded gold,\u201d etc.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XVII\n\n THE GOLDEN FLEECE\u2014MEDEA\n\n THE GOLDEN FLEECE\n\nIN very ancient times there lived in Thessaly a king and queen named\nAthamas and Nephele. They had two children, a boy and a girl. After a\ntime Athamas grew indifferent to his wife, put her away, and took\nanother. Nephele suspected danger to her children from the influence of\nthe stepmother, and took measures to send them out of her reach. Mercury\nassisted her, and gave her a ram with a _golden fleece_, on which she\nset the two children, trusting that the ram would convey them to a place\nof safety. The ram vaulted into the air with the children on his back,\ntaking his course to the East, till when crossing the strait that\ndivides Europe and Asia, the girl, whose name was Helle, fell from his\nback into the sea, which from her was called the Hellespont,\u2014now the\nDardanelles. The ram continued his career till he reached the kingdom of\nColchis, on the eastern shore of the Black Sea, where he safely landed\nthe boy Phryxus, who was hospitably received by \u00c6etes, king of the\ncountry. Phryxus sacrificed the ram to Jupiter, and gave the _Golden\nFleece_ to \u00c6etes, who placed it in a consecrated grove, under the care\nof a sleepless dragon.\n\nThere was another kingdom in Thessaly near to that of Athamas, and ruled\nover by a relative of his. The king \u00c6son, being tired of the cares of\ngovernment, surrendered his crown to his brother Pelias on condition\nthat he should hold it only during the minority of Jason, the son of\n\u00c6son. When Jason was grown up and came to demand the crown from his\nuncle, Pelias pretended to be willing to yield it, but at the same time\nsuggested to the young man the glorious adventure of going in quest of\nthe Golden Fleece, which it was well known was in the kingdom of\nColchis, and was, as Pelias pretended, the rightful property of their\nfamily. Jason was pleased with the thought, and forthwith made\npreparations for the expedition. At that time the only species of\nnavigation known to the Greeks consisted of small boats or canoes\nhollowed out from trunks of trees, so that when Jason employed Argus to\nbuild him a vessel capable of containing fifty men, it was considered a\ngigantic undertaking. It was accomplished, however, and the vessel named\n\u201cArgo,\u201d from the name of the builder. Jason sent his invitation to all\nthe adventurous young men of Greece, and soon found himself at the head\nof a band of bold youths, many of whom afterwards were renowned among\nthe heroes and demigods of Greece. Hercules, Theseus, Orpheus, and\nNestor were among them. They are called the Argonauts, from the name of\ntheir vessel.\n\nThe \u201cArgo\u201d with her crew of heroes left the shores of Thessaly and\nhaving touched at the Island of Lemnos, thence crossed to Mysia and\nthence to Thrace. Here they found the sage Phineus, and from him\nreceived instruction as to their future course. It seems the entrance of\nthe Euxine Sea was impeded by two small rocky islands, which floated on\nthe surface, and in their tossings and heavings occasionally came\ntogether, crushing and grinding to atoms any object that might be caught\nbetween them. They were called the Symplegades, or Clashing Islands.\nPhineus instructed the Argonauts how to pass this dangerous strait. When\nthey reached the islands they let go a dove, which took her way between\nthe rocks, and passed in safety, only losing some feathers of her tail.\nJason and his men seized the favorable moment of the rebound, plied\ntheir oars with vigor, and passed safe through, though the islands\nclosed behind them, and actually grazed their stern. They now rowed\nalong the shore till they arrived at the eastern end of the sea, and\nlanded at the kingdom of Colchis.\n\nJason made known his message to the Colchian king, \u00c6etes, who consented\nto give up the golden fleece if Jason would yoke to the plough two\nfire-breathing bulls with brazen feet, and sow the teeth of the dragon\nwhich Cadmus had slain, and from which it was well known that a crop of\narmed men would spring up, who would turn their weapons against their\nproducer. Jason accepted the conditions, and a time was set for making\nthe experiment. Previously, however, he found means to plead his cause\nto Medea, daughter of the king. He promised her marriage, and as they\nstood before the altar of Hecate, called the goddess to witness his\noath. Medea yielded, and by her aid, for she was a potent sorceress, he\nwas furnished with a charm, by which he could encounter safely the\nbreath of the fire-breathing bulls and the weapons of the armed men.\n\nAt the time appointed, the people assembled at the grove of Mars, and\nthe king assumed his royal seat, while the multitude covered the\nhill-sides. The brazen-footed bulls rushed in, breathing fire from their\nnostrils that burned up the herbage as they passed. The sound was like\nthe roar of a furnace, and the smoke like that of water upon quick-lime.\nJason advanced boldly to meet them. His friends, the chosen heroes of\nGreece, trembled to behold him. Regardless of the burning breath, he\nsoothed their rage with his voice, patted their necks with fearless\nhand, and adroitly slipped over them the yoke, and compelled them to\ndrag the plough. The Colchians were amazed; the Greeks shouted for joy.\nJason next proceeded to sow the dragon\u2019s teeth and plough them in. And\nsoon the crop of armed men sprang up, and, wonderful to relate! no\nsooner had they reached the surface than they began to brandish their\nweapons and rush upon Jason. The Greeks trembled for their hero, and\neven she who had provided him a way of safety and taught him how to use\nit, Medea herself, grew pale with fear. Jason for a time kept his\nassailants at bay with his sword and shield, till, finding their numbers\noverwhelming, he resorted to the charm which Medea had taught him,\nseized a stone and threw it in the midst of his foes. They immediately\nturned their arms against one another, and soon there was not one of the\ndragon\u2019s brood left alive. The Greeks embraced their hero, and Medea, if\nshe dared, would have embraced him too.\n\nIt remained to lull to sleep the dragon that guarded the fleece, and\nthis was done by scattering over him a few drops of a preparation which\nMedea had supplied. At the smell he relaxed his rage, stood for a moment\nmotionless, then shut those great round eyes, that had never been known\nto shut before, and turned over on his side, fast asleep. Jason seized\nthe fleece and with his friends and Medea accompanying, hastened to\ntheir vessel before \u00c6etes the king could arrest their departure, and\nmade the best of their way back to Thessaly, where they arrived safe,\nand Jason delivered the fleece to Pelias, and dedicated the \u201cArgo\u201d to\nNeptune. What became of the fleece afterwards we do not know, but\nperhaps it was found after all, like many other golden prizes, not worth\nthe trouble it had cost to procure it.\n\n\n\nThis is one of those mythological tales, says a late writer, in which\nthere is reason to believe that a substratum of truth exists, though\noverlaid by a mass of fiction. It probably was the first important\nmaritime expedition, and like the first attempts of the kind of all\nnations, as we know from history, was probably of a half-piratical\ncharacter. If rich spoils were the result it was enough to give rise to\nthe idea of the golden fleece.\n\nAnother suggestion of a learned mythologist, Bryant, is that it is a\ncorrupt tradition of the story of Noah and the ark. The name \u201cArgo\u201d\nseems to countenance this, and the incident of the dove is another\nconfirmation.\n\n\n\nPope, in his \u201cOde on St. Cecilia\u2019s Day,\u201d thus celebrates the launching\nof the ship \u201cArgo,\u201d and the power of the music of Orpheus, whom he calls\nthe Thracian:\n\n \u201cSo when the first bold vessel dared the seas,\n High on the stern the Thracian raised his strain,\n While Argo saw her kindred trees\n Descend from Pelion to the main.\n Transported demigods stood round,\n And men grew heroes at the sound.\u201d\n\nIn Dyer\u2019s poem of \u201cThe Fleece\u201d there is an account of the ship \u201cArgo\u201d\nand her crew, which gives a good picture of this primitive maritime\nadventure:\n\n \u201cFrom every region of \u00c6gea\u2019s shore\n The brave assembled; those illustrious twins\n Castor and Pollux; Orpheus, tuneful bard;\n Zetes and Calais, as the wind in speed;\n Strong Hercules and many a chief renowned.\n On deep Iolcos\u2019 sandy shore they thronged,\n Gleaming in armor, ardent of exploits;\n And soon, the laurel cord and the huge stone\n Uplifting to the deck, unmoored the bark;\n Whose keel of wondrous length the skilful hand\n Of Argus fashioned for the proud attempt;\n And in the extended keel a lofty mast\n Upraised, and sails full swelling; to the chiefs\n Unwonted objects. Now first, now they learned\n Their bold steerage over ocean wave,\n Led by the golden stars, as Chiron\u2019s art\n Had marked the sphere celestial,\u201d etc.\n\nHercules left the expedition at Mysia, for Hylas, a youth beloved by\nhim, having gone for water, was laid hold of and kept by the nymphs of\nthe spring, who were fascinated by his beauty. Hercules went in quest of\nthe lad, and while he was absent the \u201cArgo\u201d put to sea and left him.\nMoore, in one of his songs, makes a beautiful allusion to this incident:\n\n \u201cWhen Hylas was sent with his urn to the fount,\n Through fields full of light and heart full of play,\n Light rambled the boy over meadow and mount,\n And neglected his task for the flowers in the way.\n\n \u201cThus many like me, who in youth should have tasted\n The fountain that runs by Philosophy\u2019s shrine,\n Their time with the flowers on the margin have wasted,\n And left their light urns all as empty as mine.\u201d\n\n MEDEA AND \u00c6SON\n\nAmid the rejoicings for the recovery of the Golden Fleece, Jason felt\nthat one thing was wanting, the presence of \u00c6son, his father, who was\nprevented by his age and infirmities from taking part in them. Jason\nsaid to Medea, \u201cMy spouse, would that your arts, whose power I have seen\nso mighty for my aid, could do me one further service, take some years\nfrom my life and add them to my father\u2019s.\u201d Medea replied, \u201cNot at such a\ncost shall it be done, but if my art avails me, his life shall be\nlengthened without abridging yours.\u201d The next full moon she issued forth\nalone, while all creatures slept; not a breath stirred the foliage, and\nall was still. To the stars she addressed her incantations, and to the\nmoon; to Hecate,[17] the goddess of the underworld, and to Tellus the\ngoddess of the earth, by whose power plants potent for enchantment are\nproduced. She invoked the gods of the woods and caverns, of mountains\nand valleys, of lakes and rivers, of winds and vapors. While she spoke\nthe stars shone brighter, and presently a chariot descended through the\nair, drawn by flying serpents. She ascended it, and borne aloft made her\nway to distant regions, where potent plants grew which she knew how to\nselect for her purpose. Nine nights she employed in her search, and\nduring that time came not within the doors of her palace nor under any\nroof, and shunned all intercourse with mortals.\n\nShe next erected two altars, the one to Hecate, the other to Hebe, the\ngoddess of youth, and sacrificed a black sheep, pouring libations of\nmilk and wine. She implored Pluto and his stolen bride that they would\nnot hasten to take the old man\u2019s life. Then she directed that \u00c6son\nshould be led forth, and having thrown him into a deep sleep by a charm,\nhad him laid on a bed of herbs, like one dead. Jason and all others were\nkept away from the place, that no profane eyes might look upon her\nmysteries. Then, with streaming hair, she thrice moved round the altars,\ndipped flaming twigs in the blood, and laid them thereon to burn.\nMeanwhile the caldron with its contents was got ready. In it she put\nmagic herbs, with seeds and flowers of acrid juice, stones from the\ndistant east, and sand from the shore of all-surrounding ocean; hoar\nfrost, gathered by moonlight, a screech owl\u2019s head and wings, and the\nentrails of a wolf. She added fragments of the shells or tortoises, and\nthe liver of stags,\u2014animals tenacious of life,\u2014and the head and beak\nof a crow, that outlives nine generations of men. These with many other\nthings \u201cwithout a name\u201d she boiled together for her purposed work,\nstirring them up with a dry olive branch; and behold! the branch when\ntaken out instantly became green, and before long was covered with\nleaves and a plentiful growth of young olives; and as the liquor boiled\nand bubbled, and sometimes ran over, the grass wherever the sprinklings\nfell shot forth with a verdure like that of spring.\n\nSeeing that all was ready, Medea cut the throat of the old man and let\nout all his blood, and poured into his mouth and into his wound the\njuices of her caldron. As soon as he had completely imbibed them, his\nhair and beard laid by their whiteness and assumed the blackness of\nyouth; his paleness and emaciation were gone; his veins were full of\nblood, his limbs of vigor and robustness. \u00c6son is amazed at himself, and\nremembers that such as he now is, he was in his youthful days, forty\nyears before.\n\nMedea used her arts here for a good purpose, but not so in another\ninstance, where she made them the instruments of revenge. Pelias, our\nreaders will recollect, was the usurping uncle of Jason, and had kept\nhim out of his kingdom. Yet he must have had some good qualities, for\nhis daughters loved him, and when they saw what Medea had done for \u00c6son,\nthey wished her to do the same for their father. Medea pretended to\nconsent, and prepared her caldron as before. At her request an old sheep\nwas brought and plunged into the caldron. Very soon a bleating was heard\nin the kettle, and when the cover was removed, a lamb jumped forth and\nran frisking away into the meadow. The daughters of Pelias saw the\nexperiment with delight, and appointed a time for their father to\nundergo the same operation. But Medea prepared her caldron for him in a\nvery different way. She put in only water and a few simple herbs. In the\nnight she with the sisters entered the bed chamber of the old king,\nwhile he and his guards slept soundly under the influence of a spell\ncast upon them by Medea. The daughters stood by the bedside with their\nweapons drawn, but hesitated to strike, till Medea chid their\nirresolution. Then turning away their faces, and giving random blows,\nthey smote him with their weapons. He, starting from his sleep, cried\nout, \u201cMy daughters, what are you doing? Will you kill your father?\u201d\nTheir hearts failed them and their weapons fell from their hands, but\nMedea struck him a fatal blow, and prevented his saying more.\n\nThen they placed him in the caldron, and Medea hastened to depart in her\nserpent-drawn chariot before they discovered her treachery, or their\nvengeance would have been terrible. She escaped, however, but had little\nenjoyment of the fruits of her crime. Jason, for whom she had done so\nmuch, wishing to marry Creusa, princess of Corinth, put away Medea. She,\nenraged at his ingratitude, called on the gods for vengeance, sent a\npoisoned robe as a gift to the bride, and then killing her own children,\nand setting fire to the palace, mounted her serpent-drawn chariot and\nfled to Athens, where she married King \u00c6geus, the father of Theseus, and\nwe shall meet her again when we come to the adventures of that hero.\n\nThe incantations of Medea will remind the reader of those of the witches\nin \u201cMacbeth.\u201d The following lines are those which seem most strikingly\nto recall the ancient model:\n\n \u201cRound about the caldron go;\n In the poisoned entrails throw.\n . . . . . . .\n Fillet of a fenny snake\n In the caldron boil and bake;\n Eye of newt and toe of frog,\n Wool of bat and tongue of dog,\n Adder\u2019s fork and blind-worm\u2019s sting,\n Lizard\u2019s leg and howlet\u2019s wing:\n . . . . . . .\n Maw of ravening salt-sea shark,\n Root of hemlock digged in the dark,\u201d etc.\n \u2014_Macbeth_, Act IV., Scene 1\n\nAnd again:\n\n _Macbeth._\u2014What is\u2019t you do?\n _Witches._\u2014A deed without a name.\n\nThere is another story of Medea almost too revolting for record even of\na sorceress, a class of persons to whom both ancient and modern poets\nhave been accustomed to attribute every degree of atrocity. In her\nflight from Colchis she had taken her young brother Absyrtus with her.\nFinding the pursuing vessels of \u00c6etes gaining upon the Argonauts, she\ncaused the lad to be killed and his limbs to be strewn over the sea.\n\u00c6etes on reaching the place found these sorrowful traces of his murdered\nson; but while he tarried to collect the scattered fragments and bestow\nupon them an honorable interment, the Argonauts escaped.\n\n\n\nIn the poems of Campbell will be found a translation of one of the\nchoruses of the tragedy of \u201cMedea,\u201d where the poet Euripides has taken\nadvantage of the occasion to pay a glowing tribute to Athens, his native\ncity. It begins thus:\n\n \u201cO haggard queen! to Athens dost thou guide\n Thy glowing chariot, steeped in kindred gore;\n Or seek to hide thy damned parricide\n Where peace and justice dwell for evermore?\u201d\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XVIII\n\n MELEAGER AND ATALANTA\n\nONE of the heroes of the Argonautic expedition was Meleager, son of\n\u0152neus and Althea, king and queen of Calydon. Althea, when her son was\nborn, beheld the three destinies, who, as they spun their fatal thread,\nforetold that the life of the child should last no longer than a brand\nthen burning upon the hearth. Althea seized and quenched the brand, and\ncarefully preserved it for years, while Meleager grew to boyhood, youth,\nand manhood. It chanced, then, that \u0152neus, as he offered sacrifices to\nthe gods, omitted to pay due honors to Diana; and she, indignant at the\nneglect, sent a wild boar of enormous size to lay waste the fields of\nCalydon. Its eyes shone with blood and fire, its bristles stood like\nthreatening spears, its tusks were like those of Indian elephants. The\ngrowing corn was trampled, the vines and olive trees laid waste, the\nflocks and herds were driven in wild confusion by the slaughtering foe.\nAll common aid seemed vain; but Meleager called on the heroes of Greece\nto join in a bold hunt for the ravenous monster. Theseus and his friend\nPirithous, Jason, Peleus, afterwards the father of Achilles, Telamon the\nfather of Ajax, Nestor, then a youth, but who in his age bore arms with\nAchilles and Ajax in the Trojan war,\u2014these and many more joined in the\nenterprise. With them came Atalanta, the daughter of Iasius, king of\nArcadia. A buckle of polished gold confined her vest, an ivory quiver\nhung on her left shoulder, and her left hand bore the bow. Her face\nblent feminine beauty with the best graces of martial youth. Meleager\nsaw and loved.\n\nBut now already they were near the monster\u2019s lair. They stretched strong\nnets from tree to tree; they uncoupled their dogs, they tried to find\nthe footprints of their quarry in the grass. From the wood was a descent\nto marshy ground. Here the boar, as he lay among the reeds, heard the\nshouts of his pursuers, and rushed forth against them. One and another\nis thrown down and slain. Jason throws his spear, with a prayer to Diana\nfor success; and the favoring goddess allows the weapon to touch, but\nnot to wound, removing the steel point of the spear in its flight.\nNestor, assailed, seeks and finds safety in the branches of a tree.\nTelamon rushes on, but stumbling at a projecting root, falls prone. But\nan arrow from Atalanta at length for the first time tastes the monster\u2019s\nblood. It is a slight wound, but Meleager sees and joyfully proclaims\nit. Anceus, excited to envy by the praise given to a female, loudly\nproclaims his own valor, and defies alike the boar and the goddess who\nhad sent it; but as he rushes on, the infuriated beast lays him low with\na mortal wound. Theseus throws his lance, but it is turned aside by a\nprojecting bough. The dart of Jason misses its object, and kills instead\none of their own dogs. But Meleager, after one unsuccessful stroke,\ndrives his spear into the monster\u2019s side, then rushes on and despatches\nhim with repeated blows.\n\nThen rose a shout from those around; they congratulated the conqueror,\ncrowding to touch his hand. He, placing his foot upon the head of the\nslain boar, turned to Atalanta and bestowed on her the head and the\nrough hide which were the trophies of his success. But at this, envy\nexcited the rest to strife. Plexippus and Toxeus, the brothers of\nMeleager\u2019s mother, beyond the rest opposed the gift, and snatched from\nthe maiden the trophy she had received. Meleager, kindling with rage at\nthe wrong done to himself, and still more at the insult offered to her\nwhom he loved, forgot the claims of kindred, and plunged his sword into\nthe offenders\u2019 hearts.\n\nAs Althea bore gifts of thankfulness to the temples for the victory of\nher son, the bodies of her murdered brothers met her sight. She shrieks,\nand beats her breast, and hastens to change the garments of rejoicing\nfor those of mourning. But when the author of the deed is known, grief\ngives way to the stern desire of vengeance on her son. The fatal brand,\nwhich once she rescued from the flames, the brand which the destinies\nhad linked with Meleager\u2019s life, she brings forth, and commands a fire\nto be prepared. Then four times she essays to place the brand upon the\npile; four times draws back, shuddering at the thought of bringing\ndestruction on her son. The feelings of the mother and the sister\ncontend within her. Now she is pale at the thought of the proposed deed,\nnow flushed again with anger at the act of her son. As a vessel, driven\nin one direction by the wind, and in the opposite by the tide, the mind\nof Althea hangs suspended in uncertainty. But now the sister prevails\nabove the mother, and she begins as she holds the fatal wood: \u201cTurn, ye\nFuries, goddesses of punishment! turn to behold the sacrifice I bring!\nCrime must atone for crime. Shall \u0152neus rejoice in his victor son, while\nthe house of Thestius is desolate? But, alas! to what deed am I borne\nalong? Brothers forgive a mother\u2019s weakness! my hand fails me. He\ndeserves death, but not that I should destroy him. But shall he then\nlive, and triumph, and reign over Calydon, while you, my brothers,\nwander unavenged among the shades? No! thou hast lived by my gift; die,\nnow, for thine own crime. Return the life which twice I gave thee, first\nat thy birth, again when I snatched this brand from the flames. O that\nthou hadst then died! Alas! evil is the conquest; but, brothers, ye have\nconquered.\u201d And, turning away her face, she threw the fatal wood upon\nthe burning pile.\n\nIt gave, or seemed to give, a deadly groan. Meleager, absent and\nunknowing of the cause, felt a sudden pang. He burns, and only by\ncourageous pride conquers the pain which destroys him. He mourns only\nthat he perishes by a bloodless and unhonored death. With his last\nbreath he calls upon his aged father, his brother, and his fond sisters,\nupon his beloved Atalanta, and upon his mother, the unknown cause of his\nfate. The flames increase, and with them the pain of the hero. Now both\nsubside; now both are quenched. The brand is ashes, and the life of\nMeleager is breathed forth to the wandering winds.\n\nAlthea, when the deed was done, laid violent hands upon herself. The\nsisters of Meleager mourned their brother with uncontrollable grief;\ntill Diana, pitying the sorrows of the house that once had aroused her\nanger, turned them into birds.\n\n ATALANTA\n\nThe innocent cause of so much sorrow was a maiden whose face you might\ntruly say was boyish for a girl, yet too girlish for a boy. Her fortune\nhad been told, and it was to this effect: \u201cAtalanta, do not marry;\nmarriage will be your ruin.\u201d Terrified by this oracle, she fled the\nsociety of men, and devoted herself to the sports of the chase. To all\nsuitors (for she had many) she imposed a condition which was generally\neffectual in relieving her of their persecutions,\u2014\u201cI will be the prize\nof him who shall conquer me in the race; but death must be the penalty\nof all who try and fail.\u201d In spite of this hard condition some would\ntry. Hippomenes was to be judge of the race. \u201cCan it be possible that\nany will be so rash as to risk so much for a wife?\u201d said he. But when he\nsaw her lay aside her robe for the race, he changed his mind, and said,\n\u201cPardon me, youths, I knew not the prize you were competing for.\u201d As he\nsurveyed them he wished them all to be beaten, and swelled with envy of\nany one that seemed at all likely to win. While such were his thoughts,\nthe virgin darted forward. As she ran she looked more beautiful than\never. The breezes seemed to give wings to her feet; her hair flew over\nher shoulders, and the gay fringe of her garment fluttered behind her. A\nruddy hue tinged the whiteness of her skin, such as a crimson curtain\ncasts on a marble wall. All her competitors were distanced, and were put\nto death without mercy. Hippomenes, not daunted by this result, fixing\nhis eyes on the virgin, said, \u201cWhy boast of beating those laggards? I\noffer myself for the contest.\u201d Atalanta looked at him with a pitying\ncountenance, and hardly knew whether she would rather conquer him or\nnot. \u201cWhat god can tempt one so young and handsome to throw himself\naway? I pity him, not for his beauty (yet he is beautiful), but for his\nyouth. I wish he would give up the race, or if he will be so mad, I hope\nhe may outrun me.\u201d While she hesitates, revolving these thoughts, the\nspectators grow impatient for the race, and her father prompts her to\nprepare. Then Hippomenes addressed a prayer to Venus: \u201cHelp me, Venus,\nfor you have led me on.\u201d Venus heard and was propitious.\n\nIn the garden of her temple, in her own island of Cyprus, is a tree with\nyellow leaves and yellow branches and golden fruit. Hence she gathered\nthree golden apples, and, unseen by any one else, gave them to\nHippomenes, and told him how to use them. The signal is given; each\nstarts from the goal and skims over the sand. So light their tread, you\nwould almost have thought they might run over the river surface or over\nthe waving grain without sinking. The cries of the spectators cheered\nHippomenes,\u2014\u201cNow, now, do your best! haste, haste! you gain on her!\nrelax not! one more effort!\u201d It was doubtful whether the youth or the\nmaiden heard these cries with the greater pleasure. But his breath began\nto fail him, his throat was dry, the goal yet far off. At that moment he\nthrew down one of the golden apples. The virgin was all amazement. She\nstopped to pick it up. Hippomenes shot ahead. Shouts burst forth from\nall sides. She redoubled her efforts, and soon overtook him. Again he\nthrew an apple. She stopped again, but again came up with him. The goal\nwas near; one chance only remained. \u201cNow, goddess,\u201d said he, \u201cprosper\nyour gift!\u201d and threw the last apple off at one side. She looked at it,\nand hesitated; Venus impelled her to turn aside for it. She did so, and\nwas vanquished. The youth carried off his prize.\n\nBut the lovers were so full of their own happiness that they forgot to\npay due honor to Venus; and the goddess was provoked at their\ningratitude. She caused them to give offence to Cybele. That powerful\ngoddess was not to be insulted with impunity. She took from them their\nhuman form and turned them into animals of characters resembling their\nown: of the huntress-heroine, triumphing in the blood of her lovers, she\nmade a lioness, and of her lord and master a lion, and yoked them to her\ncar, where they are still to be seen in all representations, in statuary\nor painting, of the goddess Cybele.\n\n\n\nCybele is the Latin name of the goddess called by the Greeks Rhea and\nOps. She was the wife of Cronos and mother of Zeus. In works of art she\nexhibits the matronly air which distinguishes Juno and Ceres. Sometimes\nshe is veiled, and seated on a throne with lions at her side, at other\ntimes riding in a chariot drawn by lions. She wears a mural crown, that\nis, a crown whose rim is carved in the form of towers and battlements.\nHer priests were called Corybantes.\n\n\n\nByron, in describing the city of Venice, which is built on a low island\nin the Adriatic Sea, borrows an illustration from Cybele:\n\n \u201cShe looks a sea-Cybele fresh from ocean,\n Rising with her tiara of proud towers\n At airy distance, with majestic motion,\n A ruler of the waters and their powers.\u201d\n \u2014_Childe Harold_, IV.\n\nIn Moore\u2019s \u201cRhymes on the Road,\u201d the poet, speaking of Alpine scenery,\nalludes to the story of Atalanta and Hippomenes thus:\n\n \u201cEven here, in this region of wonders, I find\n That light-footed Fancy leaves Truth far behind,\n Or at least, like Hippomenes, turns her astray\n By the golden illusions he flings in her way.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: CIRCE.\n From painting by Burne-Jones.]\n\n[Illustration: THE THREE FATES.\n From painting by Michael Angelo. Pitti Gallery, Florence.]\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XIX\n\n HERCULES\u2014HEBE AND GANYMEDE\n\n HERCULES\n\nHERCULES was the son of Jupiter and Alcmena. As Juno was always hostile\nto the offspring of her husband by mortal mothers, she declared war\nagainst Hercules from his birth. She sent two serpents to destroy him as\nhe lay in his cradle, but the precocious infant strangled them with his\nown hands. He was, however, by the arts of Juno rendered subject to\nEurystheus and compelled to perform all his commands. Eurystheus\nenjoined upon him a succession of desperate adventures, which are called\nthe \u201cTwelve Labors of Hercules.\u201d The first was the fight with the Nemean\nlion. The valley of Nemea was infested by a terrible lion. Eurystheus\nordered Hercules to bring him the skin of this monster. After using in\nvain his club and arrows against the lion, Hercules strangled the animal\nwith his hands. He returned carrying the dead lion on his shoulders; but\nEurystheus was so frightened at the sight of it and at this proof of the\nprodigious strength of the hero, that he ordered him to deliver the\naccount of his exploits in future outside the town.\n\nHis next labor was the slaughter of the Hydra. This monster ravaged the\ncountry of Argos, and dwelt in a swamp near the well of Amymone. This\nwell had been discovered by Amymone when the country was suffering from\ndrought, and the story was that Neptune, who loved her, had permitted\nher to touch the rock with his trident, and a spring of three outlets\nburst forth. Here the Hydra took up his position, and Hercules was sent\nto destroy him. The Hydra had nine heads, of which the middle one was\nimmortal. Hercules struck off its heads with his club, but in the place\nof the head knocked off, two new ones grew forth each time. At length\nwith the assistance of his faithful servant Iolaus, he burned away the\nheads of the Hydra, and buried the ninth or immortal one under a huge\nrock.\n\nAnother labor was the cleaning of the Augean stables. Augeas, king of\nElis, had a herd of three thousand oxen, whose stalls had not been\ncleansed for thirty years. Hercules brought the rivers Alpheus and\nPeneus through them, and cleansed them thoroughly in one day.\n\nHis next labor was of a more delicate kind. Admeta, the daughter of\nEurystheus, longed to obtain the girdle of the queen of the Amazons, and\nEurystheus ordered Hercules to go and get it. The Amazons were a nation\nof women. They were very warlike and held several flourishing cities. It\nwas their custom to bring up only the female children; the boys were\neither sent away to the neighboring nations or put to death. Hercules\nwas accompanied by a number of volunteers, and after various adventures\nat last reached the country of the Amazons. Hippolyta, the queen,\nreceived him kindly, and consented to yield him her girdle, but Juno,\ntaking the form of an Amazon, went and persuaded the rest that the\nstrangers were carrying off their queen. They instantly armed and came\nin great numbers down to the ship. Hercules, thinking that Hippolyta had\nacted treacherously, slew her, and taking her girdle made sail\nhomewards.\n\nAnother task enjoined him was to bring to Eurystheus the oxen of Geryon,\na monster with three bodies, who dwelt in the island Erytheia (the red),\nso called because it lay at the west, under the rays of the setting sun.\nThis description is thought to apply to Spain, of which Geryon was king.\nAfter traversing various countries, Hercules reached at length the\nfrontiers of Libya and Europe, where he raised the two mountains of\nCalpe and Abyla, as monuments of his progress, or, according to another\naccount, rent one mountain into two and left half on each side, forming\nthe straits of Gibraltar, the two mountains being called the Pillars of\nHercules. The oxen were guarded by the giant Eurytion and his two-headed\ndog, but Hercules killed the giant and his dog and brought away the oxen\nin safety to Eurystheus.\n\nThe most difficult labor of all was getting the golden apples of the\nHesperides, for Hercules did not know where to find them. These were the\napples which Juno had received at her wedding from the goddess of the\nEarth, and which she had intrusted to the keeping of the daughters of\nHesperus, assisted by a watchful dragon. After various adventures\nHercules arrived at Mount Atlas in Africa. Atlas was one of the Titans\nwho had warred against the gods, and after they were subdued, Atlas was\ncondemned to bear on his shoulders the weight of the heavens. He was the\nfather of the Hesperides, and Hercules thought might, if any one could,\nfind the apples and bring them to him. But how to send Atlas away from\nhis post, or bear up the heavens while he was gone? Hercules took the\nburden on his own shoulders, and sent Atlas to seek the apples. He\nreturned with them, and though somewhat reluctantly, took his burden\nupon his shoulders again, and let Hercules return with the apples to\nEurystheus.\n\n\n\nMilton, in his \u201cComus,\u201d makes the Hesperides the daughters of Hesperus\nand nieces of Atlas:\n\n \u201c. . . amidst the gardens fair\n Of Hesperus and his daughters three,\n That sing about the golden tree.\u201d\n\nThe poets, led by the analogy of the lovely appearance of the western\nsky at sunset, viewed the west as a region of brightness and glory.\nHence they placed in it the Isles of the Blest, the ruddy Isle Erythea,\non which the bright oxen of Geryon were pastured, and the Isle of the\nHesperides. The apples are supposed by some to be the oranges of Spain,\nof which the Greeks had heard some obscure accounts.\n\n\n\nA celebrated exploit of Hercules was his victory over Ant\u00e6us. Ant\u00e6us,\nthe son of Terra, the Earth, was a mighty giant and wrestler, whose\nstrength was invincible so long as he remained in contact with his\nmother Earth. He compelled all strangers who came to his country to\nwrestle with him, on condition that if conquered (as they all were) they\nshould be put to death. Hercules encountered him, and finding that it\nwas of no avail to throw him, for he always rose with renewed strength\nfrom every fall, he lifted him up from the earth and strangled him in\nthe air.\n\nCacus was a huge giant, who inhabited a cave on Mount Aventine, and\nplundered the surrounding country. When Hercules was driving home the\noxen of Geryon, Cacus stole part of the cattle, while the hero slept.\nThat their footprints might not serve to show where they had been\ndriven, he dragged them backward by their tails to his cave; so their\ntracks all seemed to show that they had gone in the opposite direction.\nHercules was deceived by this stratagem, and would have failed to find\nhis oxen, if it had not happened that in driving the remainder of the\nherd past the cave where the stolen ones were concealed, those within\nbegan to low, and were thus discovered. Cacus was slain by Hercules.\n\nThe last exploit we shall record was bringing Cerberus from the lower\nworld. Hercules descended into Hades, accompanied by Mercury and\nMinerva. He obtained permission from Pluto to carry Cerberus to the\nupper air, provided he could do it without the use of weapons; and in\nspite of the monster\u2019s struggling, he seized him, held him fast, and\ncarried him to Eurystheus, and afterwards brought him back again. When\nhe was in Hades he obtained the liberty of Theseus, his admirer and\nimitator, who had been detained a prisoner there for an unsuccessful\nattempt to carry off Proserpine.\n\nHercules in a fit of madness killed his friend Iphitus, and was\ncondemned for this offence to become the slave of Queen Omphale for\nthree years. While in this service the hero\u2019s nature seemed changed. He\nlived effeminately, wearing at times the dress of a woman, and spinning\nwool with the hand-maidens of Omphale, while the queen wore his lion\u2019s\nskin. When this service was ended he married Dejanira and lived in peace\nwith her three years. On one occasion as he was travelling with his\nwife, they came to a river, across which the Centaur Nessus carried\ntravellers for a stated fee. Hercules himself forded the river, but gave\nDejanira to Nessus to be carried across. Nessus attempted to run away\nwith her, but Hercules heard her cries and shot an arrow into the heart\nof Nessus. The dying Centaur told Dejanira to take a portion of his\nblood and keep it, as it might be used as a charm to preserve the love\nof her husband.\n\nDejanira did so and before long fancied she had occasion to use it.\nHercules in one of his conquests had taken prisoner a fair maiden, named\nIole, of whom he seemed more fond than Dejanira approved. When Hercules\nwas about to offer sacrifices to the gods in honor of his victory, he\nsent to his wife for a white robe to use on the occasion. Dejanira,\nthinking it a good opportunity to try her love-spell, steeped the\ngarment in the blood of Nessus. We are to suppose she took care to wash\nout all traces of it, but the magic power remained, and as soon as the\ngarment became warm on the body of Hercules the poison penetrated into\nall his limbs and caused him the most intense agony. In his frenzy he\nseized Lichas, Who had brought him the fatal robe, and hurled him into\nthe sea. He wrenched off the garment, but it stuck to his flesh, and\nwith it he tore away whole pieces of his body. In this state he embarked\non board a ship and was conveyed home. Dejanira, on seeing what she had\nunwittingly done, hung herself. Hercules, prepared to die, ascended\nMount \u0152ta, where he built a funeral pile of trees, gave his bow and\narrows to Philoctetes, and laid himself down on the pile, his head\nresting on his club, and his lion\u2019s skin spread over him. With a\ncountenance as serene as if he were taking his place at a festal board\nhe commanded Philoctetes to apply the torch. The flames spread apace and\nsoon invested the whole mass.\n\n\n\nMilton thus alludes to the frenzy of Hercules:\n\n \u201cAs when Alcides,[18] from \u0152chalia crowned\n With conquest, felt the envenomed robe, and tore,\n Through pain, up by the roots Thessalian pines\n And Lichas from the top of \u0152ta threw\n Into the Euboic Sea.\u201d\n\nThe gods themselves felt troubled at seeing the champion of the earth so\nbrought to his end. But Jupiter with cheerful countenance thus addressed\nthem: \u201cI am pleased to see your concern, my princes, and am gratified to\nperceive that I am the ruler of a loyal people, and that my son enjoys\nyour favor. For although your interest in him arises from his noble\ndeeds, yet it is not the less gratifying to me. But now I say to you,\nFear not. He who conquered all else is not to be conquered by those\nflames which you see blazing on Mount \u0152ta. Only his mother\u2019s share in\nhim can perish; what he derived from me is immortal. I shall take him,\ndead to earth, to the heavenly shores, and I require of you all to\nreceive him kindly. If any of you feel grieved at his attaining this\nhonor, yet no one can deny that he has deserved it.\u201d The gods all gave\ntheir assent; Juno only heard the closing words with some displeasure\nthat she should be so particularly pointed at, yet not enough to make\nher regret the determination of her husband. So when the flames had\nconsumed the mother\u2019s share of Hercules, the diviner part, instead of\nbeing injured thereby, seemed to start forth with new vigor, to assume a\nmore lofty port and a more awful dignity. Jupiter enveloped him in a\ncloud, and took him up in a four-horse chariot to dwell among the stars.\nAs he took his place in heaven, Atlas felt the added weight.\n\nJuno, now reconciled to him, gave him her daughter Hebe in marriage.\n\n\n\nThe poet Schiller, in one of his pieces called the \u201cIdeal and Life,\u201d\nillustrates the contrast between the practical and the imaginative in\nsome beautiful stanzas, of which the last two may be thus translated:\n\n \u201cDeep degraded to a coward\u2019s slave,\n Endless contests bore Alcides brave,\n Through the thorny path of suffering led;\n Slew the Hydra, crushed the lion\u2019s might,\n Threw himself, to bring his friend to light,\n Living, in the skiff that bears the dead.\n All the torments, every toil of earth\n Juno\u2019s hatred on him could impose,\n Well he bore them, from his fated birth\n To life\u2019s grandly mournful close.\n\n \u201cTill the god, the earthly part forsaken,\n From the man in flames asunder taken,\n Drank the heavenly ether\u2019s purer breath.\n Joyous in the new unwonted lightness,\n Soared he upwards to celestial brightness,\n Earth\u2019s dark heavy burden lost in death.\n High Olympus gives harmonious greeting\n To the hall where reigns his sire adored;\n Youth\u2019s bright goddess, with a blush at meeting,\n Gives the nectar to her lord.\u201d\n \u2014_S. G. B._\n\n HEBE AND GANYMEDE\n\nHebe, the daughter of Juno, and goddess of youth, was cup-bearer to the\ngods. The usual story is that she resigned her office on becoming the\nwife of Hercules. But there is another statement which our countryman\nCrawford, the sculptor, has adopted in his group of Hebe and Ganymede,\nnow in the Athen\u00e6um gallery. According to this, Hebe was dismissed from\nher office in consequence of a fall which she met with one day when in\nattendance on the gods. Her successor was Ganymede, a Trojan boy, whom\nJupiter, in the disguise of an eagle, seized and carried off from the\nmidst of his playfellows on Mount Ida, bore up to heaven, and installed\nin the vacant place.\n\n\n\nTennyson, in his \u201cPalace of Art,\u201d describes among the decorations on the\nwalls a picture representing this legend:\n\n \u201cThere, too, flushed Ganymede, his rosy thigh\n Half buried in the eagle\u2019s down,\n Sole as a flying star shot through the sky\n Above the pillared town.\u201d\n\nAnd in Shelley\u2019s \u201cPrometheus\u201d Jupiter calls to his cup-bearer thus:\n\n \u201cPour forth heaven\u2019s wine, Id\u00e6an Ganymede,\n And let it fill the D\u00e6dal cups like fire.\u201d\n\nThe beautiful legend of the \u201cChoice of Hercules\u201d may be found in the\n\u201cTatler,\u201d No. 97.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XX\n\n THESEUS\u2014D\u00c6DALUS\u2014CASTOR AND POLLUX\n\n THESEUS\n\nTHESEUS was the son of \u00c6geus, king of Athens, and of \u00c6thra, daughter of\nthe king of Tr\u0153zen. He was brought up at Tr\u0153zen, and when arrived at\nmanhood was to proceed to Athens and present himself to his father.\n\u00c6geus on parting from \u00c6thra, before the birth of his son, placed his\nsword and shoes under a large stone and directed her to send his son to\nhim when he became strong enough to roll away the stone and take them\nfrom under it. When she thought the time had come, his mother led\nTheseus to the stone, and he removed it with ease and took the sword and\nshoes. As the roads were infested with robbers, his grandfather pressed\nhim earnestly to take the shorter and safer way to his father\u2019s\ncountry\u2014by sea; but the youth, feeling in himself the spirit and the\nsoul of a hero, and eager to signalize himself like Hercules, with whose\nfame all Greece then rang, by destroying the evil-doers and monsters\nthat oppressed the country, determined on the more perilous and\nadventurous journey by land.\n\nHis first day\u2019s journey brought him to Epidaurus, where dwelt a man\nnamed Periphetes, a son of Vulcan. This ferocious savage always went\narmed with a club of iron, and all travellers stood in terror of his\nviolence. When he saw Theseus approach he assailed him, but speedily\nfell beneath the blows of the young hero, who took possession of his\nclub and bore it ever afterwards as a memorial of his first victory.\n\nSeveral similar contests with the petty tyrants and marauders of the\ncountry followed, in all of which Theseus was victorious. One of these\nevil-doers was called Procrustes, or the Stretcher. He had an iron\nbedstead, on which he used to tie all travellers who fell into his\nhands. If they were shorter than the bed, he stretched their limbs to\nmake them fit it; if they were longer than the bed, he lopped off a\nportion. Theseus served him as he had served others.\n\nHaving overcome all the perils of the road, Theseus at length reached\nAthens, where new dangers awaited him. Medea, the sorceress, who had\nfled from Corinth after her separation from Jason, had become the wife\nof \u00c6geus, the father of Theseus. Knowing by her arts who he was, and\nfearing the loss of her influence with her husband if Theseus should be\nacknowledged as his son, she filled the mind of \u00c6geus with suspicions of\nthe young stranger, and induced him to present him a cup of poison; but\nat the moment when Theseus stepped forward to take it, the sight of the\nsword which he wore discovered to his father who he was, and prevented\nthe fatal draught. Medea, detected in her arts, fled once more from\ndeserved punishment, and arrived in Asia, where the country afterwards\ncalled Medea received its name from her. Theseus was acknowledged by his\nfather, and declared his successor.\n\nThe Athenians were at that time in deep affliction, on account of the\ntribute which they were forced to pay to Minos, king of Crete. This\ntribute consisted of seven youths and seven maidens, who were sent every\nyear to be devoured by the Minotaur, a monster with a bull\u2019s body and a\nhuman head. It was exceedingly strong and fierce, and was kept in a\nlabyrinth constructed by D\u00e6dalus, so artfully contrived that whoever was\nenclosed in it could by no means find his way out unassisted. Here the\nMinotaur roamed, and was fed with human victims.\n\nTheseus resolved to deliver his countrymen from this calamity, or to die\nin the attempt. Accordingly, when the time of sending off the tribute\ncame, and the youths and maidens were, according to custom, drawn by lot\nto be sent, he offered himself as one of the victims, in spite of the\nentreaties of his father. The ship departed under black sails, as usual,\nwhich Theseus promised his father to change for white, in case of his\nreturning victorious. When they arrived in Crete, the youths and maidens\nwere exhibited before Minos; and Ariadne, the daughter of the king,\nbeing present, became deeply enamored of Theseus, by whom her love was\nreadily returned. She furnished him with a sword, with which to\nencounter the Minotaur, and with a clew of thread by which he might find\nhis way out of the labyrinth. He was successful, slew the Minotaur,\nescaped from the labyrinth, and taking Ariadne as the companion of his\nway, with his rescued companions sailed for Athens. On their way they\nstopped at the island of Naxos, where Theseus abandoned Ariadne, leaving\nher asleep.[19] His excuse for this ungrateful treatment of his\nbenefactress was that Minerva appeared to him in a dream and commanded\nhim to do so.\n\nOn approaching the coast of Attica, Theseus forgot the signal appointed\nby his father, and neglected to raise the white sails, and the old king,\nthinking his son had perished, put an end to his own life. Theseus thus\nbecame king of Athens.\n\nOne of the most celebrated of the adventures of Theseus is his\nexpedition against the Amazons. He assailed them before they had\nrecovered from the attack of Hercules, and carried off their queen\nAntiope. The Amazons in their turn invaded the country of Athens and\npenetrated into the city itself; and the final battle in which Theseus\novercame them was fought in the very midst of the city. This battle was\none of the favorite subjects of the ancient sculptors, and is\ncommemorated in several works of art that are still extant.\n\nThe friendship between Theseus and Pirithous was of a most intimate\nnature, yet it originated in the midst of arms. Pirithous had made an\nirruption into the plain of Marathon, and carried off the herds of the\nking of Athens. Theseus went to repel the plunderers. The moment\nPirithous beheld him, he was seized with admiration; he stretched out\nhis hand as a token of peace, and cried, \u201cBe judge thyself\u2014what\nsatisfaction dost thou require?\u201d \u201cThy friendship,\u201d replied the Athenian,\nand they swore inviolable fidelity. Their deeds corresponded to their\nprofessions, and they ever continued true brothers in arms. Each of them\naspired to espouse a daughter of Jupiter. Theseus fixed his choice on\nHelen, then but a child, afterwards so celebrated as the cause of the\nTrojan war, and with the aid of his friend he carried her off. Pirithous\naspired to the wife of the monarch of Erebus; and Theseus, though aware\nof the danger, accompanied the ambitious lover in his descent to the\nunder-world. But Pluto seized and set them on an enchanted rock at his\npalace gate, where they remained till Hercules arrived and liberated\nTheseus, leaving Pirithous to his fate.\n\nAfter the death of Antiope, Theseus married Ph\u00e6dra, daughter of Minos,\nking of Crete. Ph\u00e6dra saw in Hippolytus, the son of Theseus, a youth\nendowed with all the graces and virtues of his father, and of an age\ncorresponding to her own. She loved him, but he repulsed her advances,\nand her love was changed to hate. She used her influence over her\ninfatuated husband to cause him to be jealous of his son, and he\nimprecated the vengeance of Neptune upon him. As Hippolytus was one day\ndriving his chariot along the shore, a sea-monster raised himself above\nthe waters, and frightened the horses so that they ran away and dashed\nthe chariot to pieces. Hippolytus was killed, but by Diana\u2019s assistance\n\u00c6sculapius restored him to life. Diana removed Hippolytus from the power\nof his deluded father and false stepmother, and placed him in Italy\nunder the protection of the nymph Egeria.\n\nTheseus at length lost the favor of his people, and retired to the court\nof Lycomedes, king of Scyros, who at first received him kindly, but\nafterwards treacherously slew him. In a later age the Athenian general\nCimon discovered the place where his remains were laid, and caused them\nto be removed to Athens, where they were deposited in a temple called\nthe Theseum, erected in honor of the hero.\n\n\n\nThe queen of the Amazons whom Theseus espoused is by some called\nHippolyta. That is the name she bears in Shakspeare\u2019s \u201cMidsummer Night\u2019s\nDream,\u201d\u2014the subject of which is the festivities attending the nuptials\nof Theseus and Hippolyta.\n\nMrs. Hemans has a poem on the ancient Greek tradition that the \u201cShade of\nTheseus\u201d appeared strengthening his countrymen at the battle of\nMarathon.\n\nTheseus is a semi-historical personage. It is recorded of him that he\nunited the several tribes by whom the territory of Attica was then\npossessed into one state, of which Athens was the capital. In\ncommemoration of this important event, he instituted the festival of\nPanathen\u00e6a, in honor of Minerva, the patron deity of Athens. This\nfestival differed from the other Grecian games chiefly in two\nparticulars. It was peculiar to the Athenians, and its chief feature was\na solemn procession in which the Peplus, or sacred robe of Minerva, was\ncarried to the Parthenon, and suspended before the statue of the\ngoddess. The Peplus was covered with embroidery, worked by select\nvirgins of the noblest families in Athens. The procession consisted of\npersons of all ages and both sexes. The old men carried olive branches\nin their hands, and the young men bore arms. The young women carried\nbaskets on their heads, containing the sacred utensils, cakes, and all\nthings necessary for the sacrifices. The procession formed the subject\nof the bas-reliefs which embellished the outside of the temple of the\nParthenon. A considerable portion of these sculptures is now in the\nBritish Museum among those known as the \u201cElgin marbles.\u201d\n\n OLYMPIC AND OTHER GAMES\n\nIt seems not inappropriate to mention here the other celebrated national\ngames of the Greeks. The first and most distinguished were the Olympic,\nfounded, it was said, by Jupiter himself. They were celebrated at\nOlympia in Elis. Vast numbers of spectators flocked to them from every\npart of Greece, and from Asia, Africa, and Sicily. They were repeated\nevery fifth year in midsummer, and continued five days. They gave rise\nto the custom of reckoning time and dating events by Olympiads. The\nfirst Olympiad is generally considered as corresponding with the year\n776 B.C. The Pythian games were celebrated in the vicinity of Delphi,\nthe Isthmian on the Corinthian isthmus, the Nemean at Nemea, a city of\nArgolis.\n\nThe exercises in these games were of five sorts: running, leaping,\nwrestling, throwing the quoit, and hurling the javelin, or boxing.\nBesides these exercises of bodily strength and agility, there were\ncontests in music, poetry, and eloquence. Thus these games furnished\npoets, musicians, and authors the best opportunities to present their\nproductions to the public, and the fame of the victors was diffused far\nand wide.\n\n D\u00c6DALUS\n\nThe labyrinth from which Theseus escaped by means of the clew of Ariadne\nwas built by D\u00e6dalus, a most skilful artificer. It was an edifice with\nnumberless winding passages and turnings opening into one another, and\nseeming to have neither beginning nor end, like the river M\u00e6ander, which\nreturns on itself, and flows now onward, now backward, in its course to\nthe sea. D\u00e6dalus built the labyrinth for King Minos, but afterwards lost\nthe favor of the king, and was shut up in a tower. He contrived to make\nhis escape from his prison, but could not leave the island by sea, as\nthe king kept strict watch on all the vessels, and permitted none to\nsail without being carefully searched. \u201cMinos may control the land and\nsea,\u201d said D\u00e6dalus, \u201cbut not the regions of the air. I will try that\nway.\u201d So he set to work to fabricate wings for himself and his young son\nIcarus. He wrought feathers together, beginning with the smallest and\nadding larger, so as to form an increasing surface. The larger ones he\nsecured with thread and the smaller with wax, and gave the whole a\ngentle curvature like the wings of a bird. Icarus, the boy, stood and\nlooked on, sometimes running to gather up the feathers which the wind\nhad blown away, and then handling the wax and working it over with his\nfingers, by his play impeding his father in his labors. When at last the\nwork was done, the artist, waving his wings, found himself buoyed\nupward, and hung suspended, poising himself on the beaten air. He next\nequipped his son in the same manner, and taught him how to fly, as a\nbird tempts her young ones from the lofty nest into the air. When all\nwas prepared for flight he said, \u201cIcarus, my son, I charge you to keep\nat a moderate height, for if you fly too low the damp will clog your\nwings, and if too high the heat will melt them. Keep near me and you\nwill be safe.\u201d While he gave him these instructions and fitted the wings\nto his shoulders, the face of the father was wet with tears, and his\nhands trembled. He kissed the boy, not knowing that it was for the last\ntime. Then rising on his wings, he flew off, encouraging him to follow,\nand looked back from his own flight to see how his son managed his\nwings. As they flew the ploughman stopped his work to gaze, and the\nshepherd leaned on his staff and watched them, astonished at the sight,\nand thinking they were gods who could thus cleave the air.\n\nThey passed Samos and Delos on the left and Lebynthos on the right, when\nthe boy, exulting in his career, began to leave the guidance of his\ncompanion and soar upward as if to reach heaven. The nearness of the\nblazing sun softened the wax which held the feathers together, and they\ncame off. He fluttered with his arms, but no feathers remained to hold\nthe air. While his mouth uttered cries to his father it was submerged in\nthe blue waters of the sea, which thenceforth was called by his name.\nHis father cried, \u201cIcarus, Icarus, where are you?\u201d At last he saw the\nfeathers floating on the water, and bitterly lamenting his own arts, he\nburied the body and called the land Icaria in memory of his child.\nD\u00e6dalus arrived safe in Sicily, where he built a temple to Apollo, and\nhung up his wings, an offering to the god.\n\nD\u00e6dalus was so proud of his achievements that he could not bear the idea\nof a rival. His sister had placed her son Perdix under his charge to be\ntaught the mechanical arts. He was an apt scholar and gave striking\nevidences of ingenuity. Walking on the seashore he picked up the spine\nof a fish. Imitating it, he took a piece of iron and notched it on the\nedge, and thus invented the _saw_. He put two pieces of iron together,\nconnecting them at one end with a rivet, and sharpening the other ends,\nand made a _pair of compasses_. D\u00e6dalus was so envious of his nephew\u2019s\nperformances that he took an opportunity, when they were together one\nday on the top of a high tower, to push him off. But Minerva, who favors\ningenuity, saw him falling, and arrested his fate by changing him into a\nbird called after his name, the Partridge. This bird does not build his\nnest in the trees, nor take lofty flights, but nestles in the hedges,\nand mindful of his fall, avoids high places.\n\nThe death of Icarus is told in the following lines by Darwin:\n\n \u201c. . . with melting wax and loosened strings\n Sunk hapless Icarus on unfaithful wings;\n Headlong he rushed through the affrighted air,\n With limbs distorted and dishevelled hair;\n His scattered plumage danced upon the wave,\n And sorrowing Nereids decked his watery grave;\n O\u2019er his pale corse their pearly sea-flowers shed,\n And strewed with crimson moss his marble bed;\n Struck in their coral towers the passing bell,\n And wide in ocean tolled his echoing knell.\u201d\n\n CASTOR AND POLLUX\n\nCastor and Pollux were the offspring of Leda and the Swan, under which\ndisguise Jupiter had concealed himself. Leda gave birth to an egg from\nwhich sprang the twins. Helen, so famous afterwards as the cause of the\nTrojan war, was their sister.\n\nWhen Theseus and his friend Pirithous had carried off Helen from Sparta,\nthe youthful heroes Castor and Pollux, with their followers, hastened to\nher rescue. Theseus was absent from Attica and the brothers were\nsuccessful in recovering their sister.\n\nCastor was famous for taming and managing horses, and Pollux for skill\nin boxing. They were united by the warmest affection and inseparable in\nall their enterprises. They accompanied the Argonautic expedition.\nDuring the voyage a storm arose, and Orpheus prayed to the Samothracian\ngods, and played on his harp, whereupon the storm ceased and stars\nappeared on the heads of the brothers. From this incident, Castor and\nPollux came afterwards to be considered the patron deities of seamen and\nvoyagers, and the lambent flames, which in certain states of the\natmosphere play round the sails and masts of vessels, were called by\ntheir names.\n\nAfter the Argonautic expedition, we find Castor and Pollux engaged in a\nwar with Idas and Lynceus. Castor was slain, and Pollux, inconsolable\nfor the loss of his brother, besought Jupiter to be permitted to give\nhis own life as a ransom for him. Jupiter so far consented as to allow\nthe two brothers to enjoy the boon of life alternately, passing one day\nunder the earth and the next in the heavenly abodes. According to\nanother form of the story, Jupiter rewarded the attachment of the\nbrothers by placing them among the stars as Gemini the Twins.\n\nThey received divine honors under the name of Dioscuri (sons of Jove).\nThey were believed to have appeared occasionally in later times, taking\npart with one side or the other, in hard-fought fields, and were said on\nsuch occasions to be mounted on magnificent white steeds. Thus in the\nearly history of Rome they are said to have assisted the Romans at the\nbattle of Lake Regillus, and after the victory a temple was erected in\ntheir honor on the spot where they appeared.\n\n\n\nMacaulay, in his \u201cLays of Ancient Rome,\u201d thus alludes to the legend:\n\n \u201cSo like they were, no mortal\n Might one from other know;\n White as snow their armor was,\n Their steeds were white as snow.\n Never on earthly anvil\n Did such rare armor gleam,\n And never did such gallant steeds\n Drink of an earthly stream.\n . . . . . . .\n \u201cBack comes the chief in triumph\n Who in the hour of fight\n Hath seen the great Twin Brethren\n In harness on his right.\n Safe comes the ship to haven,\n Through billows and through gales,\n If once the great Twin Brethren\n Sit shining on the sails.\u201d\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XXI\n\n BACCHUS\u2014ARIADNE\n\n BACCHUS\n\nBACCHUS was the son of Jupiter and Semele. Juno, to gratify her\nresentment against Semele, contrived a plan for her destruction.\nAssuming the form of Bero\u00eb, her aged nurse, she insinuated doubts\nwhether it was indeed Jove himself who came as a lover. Heaving a sigh,\nshe said, \u201cI hope it will turn out so, but I can\u2019t help being afraid.\nPeople are not always what they pretend to be. If he is indeed Jove,\nmake him give some proof of it. Ask him to come arrayed in all his\nsplendors, such as he wears in heaven. That will put the matter beyond a\ndoubt.\u201d Semele was persuaded to try the experiment. She asks a favor,\nwithout naming what it is. Jove gives his promise, and confirms it with\nthe irrevocable oath, attesting the river Styx, terrible to the gods\nthemselves. Then she made known her request. The god would have stopped\nher as she spake, but she was too quick for him. The words escaped, and\nhe could neither unsay his promise nor her request. In deep distress he\nleft her and returned to the upper regions. There he clothed himself in\nhis splendors, not putting on all his terrors, as when he overthrew the\ngiants, but what is known among the gods as his lesser panoply. Arrayed\nin this, he entered the chamber of Semele. Her mortal frame could not\nendure the splendors of the immortal radiance. She was consumed to\nashes.\n\nJove took the infant Bacchus and gave him in charge to the Nys\u00e6an\nnymphs, who nourished his infancy and childhood, and for their care were\nrewarded by Jupiter by being placed, as the Hyades, among the stars.\nWhen Bacchus grew up he discovered the culture of the vine and the mode\nof extracting its precious juice; but Juno struck him with madness, and\ndrove him forth a wanderer through various parts of the earth. In\nPhrygia the goddess Rhea cured him and taught him her religious rites,\nand he set out on a progress through Asia, teaching the people the\ncultivation of the vine. The most famous part of his wanderings is his\nexpedition to India, which is said to have lasted several years.\nReturning in triumph, he undertook to introduce his worship into Greece,\nbut was opposed by some princes, who dreaded its introduction on account\nof the disorders and madness it brought with it.\n\nAs he approached his native city Thebes, Pentheus the king, who had no\nrespect for the new worship, forbade its rites to be performed. But when\nit was known that Bacchus was advancing, men and women, but chiefly the\nlatter, young and old, poured forth to meet him and to join his\ntriumphal march.\n\n\n\nMr. Longfellow in his \u201cDrinking Song\u201d thus describes the march of\nBacchus:\n\n \u201cFauns with youthful Bacchus follow;\n Ivy crowns that brow, supernal\n As the forehead of Apollo,\n And possessing youth eternal.\n\n \u201cRound about him fair Bacchantes,\n Bearing cymbals, flutes and thyrses,\n Wild from Naxian groves of Zante\u2019s\n Vineyards, sing delirious verses.\u201d\n\nIt was in vain Pentheus remonstrated, commanded, and threatened. \u201cGo,\u201d\nsaid he to his attendants, \u201cseize this vagabond leader of the rout and\nbring him to me. I will soon make him confess his false claim of\nheavenly parentage and renounce his counterfeit worship.\u201d It was in vain\nhis nearest friends and wisest counsellors remonstrated and begged him\nnot to oppose the god. Their remonstrances only made him more violent.\n\nBut now the attendants returned whom he had despatched to seize Bacchus.\nThey had been driven away by the Bacchanals, but had succeeded in taking\none of them prisoner, whom, with his hands tied behind him, they brought\nbefore the king. Pentheus, beholding him with wrathful countenance,\nsaid, \u201cFellow! you shall speedily be put to death, that your fate may be\na warning to others; but though I grudge the delay of your punishment,\nspeak, tell us who you are, and what are these new rites you presume to\ncelebrate.\u201d\n\nThe prisoner, unterrified, responded, \u201cMy name is Acetes; my country is\nM\u00e6onia; my parents were poor people, who had no fields or flocks to\nleave me, but they left me their fishing rods and nets and their\nfisherman\u2019s trade. This I followed for some time, till growing weary of\nremaining in one place, I learned the pilot\u2019s art and how to guide my\ncourse by the stars. It happened as I was sailing for Delos we touched\nat the island of Dia and went ashore. Next morning I sent the men for\nfresh water, and myself mounted the hill to observe the wind; when my\nmen returned bringing with them a prize, as they thought, a boy of\ndelicate appearance, whom they had found asleep. They judged he was a\nnoble youth, perhaps a king\u2019s son, and they might get a liberal ransom\nfor him. I observed his dress, his walk, his face. There was something\nin them which I felt sure was more than mortal. I said to my men, \u2018What\ngod there is concealed in that form I know not, but some one there\ncertainly is. Pardon us, gentle deity, for the violence we have done\nyou, and give success to our undertakings.\u2019 Dictys, one of my best hands\nfor climbing the mast and coming down by the ropes, and Melanthus, my\nsteersman, and Epopeus, the leader of the sailor\u2019s cry, one and all\nexclaimed, \u2018Spare your prayers for us.\u2019 So blind is the lust of gain!\nWhen they proceeded to put him on board I resisted them. \u2018This ship\nshall not be profaned by such impiety,\u2019 said I. \u2018I have a greater share\nin her than any of you.\u2019 But Lycabas, a turbulent fellow, seized me by\nthe throat and attempted to throw me overboard, and I scarcely saved\nmyself by clinging to the ropes. The rest approved the deed.\n\n\u201cThen Bacchus (for it was indeed he), as if shaking off his drowsiness,\nexclaimed, \u2018What are you doing with me? What is this fighting about? Who\nbrought me here? Where are you going to carry me?\u2019 One of them replied,\n\u2018Fear nothing; tell us where you wish to go and we will take you there.\u2019\n\u2018Naxos is my home,\u2019 said Bacchus; \u2018take me there and you shall be well\nrewarded.\u2019 They promised so to do, and told me to pilot the ship to\nNaxos. Naxos lay to the right, and I was trimming the sails to carry us\nthere, when some by signs and others by whispers signified to me their\nwill that I should sail in the opposite direction, and take the boy to\nEgypt to sell him for a slave. I was confounded and said, \u2018Let some one\nelse pilot the ship;\u2019 withdrawing myself from any further agency in\ntheir wickedness. They cursed me, and one of them, exclaiming, \u2018Don\u2019t\nflatter yourself that we depend on you for our safety,\u2019 took my place as\npilot, and bore away from Naxos.\n\n\u201cThen the god, pretending that he had just become aware of their\ntreachery, looked out over the sea and said in a voice of weeping,\n\u2018Sailors, these are not the shores you promised to take me to; yonder\nisland is not my home. What have I done that you should treat me so? It\nis small glory you will gain by cheating a poor boy.\u2019 I wept to hear\nhim, but the crew laughed at both of us, and sped the vessel fast over\nthe sea. All at once\u2014strange as it may seem, it is true,\u2014the vessel\nstopped, in the mid sea, as fast as if it was fixed on the ground. The\nmen, astonished, pulled at their oars, and spread more sail, trying to\nmake progress by the aid of both, but all in vain. Ivy twined round the\noars and hindered their motion, and clung to the sails, with heavy\nclusters of berries. A vine, laden with grapes, ran up the mast, and\nalong the sides of the vessel. The sound of flutes was heard and the\nodor of fragrant wine spread all around. The god himself had a chaplet\nof vine leaves, and bore in his hand a spear wreathed with ivy. Tigers\ncrouched at his feet, and forms of lynxes and spotted panthers played\naround him. The men were seized with terror or madness; some leaped\noverboard; others preparing to do the same beheld their companions in\nthe water undergoing a change, their bodies becoming flattened and\nending in a crooked tail. One exclaimed, \u2018What miracle is this!\u2019 and as\nhe spoke his mouth widened, his nostrils expanded, and scales covered\nall his body. Another, endeavoring to pull the oar, felt his hands\nshrink up and presently to be no longer hands but fins; another, trying\nto raise his arms to a rope, found he had no arms, and curving his\nmutilated body, jumped into the sea. What had been his legs became the\ntwo ends of a crescent-shaped tail. The whole crew became dolphins and\nswam about the ship, now upon the surface, now under it, scattering the\nspray, and spouting the water from their broad nostrils. Of twenty men I\nalone was left. Trembling with fear, the god cheered me. \u2018Fear not,\u2019\nsaid he; \u2018steer towards Naxos.\u2019 I obeyed, and when we arrived there, I\nkindled the altars and celebrated the sacred rites of Bacchus.\u201d\n\nPentheus here exclaimed, \u201cWe have wasted time enough on this silly\nstory. Take him away and have him executed without delay.\u201d Acetes was\nled away by the attendants and shut up fast in prison; but while they\nwere getting ready the instruments of execution the prison doors came\nopen of their own accord and the chains fell from his limbs, and when\nthey looked for him he was nowhere to be found.\n\nPentheus would take no warning, but instead of sending others,\ndetermined to go himself to the scene of the solemnities. The mountain\nCitheron was all alive with worshippers, and the cries of the Bacchanals\nresounded on every side. The noise roused the anger of Pentheus as the\nsound of a trumpet does the fire of a war-horse. He penetrated through\nthe wood and reached an open space where the chief scene of the orgies\nmet his eyes. At the same moment the women saw him; and first among them\nhis own mother, Agave, blinded by the god, cried out, \u201cSee there the\nwild boar, the hugest monster that prowls in these woods! Come on,\nsisters! I will be the first to strike the wild boar.\u201d The whole band\nrushed upon him, and while he now talks less arrogantly, now excuses\nhimself, and now confesses his crime and implores pardon, they press\nupon him and wound him. In vain he cries to his aunts to protect him\nfrom his mother. Autono\u00eb seized one arm, Ino the other, and between them\nhe was torn to pieces, while his mother shouted, \u201cVictory! Victory! we\nhave done it; the glory is ours!\u201d\n\nSo the worship of Bacchus was established in Greece.\n\n\n\nThere is an allusion to the story of Bacchus and the mariners in\nMilton\u2019s \u201cComus,\u201d at line 46. The story of Circe will be found in\nChapter XXIX.\n\n \u201cBacchus that first from out the purple grapes\n Crushed the sweet poison of misused wine,\n After the Tuscan mariners transformed,\n Coasting the Tyrrhene shore as the winds listed\n On Circe\u2019s island fell (who knows not Circe,\n The daughter of the Sun? whose charmed cup\n Whoever tasted lost his upright shape,\n And downward fell into a grovelling swine).\u201d\n\n ARIADNE\n\nWe have seen in the story of Theseus how Ariadne, the daughter of King\nMinos, after helping Theseus to escape from the labyrinth, was carried\nby him to the island of Naxos and was left there asleep, while the\nungrateful Theseus pursued his way home without her. Ariadne, on waking\nand finding herself deserted, abandoned herself to grief. But Venus took\npity on her, and consoled her with the promise that she should have an\nimmortal lover, instead of the mortal one she had lost.\n\nThe island where Ariadne was left was the favorite island of Bacchus,\nthe same that he wished the Tyrrhenian mariners to carry him to, when\nthey so treacherously attempted to make prize of him. As Ariadne sat\nlamenting her fate, Bacchus found her, consoled her, and made her his\nwife. As a marriage present he gave her a golden crown, enriched with\ngems, and when she died, he took her crown and threw it up into the sky.\nAs it mounted the gems grew brighter and were turned into stars, and\npreserving its form Ariadne\u2019s crown remains fixed in the heavens as a\nconstellation, between the kneeling Hercules and the man who holds the\nserpent.\n\n\n\nSpenser alludes to Ariadne\u2019s crown, though he has made some mistakes in\nhis mythology. It was at the wedding of Pirithous, and not Theseus, that\nthe Centaurs and Lapith\u00e6 quarrelled.\n\n \u201cLook how the crown which Ariadne wore\n Upon her ivory forehead that same day\n That Theseus her unto his bridal bore,\n Then the bold Centaurs made that bloody fray\n With the fierce Lapiths which did them dismay;\n Being now placed in the firmament,\n Through the bright heaven doth her beams display,\n And is unto the stars an ornament,\n Which round about her move in order excellent.\u201d\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XXII\n\n THE RURAL DEITIES\u2014ERISICHTHON\u2014RH\u0152CUS\u2014THE WATER DEITIES\u2014CAMEN\u00c6\u2014WINDS\n\n THE RURAL DEITIES\n\nPAN, the god of woods and fields, of flocks and shepherds, dwelt in\ngrottos, wandered on the mountains and in valleys, and amused himself\nwith the chase or in leading the dances of the nymphs. He was fond of\nmusic, and as we have seen, the inventor of the syrinx, or shepherd\u2019s\npipe, which he himself played in a masterly manner. Pan, like other gods\nwho dwelt in forests, was dreaded by those whose occupations caused them\nto pass through the woods by night, for the gloom and loneliness of such\nscenes dispose the mind to superstitious fears. Hence sudden fright\nwithout any visible cause was ascribed to Pan, and called a Panic\nterror.\n\nAs the name of the god signifies _all_, Pan came to be considered a\nsymbol of the universe and personification of Nature; and later still to\nbe regarded as a representative of all the gods and of heathenism\nitself.\n\nSylvanus and Faunus were Latin divinities, whose characteristics are so\nnearly the same as those of Pan that we may safely consider them as the\nsame personage under different names.\n\nThe wood-nymphs, Pan\u2019s partners in the dance, were but one class of\nnymphs. There were beside them the Naiads, who presided over brooks and\nfountains, the Oreads, nymphs of mountains and grottos, and the Nereids,\nsea-nymphs. The three last named were immortal, but the wood-nymphs,\ncalled Dryads or Hamadryads, were believed to perish with the trees\nwhich had been their abode and with which they had come into existence.\nIt was therefore an impious act wantonly to destroy a tree, and in some\naggravated cases were severely punished, as in the instance of\nErisichthon, which we are about to record.\n\n\n\nMilton in his glowing description of the early creation, thus alludes to\nPan as the personification of Nature:\n\n \u201c. . . Universal Pan,\n Knit with the Graces and the Hours in dance,\n Led on the eternal spring.\u201d\n\nAnd describing Eve\u2019s abode:\n\n \u201c. . . In shadier bower,\n More sacred or sequestered, though but feigned,\n Pan or Sylvanus never slept, nor nymph\n Nor Faunus haunted.\u201d\n \u2014_Paradise Lost_, B. IV.\n\nIt was a pleasing trait in the old Paganism that it loved to trace in\nevery operation of nature the agency of deity. The imagination of the\nGreeks peopled all the regions of earth and sea with divinities, to\nwhose agency it attributed those phenomena which our philosophy ascribes\nto the operation of the laws of nature. Sometimes in our poetical moods\nwe feel disposed to regret the change, and to think that the heart has\nlost as much as the head has gained by the substitution. The poet\nWordsworth thus strongly expresses this sentiment:\n\n \u201c. . . Great God, I\u2019d rather be\n A Pagan, suckled in a creed outworn,\n So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,\n Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;\n Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea,\n And hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.\u201d\n\nSchiller, in his poem \u201cDie G\u00f6tter Griechenlands,\u201d expresses his regret\nfor the overthrow of the beautiful mythology of ancient times in a way\nwhich has called forth an answer from a Christian poet, Mrs. E. Barrett\nBrowning, in her poem called \u201cThe Dead Pan.\u201d The two following verses\nare a specimen:\n\n \u201cBy your beauty which confesses\n Some chief Beauty conquering you,\n By our grand heroic guesses\n Through your falsehood at the True,\n We will weep _not_! earth shall roll\n Heir to each god\u2019s aureole,\n And Pan is dead.\n\n \u201cEarth outgrows the mythic fancies\n Sung beside her in her youth;\n And those debonaire romances\n Sound but dull beside the truth.\n Ph\u0153bus\u2019 chariot course is run!\n Look up, poets, to the sun!\n Pan, Pan is dead.\u201d\n\nThese lines are founded on an early Christian tradition that when the\nheavenly host told the shepherds at Bethlehem of the birth of Christ, a\ndeep groan, heard through all the isles of Greece, told that the great\nPan was dead, and that all the royalty of Olympus was dethroned and the\nseveral deities were sent wandering in cold and darkness. So Milton in\nhis \u201cHymn on the Nativity\u201d:\n\n \u201cThe lonely mountains o\u2019er,\n And the resounding shore,\n A voice of weeping heard and loud lament;\n From haunted spring and dale,\n Edged with poplar pale,\n The parting Genius is with sighing sent;\n With flower-enwoven tresses torn,\n The nymphs in twilight shade of tangled thickets mourn.\u201d\n\n ERISICHTHON\n\nErisichthon was a profane person and a despiser of the gods. On one\noccasion he presumed to violate with the axe a grove sacred to Ceres.\nThere stood in this grove a venerable oak so large that it seemed a wood\nin itself, its ancient trunk towering aloft, whereon votive garlands\nwere often hung and inscriptions carved expressing the gratitude of\nsuppliants to the nymph of the tree. Often had the Dryads danced round\nit hand in hand. Its trunk measured fifteen cubits round, and it\novertopped the other trees as they overtopped the shrubbery. But for all\nthat, Erisichthon saw no reason why he should spare it and he ordered\nhis servants to cut it down. When he saw them hesitate he snatched an\naxe from one, and thus impiously exclaimed: \u201cI care not whether it be a\ntree beloved of the goddess or not; were it the goddess herself it\nshould come down if it stood in my way.\u201d So saying, he lifted the axe\nand the oak seemed to shudder and utter a groan. When the first blow\nfell upon the trunk blood flowed from the wound. All the bystanders were\nhorror-struck, and one of them ventured to remonstrate and hold back the\nfatal axe. Erisichthon, with a scornful look, said to him, \u201cReceive the\nreward of your piety;\u201d and turned against him the weapon which he had\nheld aside from the tree, gashed his body with many wounds, and cut off\nhis head. Then from the midst of the oak came a voice, \u201cI who dwell in\nthis tree am a nymph beloved of Ceres, and dying by your hands forewarn\nyou that punishment awaits you.\u201d He desisted not from his crime, and at\nlast the tree, sundered by repeated blows and drawn by ropes, fell with\na crash and prostrated a great part of the grove in its fall.\n\nThe Dryads in dismay at the loss of their companion and at seeing the\npride of the forest laid low, went in a body to Ceres, all clad in\ngarments of mourning, and invoked punishment upon Erisichthon. She\nnodded her assent, and as she bowed her head the grain ripe for harvest\nin the laden fields bowed also. She planned a punishment so dire that\none would pity him, if such a culprit as he could be pitied,\u2014to deliver\nhim over to Famine. As Ceres herself could not approach Famine, for the\nFates have ordained that these two goddesses shall never come together,\nshe called an Oread from her mountain and spoke to her in these words:\n\u201cThere is a place in the farthest part of ice-clad Scythia, a sad and\nsterile region without trees and without crops. Cold dwells there, and\nFear and Shuddering, and Famine. Go and tell the last to take possession\nof the bowels of Erisichthon. Let not abundance subdue her, nor the\npower of my gifts drive her away. Be not alarmed at the distance\u201d (for\nFamine dwells very far from Ceres), \u201cbut take my chariot. The dragons\nare fleet and obey the rein, and will take you through the air in a\nshort time.\u201d So she gave her the reins, and she drove away and soon\nreached Scythia. On arriving at Mount Caucasus she stopped the dragons\nand found Famine in a stony field, pulling up with teeth and claws the\nscanty herbage. Her hair was rough, her eyes sunk, her face pale, her\nlips blanched, her jaws covered with dust, and her skin drawn tight, so\nas to show all her bones. As the Oread saw her afar off (for she did not\ndare to come near), she delivered the commands of Ceres; and, though she\nstopped as short a time as possible, and kept her distance as well as\nshe could, yet she began to feel hungry, and turned the dragons\u2019 heads\nand drove back to Thessaly.\n\nFamine obeyed the commands of Ceres and sped through the air to the\ndwelling of Erisichthon, entered the bedchamber of the guilty man, and\nfound him asleep. She enfolded him with her wings and breathed herself\ninto him, infusing her poison into his veins. Having discharged her\ntask, she hastened to leave the land of plenty and returned to her\naccustomed haunts. Erisichthon still slept, and in his dreams craved\nfood, and moved his jaws as if eating. When he awoke, his hunger was\nraging. Without a moment\u2019s delay he would have food set before him, of\nwhatever kind earth, sea, or air produces; and complained of hunger even\nwhile he ate. What would have sufficed for a city or a nation, was not\nenough for him. The more he ate the more he craved. His hunger was like\nthe sea, which receives all the rivers, yet is never filled; or like\nfire, that burns all the fuel that is heaped upon it, yet is still\nvoracious for more.\n\nHis property rapidly diminished under the unceasing demands of his\nappetite, but his hunger continued unabated. At length he had spent all\nand had only his daughter left, a daughter worthy of a better parent.\n_Her too he sold._ She scorned to be the slave of a purchaser and as she\nstood by the seaside raised her hands in prayer to Neptune. He heard her\nprayer, and though her new master was not far off and had his eye upon\nher a moment before, Neptune changed her form and made her assume that\nof a fisherman busy at his occupation. Her master, looking for her and\nseeing her in her altered form, addressed her and said, \u201cGood fisherman,\nwhither went the maiden whom I saw just now, with hair dishevelled and\nin humble garb, standing about where you stand? Tell me truly; so may\nyour luck be good and not a fish nibble at your hook and get away.\u201d She\nperceived that her prayer was answered and rejoiced inwardly at hearing\nherself inquired of about herself. She replied, \u201cPardon me, stranger,\nbut I have been so intent upon my line that I have seen nothing else;\nbut I wish I may never catch another fish if I believe any woman or\nother person except myself to have been hereabouts for some time.\u201d He\nwas deceived and went his way, thinking his slave had escaped. Then she\nresumed her own form. Her father was well pleased to find her still with\nhim, and the money too that he got by the sale of her; so he sold her\nagain. But she was changed by the favor of Neptune as often as she was\nsold, now into a horse, now a bird, now an ox, and now a stag,\u2014got away\nfrom her purchasers and came home. By this base method the starving\nfather procured food; but not enough for his wants, and at last hunger\ncompelled him to devour his limbs, and he strove to nourish his body by\neating his body, till death relieved him from the vengeance of Ceres.\n\n RH\u0152CUS\n\nThe Hamadryads could appreciate services as well as punish injuries. The\nstory of Rh\u0153cus proves this. Rh\u0153cus, happening to see an oak just ready\nto fall, ordered his servants to prop it up. The nymph, who had been on\nthe point of perishing with the tree, came and expressed her gratitude\nto him for having saved her life and bade him ask what reward he would.\nRh\u0153cus boldly asked her love and the nymph yielded to his desire. She at\nthe same time charged him to be constant and told him that a bee should\nbe her messenger and let him know when she would admit his society. One\ntime the bee came to Rh\u0153cus when he was playing at draughts and he\ncarelessly brushed it away. This so incensed the nymph that she deprived\nhim of sight.\n\n\n\nOur countryman, J. R. Lowell, has taken this story for the subject of\none of his shorter poems. He introduces it thus:\n\n \u201cHear now this fairy legend of old Greece,\n As full of freedom, youth and beauty still,\n As the immortal freshness of that grace\n Carved for all ages on some Attic frieze.\u201d\n\n THE WATER DEITIES\n\nOceanus and Tethys were the Titans who ruled over the watery element.\nWhen Jove and his brothers overthrew the Titans and assumed their power,\nNeptune and Amphitrite succeeded to the dominion of the waters in place\nof Oceanus and Tethys.\n\n NEPTUNE\n\nNeptune was the chief of the water deities. The symbol of his power was\nthe trident, or spear with three points, with which he used to shatter\nrocks, to call forth or subdue storms, to shake the shores and the like.\nHe created the horse and was the patron of horse races. His own horses\nhad brazen hoofs and golden manes. They drew his chariot over the sea,\nwhich became smooth before him, while the monsters of the deep gambolled\nabout his path.\n\n AMPHITRITE\n\nAmphitrite was the wife of Neptune. She was the daughter of Nereus and\nDoris, and the mother of Triton. Neptune, to pay his court to\nAmphitrite, came riding on a dolphin. Having won her he rewarded the\ndolphin by placing him among the stars.\n\n NEREUS AND DORIS\n\nNereus and Doris were the parents of the Nereids, the most celebrated of\nwhom were Amphitrite, Thetis, the mother of Achilles, and Galatea, who\nwas loved by the Cyclops Polyphemus. Nereus was distinguished for his\nknowledge and his love of truth and justice, whence he was termed an\nelder; the gift of prophecy was also assigned to him.\n\n TRITON AND PROTEUS\n\nTriton was the son of Neptune and Amphitrite, and the poets make him his\nfather\u2019s trumpeter. Proteus was also a son of Neptune. He, like Nereus,\nis styled a sea-elder for his wisdom and knowledge of future events. His\npeculiar power was that of changing his shape at will.\n\n THETIS\n\nThetis, the daughter of Nereus and Doris, was so beautiful that Jupiter\nhimself sought her in marriage; but having learned from Prometheus the\nTitan that Thetis should bear a son who should grow greater than his\nfather, Jupiter desisted from his suit and decreed that Thetis should be\nthe wife of a mortal. By the aid of Chiron the Centaur, Peleus succeeded\nin winning the goddess for his bride and their son was the renowned\nAchilles. In our chapter on the Trojan war it will appear that Thetis\nwas a faithful mother to him, aiding him in all difficulties, and\nwatching over his interests from the first to the last.\n\n LEUCOTHEA AND PAL\u00c6MON\n\nIno, the daughter of Cadmus and wife of Athamas, flying from her frantic\nhusband with her little son Melicertes in her arms, sprang from a cliff\ninto the sea. The gods, out of compassion, made her a goddess of the\nsea, under the name of Leucothea, and him a god, under that of Pal\u00e6mon.\nBoth were held powerful to save from shipwreck and were invoked by\nsailors. Pal\u00e6mon was usually represented riding on a dolphin. The\nIsthmian games were celebrated in his honor. He was called Portunus by\nthe Romans, and believed to have jurisdiction of the ports and shores.\n\n\n\nMilton alludes to all these deities in the song at the conclusion of\n\u201cComus\u201d:\n\n \u201c. . . Sabrina fair,\n Listen and appear to us,\n In name of great Oceanus;\n By the earth-shaking Neptune\u2019s mace,\n And Tethys\u2019 grave, majestic pace,\n By hoary Nereus\u2019 wrinkled look,\n And the Carpathian wizard\u2019s hook,[20]\n By scaly Triton\u2019s winding shell,\n And old soothsaying Glaucus\u2019 spell,\n By Leucothea\u2019s lovely hands,\n And her son who rules the strands.\n By Thetis\u2019 tinsel-slippered feet,\n And the songs of Sirens sweet;\u201d etc.\n\nArmstrong, the poet of the \u201cArt of preserving Health,\u201d under the\ninspiration of Hygeia, the goddess of health, thus celebrates the\nNaiads. P\u00e6on is a name both of Apollo and \u00c6sculapius.\n\n \u201cCome, ye Naiads! to the fountains lead!\n Propitious maids! the task remains to sing\n Your gifts (so P\u00e6on, so the powers of Health\n Command), to praise your crystal element.\n O comfortable streams! with eager lips\n And trembling hands the languid thirsty quaff\n New life in you; fresh vigor fills their veins.\n No warmer cups the rural ages knew,\n None warmer sought the sires of humankind;\n Happy in temperate peace their equal days\n Felt not the alternate fits of feverish mirth\n And sick dejection; still serene and pleased,\n Blessed with divine immunity from ills,\n Long centuries they lived; their only fate\n Was ripe old age, and rather sleep than death.\u201d\n\n THE CAMEN\u00c6\n\nBy this name the Latins designated the Muses, but included under it also\nsome other deities, principally nymphs of fountains. Egeria was one of\nthem, whose fountain and grotto are still shown. It was said that Numa,\nthe second king of Rome, was favored by this nymph with secret\ninterviews, in which she taught him those lessons of wisdom and of law\nwhich he imbodied in the institutions of his rising nation. After the\ndeath of Numa the nymph pined away and was changed into a fountain.\n\n\n\nByron, in \u201cChilde Harold,\u201d Canto IV., thus alludes to Egeria and her\ngrotto:\n\n \u201cHere didst thou dwell, in this enchanted cover,\n Egeria! all thy heavenly bosom beating\n For the far footsteps of thy mortal lover;\n The purple midnight veiled that mystic meeting\n With her most starry canopy;\u201d etc.\n\nTennyson, also, in his \u201cPalace of Art,\u201d gives us a glimpse of the royal\nlover expecting the interview:\n\n \u201cHolding one hand against his ear,\n To list a footfall ere he saw\n The wood-nymph, stayed the Tuscan king to hear\n Of wisdom and of law.\u201d\n\n THE WINDS\n\nWhen so many less active agencies were personified, it is not to be\nsupposed that the winds failed to be so. They were Boreas or Aquilo, the\nnorth wind; Zephyrus or Favonius, the west; Notus or Auster, the south;\nand Eurus, the east. The first two have been chiefly celebrated by the\npoets, the former as the type of rudeness, the latter of gentleness.\nBoreas loved the nymph Orithyia, and tried to play the lover\u2019s part, but\nmet with poor success. It was hard for him to breathe gently, and\nsighing was out of the question. Weary at last of fruitless endeavors,\nhe acted out his true character, seized the maiden and carried her off.\nTheir children were Zetes and Calais, winged warriors, who accompanied\nthe Argonautic expedition, and did good service in an encounter with\nthose monstrous birds the Harpies.\n\n\n\nZephyrus was the lover of Flora. Milton alludes to them in \u201cParadise\nLost,\u201d where he describes Adam waking and contemplating Eve still\nasleep.\n\n \u201c. . . He on his side\n Leaning half raised, with looks of cordial love,\n Hung over her enamored, and beheld\n Beauty which, whether waking or asleep,\n Shot forth peculiar graces; then with voice,\n Mild as when Zephyrus on Flora breathes,\n Her hand soft touching, whispered thus: \u2018Awake!\n My fairest, my espoused, my latest found,\n Heaven\u2019s last, best gift, my ever-new delight.\u2019\u201d\n\nDr. Young, the poet of the \u201cNight Thoughts,\u201d addressing the idle and\nluxurious, says:\n\n \u201cYe delicate! who nothing can support\n (Yourselves most insupportable) for whom\n The winter rose must blow, . . .\n . . . and silky soft\n Favonius breathe still softer or be chid!\u201d\n\n[Illustration: HERCULES IN BATTLE WITH A CENTAUR.\n Florence. John of Bologna.]\n\n[Illustration: PARTING OF HECTOR AND ANDROMACHE.\n From painting by A. Maignan.]\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XXIII\n\n ACHELOUS AND HERCULES\u2014ADMETUS AND ALCESTIS\u2014ANTIGONE\u2014PENELOPE\n\n ACHELOUS AND HERCULES\n\nTHE river-god Achelous told the story of Erisichthon to Theseus and his\ncompanions, whom he was entertaining at his hospitable board, while they\nwere delayed on their journey by the overflow of his waters. Having\nfinished his story, he added, \u201cBut why should I tell of other persons\u2019\ntransformations when I myself am an instance of the possession of this\npower? Sometimes I become a serpent, and sometimes a bull, with horns on\nmy head. Or I should say I once could do so; but now I have but one\nhorn, having lost one.\u201d And here he groaned and was silent.\n\nTheseus asked him the cause of his grief, and how he lost his horn. To\nwhich question the river-god replied as follows: \u201cWho likes to tell of\nhis defeats? Yet I will not hesitate to relate mine, comforting myself\nwith the thought of the greatness of my conqueror, for it was Hercules.\nPerhaps you have heard of the fame of Dejanira, the fairest of maidens,\nwhom a host of suitors strove to win. Hercules and myself were of the\nnumber, and the rest yielded to us two. He urged in his behalf his\ndescent from Jove and his labors by which he had exceeded the exactions\nof Juno, his stepmother. I, on the other hand, said to the father of the\nmaiden, \u2018Behold me, the king of the waters that flow through your land.\nI am no stranger from a foreign shore, but belong to the country, a part\nof your realm. Let it not stand in my way that royal Juno owes me no\nenmity nor punishes me with heavy tasks. As for this man, who boasts\nhimself the son of Jove, it is either a false pretence, or disgraceful\nto him if true, for it cannot be true except by his mother\u2019s shame.\u2019 As\nI said this Hercules scowled upon me, and with difficulty restrained his\nrage. \u2018My hand will answer better than my tongue,\u2019 said he. \u2018I yield to\nyou the victory in words, but trust my cause to the strife of deeds.\u2019\nWith that he advanced towards me, and I was ashamed, after what I had\nsaid, to yield. I threw off my green vesture and presented myself for\nthe struggle. He tried to throw me, now attacking my head, now my body.\nMy bulk was my protection, and he assailed me in vain. For a time we\nstopped, then returned to the conflict. We each kept our position,\ndetermined not to yield, foot to foot, I bending over him, clenching his\nhand in mine, with my forehead almost touching his. Thrice Hercules\ntried to throw me off, and the fourth time he succeeded, brought me to\nthe ground, and himself upon my back. I tell you the truth, it was as if\na mountain had fallen on me. I struggled to get my arms at liberty,\npanting and reeking with perspiration. He gave me no chance to recover,\nbut seized my throat. My knees were on the earth and my mouth in the\ndust.\n\n\u201cFinding that I was no match for him in the warrior\u2019s art, I resorted to\nothers and glided away in the form of a serpent. I curled my body in a\ncoil and hissed at him with my forked tongue. He smiled scornfully at\nthis, and said, \u2018It was the labor of my infancy to conquer snakes.\u2019 So\nsaying he clasped my neck with his hands. I was almost choked, and\nstruggled to get my neck out of his grasp. Vanquished in this form, I\ntried what alone remained to me and assumed the form of a bull. He\ngrasped my neck with his arm, and dragging my head down to the ground,\noverthrew me on the sand. Nor was this enough. His ruthless hand rent my\nhorn from my head. The Naiades took it, consecrated it, and filled it\nwith fragrant flowers. Plenty adopted my horn and made it her own, and\ncalled it \u2018Cornucopia.\u2019\u201d\n\n\n\nThe ancients were fond of finding a hidden meaning in their mythological\ntales. They explain this fight of Achelous with Hercules by saying\nAchelous was a river that in seasons of rain overflowed its banks. When\nthe fable says that Achelous loved Dejanira, and sought a union with\nher, the meaning is that the river in its windings flowed through part\nof Dejanira\u2019s kingdom. It was said to take the form of a snake because\nof its winding, and of a bull because it made a brawling or roaring in\nits course. When the river swelled, it made itself another channel. Thus\nits head was horned. Hercules prevented the return of these periodical\noverflows by embankments and canals; and therefore he was said to have\nvanquished the river-god and cut off his horn. Finally, the lands\nformerly subject to overflow, but now redeemed, became very fertile, and\nthis is meant by the horn of plenty.\n\nThere is another account of the origin of the Cornucopia. Jupiter at his\nbirth was committed by his mother Rhea to the care of the daughters of\nMelisseus, a Cretan king. They fed the infant deity with the milk of the\ngoat Amalthea. Jupiter broke off one of the horns of the goat and gave\nit to his nurses, and endowed it with the wonderful power of becoming\nfilled with whatever the possessor might wish.\n\nThe name of Amalthea is also given by some writers to the mother of\nBacchus. It is thus used by Milton, \u201cParadise Lost,\u201d Book IV.:\n\n \u201c. . . That Nyseian isle,\n Girt with the river Triton, where old Cham,\n Whom Gentiles Ammon call, and Libyan Jove,\n Hid Amalthea and her florid son,\n Young Bacchus, from his stepdame Rhea\u2019s eye.\u201d\n\n ADMETUS AND ALCESTIS\n\n\u00c6sculapius, the son of Apollo, was endowed by his father with such skill\nin the healing art that he even restored the dead to life. At this Pluto\ntook alarm, and prevailed on Jupiter to launch a thunderbolt at\n\u00c6sculapius. Apollo was indignant at the destruction of his son, and\nwreaked his vengeance on the innocent workmen who had made the\nthunderbolt. These were the Cyclopes, who have their workshop under\nMount \u00c6tna, from which the smoke and flames of their furnaces are\nconstantly issuing. Apollo shot his arrows at the Cyclopes, which so\nincensed Jupiter that he condemned him as a punishment to become the\nservant of a mortal for the space of one year. Accordingly Apollo went\ninto the service of Admetus, king of Thessaly, and pastured his flocks\nfor him on the verdant banks of the river Amphrysos.\n\nAdmetus was a suitor, with others, for the hand of Alcestis, the\ndaughter of Pelias, who promised her to him who should come for her in a\nchariot drawn by lions and boars. This task Admetus performed by the\nassistance of his divine herdsman, and was made happy in the possession\nof Alcestis. But Admetus fell ill, and being near to death, Apollo\nprevailed on the Fates to spare him on condition that some one would\nconsent to die in his stead. Admetus, in his joy at this reprieve,\nthought little of the ransom, and perhaps remembering the declarations\nof attachment which he had often heard from his courtiers and dependents\nfancied that it would be easy to find a substitute. But it was not so.\nBrave warriors, who would willingly have perilled their lives for their\nprince, shrunk from the thought of dying for him on the bed of sickness;\nand old servants who had experienced his bounty and that of his house\nfrom their childhood up, were not willing to lay down the scanty remnant\nof their days to show their gratitude. Men asked, \u201cWhy does not one of\nhis parents do it? They cannot in the course of nature live much longer,\nand who can feel like them the call to rescue the life they gave from an\nuntimely end?\u201d But the parents, distressed though they were at the\nthought of losing him, shrunk from the call. Then Alcestis, with a\ngenerous self-devotion, proffered herself as the substitute. Admetus,\nfond as he was of life, would not have submitted to receive it at such a\ncost; but there was no remedy. The condition imposed by the Fates had\nbeen met, and the decree was irrevocable. Alcestis sickened as Admetus\nrevived, and she was rapidly sinking to the grave.\n\nJust at this time Hercules arrived at the palace of Admetus, and found\nall the inmates in great distress for the impending loss of the devoted\nwife and beloved mistress. Hercules, to whom no labor was too arduous,\nresolved to attempt her rescue. He went and lay in wait at the door of\nthe chamber of the dying queen, and when Death came for his prey, he\nseized him and forced him to resign his victim. Alcestis recovered, and\nwas restored to her husband.\n\n\n\nMilton alludes to the story of Alcestis in his Sonnet \u201con his deceased\nwife\u201d:\n\n \u201cMethought I saw my late espoused saint\n Brought to me like Alcestis from the grave,\n Whom Jove\u2019s great son to her glad husband gave,\n Rescued from death by force, though pale and faint.\u201d\n\nJ. R. Lowell has chosen the \u201cShepherd of King Admetus\u201d for the subject\nof a short poem. He makes that event the first introduction of poetry to\nmen.\n\n \u201cMen called him but a shiftless youth,\n In whom no good they saw,\n And yet unwittingly, in truth,\n They made his careless words their law.\n\n \u201cAnd day by day more holy grew\n Each spot where he had trod,\n Till after-poets only knew\n Their first-born brother was a god.\u201d\n\n ANTIGONE\n\nA large proportion both of the interesting persons and of the exalted\nacts of legendary Greece belongs to the female sex. Antigone was as\nbright an example of filial and sisterly fidelity as was Alcestis of\nconnubial devotion. She was the daughter of \u0152dipus and Jocasta, who with\nall their descendants were the victims of an unrelenting fate, dooming\nthem to destruction. \u0152dipus in his madness had torn out his eyes, and\nwas driven forth from his kingdom Thebes, dreaded and abandoned by all\nmen, as an object of divine vengeance. Antigone, his daughter, alone\nshared his wanderings and remained with him till he died, and then\nreturned to Thebes.\n\nHer brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, had agreed to share the kingdom\nbetween them, and reign alternately year by year. The first year fell to\nthe lot of Eteocles, who, when his time expired, refused to surrender\nthe kingdom to his brother. Polynices fled to Adrastus, king of Argos,\nwho gave him his daughter in marriage, and aided him with an army to\nenforce his claim to the kingdom. This led to the celebrated expedition\nof the \u201cSeven against Thebes,\u201d which furnished ample materials for the\nepic and tragic poets of Greece.\n\nAmphiaraus, the brother-in-law of Adrastus, opposed the enterprise, for\nhe was a soothsayer, and knew by his art that no one of the leaders\nexcept Adrastus would live to return. But Amphiaraus, on his marriage to\nEriphyle, the king\u2019s sister, had agreed that whenever he and Adrastus\nshould differ in opinion, the decision should be left to Eriphyle.\nPolynices, knowing this, gave Eriphyle the collar of Harmonia, and\nthereby gained her to his interest. This collar or necklace was a\npresent which Vulcan had given to Harmonia on her marriage with Cadmus,\nand Polynices had taken it with him on his flight from Thebes. Eriphyle\ncould not resist so tempting a bribe, and by her decision the war was\nresolved on, and Amphiaraus went to his certain fate. He bore his part\nbravely in the contest, but could not avert his destiny. Pursued by the\nenemy, he fled along the river, when a thunderbolt launched by Jupiter\nopened the ground, and he, his chariot, and his charioteer were\nswallowed up.\n\nIt would not be in place here to detail all the acts of heroism or\natrocity which marked the contest; but we must not omit to record the\nfidelity of Evadne as an offset to the weakness of Eriphyle. Capaneus,\nthe husband of Evadne, in the ardor of the fight declared that he would\nforce his way into the city in spite of Jove himself. Placing a ladder\nagainst the wall he mounted, but Jupiter, offended at his impious\nlanguage, struck him with a thunderbolt. When his obsequies were\ncelebrated, Evadne cast herself on his funeral pile and perished.\n\nEarly in the contest Eteocles consulted the soothsayer Tiresias as to\nthe issue. Tiresias in his youth had by chance seen Minerva bathing. The\ngoddess in her wrath deprived him of his sight, but afterwards relenting\ngave him in compensation the knowledge of future events. When consulted\nby Eteocles, he declared that victory should fall to Thebes if Men\u0153ceus,\nthe son of Creon, gave himself a voluntary victim. The heroic youth,\nlearning the response, threw away his life in the first encounter.\n\nThe siege continued long, with various success. At length both hosts\nagreed that the brothers should decide their quarrel by single combat.\nThey fought and fell by each other\u2019s hands. The armies then renewed the\nfight, and at last the invaders were forced to yield, and fled, leaving\ntheir dead unburied. Creon, the uncle of the fallen princes, now become\nking, caused Eteocles to be buried with distinguished honor, but\nsuffered the body of Polynices to lie where it fell, forbidding every\none on pain of death to give it burial.\n\nAntigone, the sister of Polynices, heard with indignation the revolting\nedict which consigned her brother\u2019s body to the dogs and vultures,\ndepriving it of those rites which were considered essential to the\nrepose of the dead. Unmoved by the dissuading counsel of an affectionate\nbut timid sister, and unable to procure assistance, she determined to\nbrave the hazard, and to bury the body with her own hands. She was\ndetected in the act, and Creon gave orders that she should be buried\nalive, as having deliberately set at naught the solemn edict of the\ncity. Her lover, H\u00e6mon, the son of Creon, unable to avert her fate,\nwould not survive her, and fell by his own hand.\n\nAntigone forms the subject of two fine tragedies of the Grecian poet\nSophocles. Mrs. Jameson, in her \u201cCharacteristics of Women,\u201d has compared\nher character with that of Cordelia, in Shakspeare\u2019s \u201cKing Lear.\u201d The\nperusal of her remarks cannot fail to gratify our readers.\n\nThe following is the lamentation of Antigone over \u0152dipus, when death has\nat last relieved him from his sufferings:\n\n \u201cAlas! I only wished I might have died\n With my poor father; wherefore should I ask\n For longer life?\n O, I was fond of misery with him;\n E\u2019en what was most unlovely grew beloved\n When he was with me. O my dearest father,\n Beneath the earth now in deep darkness hid,\n Worn as thou wert with age, to me thou still\n Wast dear, and shalt be ever.\u201d\n \u2014_Francklin\u2019s Sophocles._\n\n PENELOPE\n\nPenelope is another of those mythic heroines whose beauties were rather\nthose of character and conduct than of person. She was the daughter of\nIcarius, a Spartan prince. Ulysses, king of Ithaca, sought her in\nmarriage, and won her, over all competitors. When the moment came for\nthe bride to leave her father\u2019s house, Icarius, unable to bear the\nthoughts of parting with his daughter, tried to persuade her to remain\nwith him, and not accompany her husband to Ithaca. Ulysses gave Penelope\nher choice, to stay or go with him. Penelope made no reply, but dropped\nher veil over her face. Icarius urged her no further, but when she was\ngone erected a statue to Modesty on the spot where they parted.\n\nUlysses and Penelope had not enjoyed their union more than a year when\nit was interrupted by the events which called Ulysses to the Trojan war.\nDuring his long absence, and when it was doubtful whether he still\nlived, and highly improbable that he would ever return, Penelope was\nimportuned by numerous suitors, from whom there seemed no refuge but in\nchoosing one of them for her husband. Penelope, however, employed every\nart to gain time, still hoping for Ulysses\u2019 return. One of her arts of\ndelay was engaging in the preparation of a robe for the funeral canopy\nof Laertes, her husband\u2019s father. She pledged herself to make her choice\namong the suitors when the robe was finished. During the day she worked\nat the robe, but in the night she undid the work of the day. This is the\nfamous Penelope\u2019s web, which is used as a proverbial expression for\nanything which is perpetually doing but never done. The rest of\nPenelope\u2019s history will be told when we give an account of her husband\u2019s\nadventures.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XXIV\n\n ORPHEUS AND\n EURYDICE\u2014ARIST\u00c6US\u2014AMPHION\u2014LINUS\u2014THAMYRIS\u2014MARSYAS\u2014MELAMPUS\u2014MUS\u00c6US\n\n ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE\n\nORPHEUS was the son of Apollo and the Muse Calliope. He was presented by\nhis father with a Lyre and taught to play upon it, which he did to such\nperfection that nothing could withstand the charm of his music. Not only\nhis fellow-mortals but wild beasts were softened by his strains, and\ngathering round him laid by their fierceness, and stood entranced with\nhis lay. Nay, the very trees and rocks were sensible to the charm. The\nformer crowded round him and the latter relaxed somewhat of their\nhardness, softened by his notes.\n\nHymen had been called to bless with his presence the nuptials of Orpheus\nwith Eurydice; but though he attended, he brought no happy omens with\nhim. His very torch smoked and brought tears into their eyes. In\ncoincidence with such prognostics, Eurydice, shortly after her marriage,\nwhile wandering with the nymphs, her companions, was seen by the\nshepherd Arist\u00e6us, who was struck with her beauty and made advances to\nher. She fled, and in flying trod upon a snake in the grass, was bitten\nin the foot, and died. Orpheus sang his grief to all who breathed the\nupper air, both gods and men, and finding it all unavailing resolved to\nseek his wife in the regions of the dead. He descended by a cave\nsituated on the side of the promontory of T\u00e6narus and arrived at the\nStygian realm. He passed through crowds of ghosts and presented himself\nbefore the throne of Pluto and Proserpine. Accompanying the words with\nthe lyre, he sung, \u201cO deities of the underworld, to whom all we who live\nmust come, hear my words, for they are true. I come not to spy out the\nsecrets of Tartarus, nor to try my strength against the three-headed dog\nwith snaky hair who guards the entrance. I come to seek my wife, whose\nopening years the poisonous viper\u2019s fang has brought to an untimely end.\nLove has led me here, Love, a god all powerful with us who dwell on the\nearth, and, if old traditions say true, not less so here. I implore you\nby these abodes full of terror, these realms of silence and uncreated\nthings, unite again the thread of Eurydice\u2019s life. We all are destined\nto you, and sooner or later must pass to your domain. She too, when she\nshall have filled her term of life, will rightly be yours. But till then\ngrant her to me, I beseech you. If you deny me I cannot return alone;\nyou shall triumph in the death of us both.\u201d\n\nAs he sang these tender strains, the very ghosts shed tears. Tantalus,\nin spite of his thirst, stopped for a moment his efforts for water,\nIxion\u2019s wheel stood still, the vulture ceased to tear the giant\u2019s liver,\nthe daughters of Dana\u00fcs rested from their task of drawing water in a\nsieve, and Sisyphus sat on his rock to listen. Then for the first time,\nit is said, the cheeks of the Furies were wet with tears. Proserpine\ncould not resist, and Pluto himself gave way. Eurydice was called. She\ncame from among the new-arrived ghosts, limping with her wounded foot.\nOrpheus was permitted to take her away with him on one condition, that\nhe should not turn around to look at her till they should have reached\nthe upper air. Under this condition they proceeded on their way, he\nleading, she following, through passages dark and steep, in total\nsilence, till they had nearly reached the outlet into the cheerful upper\nworld, when Orpheus, in a moment of forgetfulness, to assure himself\nthat she was still following, cast a glance behind him, when instantly\nshe was borne away. Stretching out their arms to embrace each other,\nthey grasped only the air! Dying now a second time, she yet cannot\nreproach her husband, for how can she blame his impatience to behold\nher? \u201cFarewell,\u201d she said, \u201ca last farewell,\u201d\u2014and was hurried away, so\nfast that the sound hardly reached his ears.\n\nOrpheus endeavored to follow her, and besought permission to return and\ntry once more for her release; but the stern ferryman repulsed him and\nrefused passage. Seven days he lingered about the brink, without food or\nsleep; then bitterly accusing of cruelty the powers of Erebus, he sang\nhis complaints to the rocks and mountains, melting the hearts of tigers\nand moving the oaks from their stations. He held himself aloof from\nwomankind, dwelling constantly on the recollection of his sad mischance.\nThe Thracian maidens tried their best to captivate him, but he repulsed\ntheir advances. They bore with him as long as they could; but finding\nhim insensible one day, excited by the rites of Bacchus, one of them\nexclaimed, \u201cSee yonder our despiser!\u201d and threw at him her javelin. The\nweapon, as soon as it came within the sound of his lyre, fell harmless\nat his feet. So did also the stones that they threw at him. But the\nwomen raised a scream and drowned the voice of the music, and then the\nmissiles reached him and soon were stained with his blood. The maniacs\ntore him limb from limb, and threw his head and his lyre into the river\nHebrus, down which they floated, murmuring sad music, to which the\nshores responded a plaintive symphony. The Muses gathered up the\nfragments of his body and buried them at Libethra, where the nightingale\nis said to sing over his grave more sweetly than in any other part of\nGreece. His lyre was placed by Jupiter among the stars. His shade passed\na second time to Tartarus, where he sought out his Eurydice and embraced\nher with eager arms. They roam the happy fields together now, sometimes\nhe leading, sometimes she; and Orpheus gazes as much as he will upon\nher, no longer incurring a penalty for a thoughtless glance.\n\n\n\nThe story of Orpheus has furnished Pope with an illustration of the\npower of music, for his \u201cOde for St. Cecilia\u2019s Day.\u201d The following\nstanza relates the conclusion of the story:\n\n \u201cBut soon, too soon the lover turns his eyes;\n Again she falls, again she dies, she dies!\n How wilt thou now the fatal sisters move?\n No crime was thine, if \u2019tis no crime to love.\n Now under hanging mountains,\n Beside the falls of fountains,\n Or where Hebrus wanders,\n Rolling in meanders,\n All alone,\n He makes his moan,\n And calls her ghost,\n Forever, ever, ever lost!\n Now with furies surrounded,\n Despairing, confounded,\n He trembles, he glows,\n Amidst Rhodope\u2019s snows.\n See, wild as the winds o\u2019er the desert he flies;\n Hark! H\u00e6mus resounds with the Bacchanals\u2019 cries;\n Ah, see, he dies!\n Yet even in death Eurydice he sung,\n Eurydice still trembled on his tongue:\n Eurydice the woods\n Eurydice the floods\n Eurydice the rocks and hollow mountains rung.\u201d\n\nThe superior melody of the nightingale\u2019s song over the grave of Orpheus\nis alluded to by Southey in his \u201cThalaba\u201d:\n\n \u201cThen on his ear what sounds\n Of harmony arose!\n Far music and the distance-mellowed song\n From bowers of merriment;\n The waterfall remote;\n The murmuring of the leafy groves;\n The single nightingale\n Perched in the rosier by, so richly toned,\n That never from that most melodious bird\n Singing a love song to his brooding mate,\n Did Thracian shepherd by the grave\n Of Orpheus hear a sweeter melody,\n Though there the spirit of the sepulchre\n All his own power infuse, to swell\n The incense that he loves.\u201d\n\n ARIST\u00c6US, THE BEE-KEEPER\n\nMan avails himself of the instincts of the inferior animals for his own\nadvantage. Hence sprang the art of keeping bees. Honey must first have\nbeen known as a wild product, the bees building their structures in\nhollow trees or holes in the rocks, or any similar cavity that chance\noffered. Thus occasionally the carcass of a dead animal would be\noccupied by the bees for that purpose. It was no doubt from some such\nincident that the superstition arose that the bees were engendered by\nthe decaying flesh of the animal; and Virgil, in the following story,\nshows how this supposed fact may be turned to account for renewing the\nswarm when it has been lost by disease or accident:\n\nArist\u00e6us, who first taught the management of bees, was the son of the\nwater-nymph Cyrene. His bees had perished, and he resorted for aid to\nhis mother. He stood at the river-side and thus addressed her: \u201cO\nmother, the pride of my life is taken from me! I have lost my precious\nbees. My care and skill have availed me nothing, and you my mother have\nnot warded off from me the blow of misfortune.\u201d His mother heard these\ncomplaints as she sat in her palace at the bottom of the river, with her\nattendant nymphs around her. They were engaged in female occupations,\nspinning and weaving, while one told stories to amuse the rest. The sad\nvoice of Arist\u00e6us interrupting their occupation, one of them put her\nhead above the water and seeing him, returned and gave information to\nhis mother, who ordered that he should be brought into her presence. The\nriver at her command opened itself and let him pass in, while it stood\ncurled like a mountain on either side. He descended to the region where\nthe fountains of the great rivers lie; he saw the enormous receptacles\nof waters and was almost deafened with the roar, while he surveyed them\nhurrying off in various directions to water the face of the earth.\nArriving at his mother\u2019s apartment, he was hospitably received by Cyrene\nand her nymphs, who spread their table with the richest dainties. They\nfirst poured out libations to Neptune, then regaled themselves with the\nfeast, and after that Cyrene thus addressed him: \u201cThere is an old\nprophet named Proteus, who dwells in the sea and is a favorite of\nNeptune, whose herd of sea-calves he pastures. We nymphs hold him in\ngreat respect, for he is a learned sage and knows all things, past,\npresent, and to come. He can tell you, my son, the cause of the\nmortality among your bees, and how you may remedy it. But he will not do\nit voluntarily, however you may entreat him. You must compel him by\nforce. If you seize him and chain him, he will answer your questions in\norder to get released, for he cannot by all his arts get away if you\nhold fast the chains. I will carry you to his cave, where he comes at\nnoon to take his midday repose. Then you may easily secure him. But when\nhe finds himself captured, his resort is to a power he possesses of\nchanging himself into various forms. He will become a wild boar or a\nfierce tiger, a scaly dragon or lion with yellow mane. Or he will make a\nnoise like the crackling of flames or the rush of water, so as to tempt\nyou to let go the chain, when he will make his escape. But you have only\nto keep him fast bound, and at last when he finds all his arts\nunavailing, he will return to his own figure and obey your commands.\u201d So\nsaying she sprinkled her son with fragrant nectar, the beverage of the\ngods, and immediately an unusual vigor filled his frame, and courage his\nheart, while perfume breathed all around him.\n\nThe nymph led her son to the prophet\u2019s cave and concealed him among the\nrecesses of the rocks, while she herself took her place behind the\nclouds. When noon came and the hour when men and herds retreat from the\nglaring sun to indulge in quiet slumber, Proteus issued from the water,\nfollowed by his herd of sea-calves which spread themselves along the\nshore. He sat on the rock and counted his herd; then stretched himself\non the floor of the cave and went to sleep. Arist\u00e6us hardly allowed him\nto get fairly asleep before he fixed the fetters on him and shouted\naloud. Proteus, waking and finding himself captured, immediately\nresorted to his arts, becoming first a fire, then a flood, then a\nhorrible wild beast, in rapid succession. But finding all would not do,\nhe at last resumed his own form and addressed the youth in angry\naccents: \u201cWho are you, bold youth, who thus invade my abode, and what do\nyou want of me?\u201d Arist\u00e6us replied, \u201cProteus, you know already, for it is\nneedless for any one to attempt to deceive you. And do you also cease\nyour efforts to elude me. I am led hither by divine assistance, to know\nfrom you the cause of my misfortune and how to remedy it.\u201d At these\nwords the prophet, fixing on him his gray eyes with a piercing look,\nthus spoke: \u201cYou receive the merited reward of your deeds, by which\nEurydice met her death, for in flying from you she trod upon a serpent,\nof whose bite she died. To avenge her death, the nymphs, her companions,\nhave sent this destruction to your bees. You have to appease their\nanger, and thus it must be done: Select four bulls, of perfect form and\nsize, and four cows of equal beauty, build four altars to the nymphs,\nand sacrifice the animals, leaving their carcasses in the leafy grove.\nTo Orpheus and Eurydice you shall pay such funeral honors as may allay\ntheir resentment. Returning after nine days, you will examine the bodies\nof the cattle slain and see what will befall.\u201d Arist\u00e6us faithfully\nobeyed these directions. He sacrificed the cattle, he left their bodies\nin the grove, he offered funeral honors to the shades of Orpheus and\nEurydice; then returning on the ninth day he examined the bodies of the\nanimals, and, wonderful to relate! a swarm of bees had taken possession\nof one of the carcasses and were pursuing their labors there as in a\nhive.\n\n\n\nIn \u201cThe Task,\u201d Cowper alludes to the story of Arist\u00e6us, when speaking of\nthe ice-palace built by the Empress Anne of Russia. He has been\ndescribing the fantastic forms which ice assumes in connection with\nwaterfalls, etc.:\n\n \u201cLess worthy of applause though more admired\n Because a novelty, the work of man,\n Imperial mistress of the fur-clad Russ,\n Thy most magnificent and mighty freak,\n The wonder of the north. No forest fell\n When thou wouldst build, no quarry sent its stores\n T\u2019 enrich thy walls; but thou didst hew the floods\n And make thy marble of the glassy wave.\n In such a palace Arist\u00e6us found\n Cyrene, when he bore the plaintive tale\n Of his lost bees to her maternal ear.\u201d\n\nMilton also appears to have had Cyrene and her domestic scene in his\nmind when he describes to us Sabrina, the nymph of the river Severn, in\nthe Guardian-spirit\u2019s Song in \u201cComus\u201d:\n\n \u201cSabrina fair!\n Listen where thou art sitting\n Under the glassy, cool, translucent wave\n In twisted braids of lilies knitting\n The loose train of thy amber-dropping hair;\n Listen for dear honor\u2019s sake,\n Goddess of the silver lake!\n Listen and save.\u201d\n\nThe following are other celebrated mythical poets and musicians, some of\nwhom were hardly inferior to Orpheus himself:\n\n AMPHION\n\nAmphion was the son of Jupiter and Antiope, queen of Thebes. With his\ntwin brother Zethus he was exposed at birth on Mount Cith\u00e6ron, where\nthey grew up among the shepherds, not knowing their parentage. Mercury\ngave Amphion a lyre and taught him to play upon it, and his brother\noccupied himself in hunting and tending the flocks. Meanwhile Antiope,\ntheir mother, who had been treated with great cruelty by Lycus, the\nusurping king of Thebes, and by Dirce, his wife, found means to inform\nher children of their rights and to summon them to her assistance. With\na band of their fellow-herdsmen they attacked and slew Lycus, and tying\nDirce by the hair of her head to a bull, let him drag her till she was\ndead. Amphion, having become king of Thebes, fortified the city with a\nwall. It is said that when he played on his lyre the stones moved of\ntheir own accord and took their places in the wall.\n\nSee Tennyson\u2019s poem of \u201cAmphion\u201d for an amusing use made of this story.\n\n LINUS\n\nLinus was the instructor of Hercules in music, but having one day\nreproved his pupil rather harshly, he roused the anger of Hercules, who\nstruck him with his lyre and killed him.\n\n THAMYRIS\n\nAn ancient Thracian bard, who in his presumption challenged the Muses to\na trial of skill, and being overcome in the contest, was deprived by\nthem of his sight. Milton alludes to him with other blind bards, when\nspeaking of his own blindness, \u201cParadise Lost,\u201d Book III., 35.\n\n MARSYAS\n\nMinerva invented the flute, and played upon it to the delight of all the\ncelestial auditors; but the mischievous urchin Cupid having dared to\nlaugh at the queer face which the goddess made while playing, Minerva\nthrew the instrument indignantly away, and it fell down to earth, and\nwas found by Marsyas. He blew upon it, and drew from it such ravishing\nsounds that he was tempted to challenge Apollo himself to a musical\ncontest. The god of course triumphed, and punished Marsyas by flaying\nhim alive.\n\n MELAMPUS\n\nMelampus was the first mortal endowed with prophetic powers. Before his\nhouse there stood an oak tree containing a serpent\u2019s nest. The old\nserpents were killed by the servants, but Melampus took care of the\nyoung ones and fed them carefully. One day when he was asleep under the\noak the serpents licked his ears with their tongues. On awaking he was\nastonished to find that he now understood the language of birds and\ncreeping things. This knowledge enabled him to foretell future events,\nand he became a renowned soothsayer. At one time his enemies took him\ncaptive and kept him strictly imprisoned. Melampus in the silence of the\nnight heard the woodworms in the timbers talking together, and found out\nby what they said that the timbers were nearly eaten through and the\nroof would soon fall in. He told his captors and demanded to be let out,\nwarning them also. They took his warning, and thus escaped destruction,\nand rewarded Melampus and held him in high honor.\n\n MUS\u00c6US\n\nA semi-mythological personage who was represented by one tradition to be\nthe son of Orpheus. He is said to have written sacred poems and oracles.\nMilton couples his name with that of Orpheus in his \u201cIl Penseroso\u201d:\n\n \u201cBut O, sad virgin, that thy power\n Might raise Mus\u00e6us from his bower,\n Or bid the soul of Orpheus sing\n Such notes as warbled to the string,\n Drew iron tears down Pluto\u2019s cheek,\n And made Hell grant what love did seek.\u201d\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XXV\n\n ARION\u2014IBYCUS\u2014SIMONIDES\u2014SAPPHO\n\nTHE poets whose adventures compose this chapter were real persons some\nof whose works yet remain, and their influence on poets who succeeded\nthem is yet more important than their poetical remains. The adventures\nrecorded of them in the following stories rest on the same authority as\nother narratives of the \u201cAge of Fable,\u201d that is, of the poets who have\ntold them. In their present form, the first two are translated from the\nGerman, Arion from Schlegel, and Ibycus from Schiller.\n\n ARION\n\nArion was a famous musician, and dwelt in the court of Periander, king\nof Corinth, with whom he was a great favorite. There was to be a musical\ncontest in Sicily, and Arion longed to compete for the prize. He told\nhis wish to Periander, who besought him like a brother to give up the\nthought. \u201cPray stay with me,\u201d he said, \u201cand be contented. He who strives\nto win may lose.\u201d Arion answered, \u201cA wandering life best suits the free\nheart of a poet. The talent which a god bestowed on me, I would fain\nmake a source of pleasure to others. And if I win the prize, how will\nthe enjoyment of it be increased by the consciousness of my widespread\nfame!\u201d He went, won the prize, and embarked with his wealth in a\nCorinthian ship for home. On the second morning after setting sail, the\nwind breathed mild and fair. \u201cO Periander,\u201d he exclaimed, \u201cdismiss your\nfears! Soon shall you forget them in my embrace. With what lavish\nofferings will we display our gratitude to the gods, and how merry will\nwe be at the festal board!\u201d The wind and sea continued propitious. Not a\ncloud dimmed the firmament. He had not trusted too much to the\nocean\u2014but he had to man. He overheard the seamen exchanging hints with\none another, and found they were plotting to possess themselves of his\ntreasure. Presently they surrounded him loud and mutinous, and said,\n\u201cArion, you must die! If you would have a grave on shore, yield yourself\nto die on this spot; but if otherwise, cast yourself into the sea.\u201d\n\u201cWill nothing satisfy you but my life?\u201d said he. \u201cTake my gold, and\nwelcome. I willingly buy my life at that price.\u201d \u201cNo, no; we cannot\nspare you. Your life would be too dangerous to us. Where could we go to\nescape from Periander, if he should know that you had been robbed by us?\nYour gold would be of little use to us, if on returning home, we could\nnever more be free from fear.\u201d \u201cGrant me, then,\u201d said he, \u201ca last\nrequest, since nought will avail to save my life, that I may die, as I\nhave lived, as becomes a bard. When I shall have sung my death song, and\nmy harp-strings shall have ceased to vibrate, then I will bid farewell\nto life, and yield uncomplaining to my fate.\u201d This prayer, like the\nothers, would have been unheeded,\u2014they thought only of their\nbooty,\u2014but to hear so famous a musician, that moved their rude hearts.\n\u201cSuffer me,\u201d he added, \u201cto arrange my dress. Apollo will not favor me\nunless I be clad in my minstrel garb.\u201d\n\nHe clothed his well-proportioned limbs in gold and purple fair to see,\nhis tunic fell around him in graceful folds, jewels adorned his arms,\nhis brow was crowned with a golden wreath, and over his neck and\nshoulders flowed his hair perfumed with odors. His left hand held the\nlyre, his right the ivory wand with which he struck its chords. Like one\ninspired, he seemed to drink the morning air and glitter in the morning\nray. The seamen gazed with admiration. He strode forward to the vessel\u2019s\nside and looked down into the deep blue sea. Addressing his lyre, he\nsang, \u201cCompanion of my voice, come with me to the realm of shades.\nThough Cerberus may growl, we know the power of song can tame his rage.\nYe heroes of Elysium, who have passed the darkling flood,\u2014ye happy\nsouls, soon shall I join your band. Yet can ye relieve my grief? Alas, I\nleave my friend behind me. Thou, who didst find thy Eurydice, and lose\nher again as soon as found; when she had vanished like a dream, how\ndidst thou hate the cheerful light! I must away, but I will not fear.\nThe gods look down upon us. Ye who slay me unoffending, when I am no\nmore, your time of trembling shall come. Ye Nereids, receive your guest,\nwho throws himself upon your mercy!\u201d So saying, he sprang into the deep\nsea. The waves covered him, and the seamen held on their way, fancying\nthemselves safe from all danger of detection.\n\nBut the strains of his music had drawn round him the inhabitants of the\ndeep to listen, and Dolphins followed the ship as if chained by a spell.\nWhile he struggled in the waves, a Dolphin offered him his back, and\ncarried him mounted thereon safe to shore. At the spot where he landed,\na monument of brass was afterwards erected upon the rocky shore, to\npreserve the memory of the event.\n\nWhen Arion and the dolphin parted, each to his own element, Arion thus\npoured forth his thanks: \u201cFarewell, thou faithful, friendly fish! Would\nthat I could reward thee; but thou canst not wend with me, nor I with\nthee. Companionship we may not have. May Galatea, queen of the deep,\naccord thee her favor, and thou, proud of the burden, draw her chariot\nover the smooth mirror of the deep.\u201d\n\nArion hastened from the shore, and soon saw before him the towers of\nCorinth. He journeyed on, harp in hand, singing as he went, full of love\nand happiness, forgetting his losses, and mindful only of what remained,\nhis friend and his lyre. He entered the hospitable halls, and was soon\nclasped in the embrace of Periander. \u201cI come back to thee, my friend,\u201d\nhe said. \u201cThe talent which a god bestowed has been the delight of\nthousands, but false knaves have stripped me of my well-earned treasure;\nyet I retain the consciousness of wide spread fame.\u201d Then he told\nPeriander all the wonderful events that had befallen him, who heard him\nwith amazement. \u201cShall such wickedness triumph?\u201d said he. \u201cThen in vain\nis power lodged in my hands. That we may discover the criminals, you\nmust remain here in concealment, and so they will approach without\nsuspicion.\u201d When the ship arrived in the harbor, he summoned the\nmariners before him. \u201cHave you heard anything of Arion?\u201d he inquired. \u201cI\nanxiously look for his return.\u201d They replied, \u201cWe left him well and\nprosperous in Tarentum.\u201d As they said these words, Arion stepped forth\nand faced them. His well-proportioned limbs were arrayed in gold and\npurple fair to see, his tunic fell around him in graceful folds, jewels\nadorned his arms, his brow was crowned with a golden wreath, and over\nhis neck and shoulders flowed his hair perfumed with odors; his left\nhand held the lyre, his right the ivory wand with which he struck its\nchords. They fell prostrate at his feet, as if a lightning bolt had\nstruck them. \u201cWe meant to murder him, and he has become a god. O Earth,\nopen and receive us!\u201d Then Periander spoke. \u201cHe lives, the master of the\nlay! Kind Heaven protects the poet\u2019s life. As for you, I invoke not the\nspirit of vengeance; Arion wishes not your blood. Ye slaves of avarice,\nbegone! Seek some barbarous land, and never may aught beautiful delight\nyour souls!\u201d\n\nSpenser represents Arion, mounted on his dolphin, accompanying the train\nof Neptune and Amphitrite:\n\n \u201cThen was there heard a most celestial sound\n Of dainty music which did next ensue,\n And, on the floating waters as enthroned,\n Arion with his harp unto him drew\n The ears and hearts of all that goodly crew;\n Even when as yet the dolphin which him bore\n Through the \u00c6gean Seas from pirates\u2019 view,\n Stood still, by him astonished at his lore,\n And all the raging seas for joy forgot to roar.\u201d\n\nByron, in his \u201cChilde Harold,\u201d Canto II., alludes to the story of Arion,\nwhen, describing his voyage, he represents one of the seamen making\nmusic to entertain the rest:\n\n \u201cThe moon is up; by Heaven a lovely eve!\n Long streams of light o\u2019er dancing waves expand;\n Now lads on shore may sigh and maids believe;\n Such be our fate when we return to land!\n Meantime some rude Arion\u2019s restless hand\n Wakes the brisk harmony that sailors love;\n A circle there of merry listeners stand,\n Or to some well-known measure featly move\n Thoughtless as if on shore they still were free to rove.\u201d\n\n IBYCUS\n\nIn order to understand the story of Ibycus which follows it is necessary\nto remember, first, that the theatres of the ancients were immense\nfabrics capable of containing from ten to thirty thousand spectators,\nand as they were used only on festival occasions, and admission was free\nto all, they were usually filled. They were without roofs and open to\nthe sky, and the performances were in the daytime. Secondly, the\nappalling representation of the Furies is not exaggerated in the story.\nIt is recorded that \u00c6schylus, the tragic poet, having on one occasion\nrepresented the Furies in a chorus of fifty performers, the terror of\nthe spectators was such that many fainted and were thrown into\nconvulsions, and the magistrates forbade a like representation for the\nfuture.\n\nIbycus, the pious poet, was on his way to the chariot races and musical\ncompetitions held at the Isthmus of Corinth, which attracted all of\nGrecian lineage. Apollo had bestowed on him the gift of song, the\nhoneyed lips of the poet, and he pursued his way with lightsome step,\nfull of the god. Already the towers of Corinth crowning the height\nappeared in view, and he had entered with pious awe the sacred grove of\nNeptune. No living object was in sight, only a flock of cranes flew\noverhead taking the same course as himself in their migration to a\nsouthern clime. \u201cGood luck to you, ye friendly squadrons,\u201d he exclaimed,\n\u201cmy companions from across the sea. I take your company for a good omen.\nWe come from far and fly in search of hospitality. May both of us meet\nthat kind reception which shields the stranger guest from harm!\u201d\n\nHe paced briskly on, and soon was in the middle of the wood. There\nsuddenly, at a narrow pass, two robbers stepped forth and barred his\nway. He must yield or fight. But his hand, accustomed to the lyre, and\nnot to the strife of arms, sank powerless. He called for help on men and\ngods, but his cry reached no defender\u2019s ear. \u201cThen here must I die,\u201d\nsaid he, \u201cin a strange land, unlamented, cut off by the hand of outlaws,\nand see none to avenge my cause.\u201d Sore wounded, he sank to the earth,\nwhen hoarse screamed the cranes overhead. \u201cTake up my cause, ye cranes,\u201d\nhe said, \u201csince no voice but yours answers to my cry.\u201d So saying he\nclosed his eyes in death.\n\nThe body, despoiled and mangled, was found, and though disfigured with\nwounds, was recognized by the friend in Corinth who had expected him as\na guest. \u201cIs it thus I find you restored to me?\u201d he exclaimed. \u201cI who\nhoped to entwine your temples with the wreath of triumph in the strife\nof song!\u201d\n\nThe guests assembled at the festival heard the tidings with dismay. All\nGreece felt the wound, every heart owned its loss. They crowded round\nthe tribunal of the magistrates, and demanded vengeance on the murderers\nand expiation with their blood.\n\nBut what trace or mark shall point out the perpetrator from amidst the\nvast multitude attracted by the splendor of the feast? Did he fall by\nthe hands of robbers or did some private enemy slay him? The\nall-discerning sun alone can tell, for no other eye beheld it. Yet not\nimprobably the murderer even now walks in the midst of the throng, and\nenjoys the fruits of his crime, while vengeance seeks for him in vain.\nPerhaps in their own temple\u2019s enclosure he defies the gods, mingling\nfreely in this throng of men that now presses into the amphitheatre.\n\nFor now crowded together, row on row, the multitude fill the seats till\nit seems as if the very fabric would give way. The murmur of voices\nsounds like the roar of the sea, while the circles widening in their\nascent rise tier on tier, as if they would reach the sky.\n\nAnd now the vast assemblage listens to the awful voice of the chorus\npersonating the Furies, which in solemn guise advances with measured\nstep, and moves around the circuit of the theatre. Can they be mortal\nwomen who compose that awful group, and can that vast concourse of\nsilent forms be living beings?\n\nThe choristers, clad in black, bore in their fleshless hands torches\nblazing with a pitchy flame. Their cheeks were bloodless, and in place\nof hair writhing and swelling serpents curled around their brows.\nForming a circle, these awful beings sang their hymns, rending the\nhearts of the guilty, and enchaining all their faculties. It rose and\nswelled, overpowering the sound of the instruments, stealing the\njudgment, palsying the heart, curdling the blood.\n\n\u201cHappy the man who keeps his heart pure from guilt and crime! Him we\navengers touch not; he treads the path of life secure from us. But woe!\nwoe! to him who has done the deed of secret murder. We the fearful\nfamily of Night fasten ourselves upon his whole being. Thinks he by\nflight to escape us? We fly still faster in pursuit, twine our snakes\naround his feet, and bring him to the ground. Unwearied we pursue; no\npity checks our course; still on and on, to the end of life, we give him\nno peace nor rest.\u201d Thus the Eumenides sang, and moved in solemn\ncadence, while stillness like the stillness of death sat over the whole\nassembly as if in the presence of superhuman beings; and then in solemn\nmarch completing the circuit of the theatre, they passed out at the back\nof the stage.\n\nEvery heart fluttered between illusion and reality, and every breast\npanted with undefined terror, quailing before the awful power that\nwatches secret crimes and winds unseen the skein of destiny. At that\nmoment a cry burst forth from one of the uppermost benches\u2014\u201cLook! look!\ncomrade, yonder are the cranes of Ibycus!\u201d And suddenly there appeared\nsailing across the sky a dark object which a moment\u2019s inspection showed\nto be a flock of cranes flying directly over the theatre. \u201cOf Ibycus!\ndid he say?\u201d The beloved name revived the sorrow in every breast. As\nwave follows wave over the face of the sea, so ran from mouth to mouth\nthe words, \u201cOf Ibycus! him whom we all lament, whom some murderer\u2019s hand\nlaid low! What have the cranes to do with him?\u201d And louder grew the\nswell of voices, while like a lightning\u2019s flash the thought sped through\nevery heart, \u201cObserve the power of the Eumenides! The pious poet shall\nbe avenged! the murderer has informed against himself. Seize the man who\nuttered that cry and the other to whom he spoke!\u201d\n\nThe culprit would gladly have recalled his words, but it was too late.\nThe faces of the murderers, pale with terror, betrayed their guilt. The\npeople took them before the judge, they confessed their crime, and\nsuffered the punishment they deserved.\n\n SIMONIDES\n\nSimonides was one of the most prolific of the early poets of Greece, but\nonly a few fragments of his compositions have descended to us. He wrote\nhymns, triumphal odes, and elegies. In the last species of composition\nhe particularly excelled. His genius was inclined to the pathetic, and\nnone could touch with truer effect the chords of human sympathy. The\n\u201cLamentation of Dana\u00eb,\u201d the most important of the fragments which remain\nof his poetry, is based upon the tradition that Dana\u00eb and her infant son\nwere confined by order of her father, Acrisius, in a chest and set\nadrift on the sea. The chest floated towards the island of Seriphus,\nwhere both were rescued by Dictys, a fisherman, and carried to\nPolydectes, king of the country, who received and protected them. The\nchild, Perseus, when grown up became a famous hero, whose adventures\nhave been recorded in a previous chapter.\n\nSimonides passed much of his life at the courts of princes, and often\nemployed his talents in panegyric and festal odes, receiving his reward\nfrom the munificence of those whose exploits he celebrated. This\nemployment was not derogatory, but closely resembles that of the\nearliest bards, such as Demodocus, described by Homer, or of Homer\nhimself, as recorded by tradition.\n\nOn one occasion, when residing at the court of Scopas, king of Thessaly,\nthe prince desired him to prepare a poem in celebration of his exploits,\nto be recited at a banquet. In order to diversify his theme, Simonides,\nwho was celebrated for his piety, introduced into his poem the exploits\nof Castor and Pollux. Such digressions were not unusual with the poets\non similar occasions, and one might suppose an ordinary mortal might\nhave been content to share the praises of the sons of Leda. But vanity\nis exacting; and as Scopas sat at his festal board among his courtiers\nand sycophants, he grudged every verse that did not rehearse his own\npraises. When Simonides approached to receive the promised reward Scopas\nbestowed but half the expected sum, saying, \u201cHere is payment for my\nportion of thy performance; Castor and Pollux will doubtless compensate\nthee for so much as relates to them.\u201d The disconcerted poet returned to\nhis seat amidst the laughter which followed the great man\u2019s jest. In a\nlittle time he received a message that two young men on horseback were\nwaiting without and anxious to see him. Simonides hastened to the door,\nbut looked in vain for the visitors. Scarcely, however, had he left the\nbanqueting hall when the roof fell in with a loud crash, burying Scopas\nand all his guests beneath the ruins. On inquiring as to the appearance\nof the young men who had sent for him, Simonides was satisfied that they\nwere no other than Castor and Pollux themselves.\n\n SAPPHO\n\nSappho was a poetess who flourished in a very early age of Greek\nliterature. Of her works few fragments remain, but they are enough to\nestablish her claim to eminent poetical genius. The story of Sappho\ncommonly alluded to is that she was passionately in love with a\nbeautiful youth named Phaon, and failing to obtain a return of affection\nshe threw herself from the promontory of Leucadia into the sea, under a\nsuperstition that those who should take that \u201cLover\u2019s-leap\u201d would, if\nnot destroyed, be cured of their love.\n\n\n\nByron alludes to the story of Sappho in \u201cChilde Harold,\u201d Canto II.:\n\n \u201cChilde Harold sailed and passed the barren spot\n Where sad Penelope o\u2019erlooked the wave,\n And onward viewed the mount, not yet forgot,\n The lover\u2019s refuge and the Lesbian\u2019s grave.\n Dark Sappho! could not verse immortal save\n That breast imbued with such immortal fire?\n\n \u201c\u2019Twas on a Grecian autumn\u2019s gentle eve\n Childe Harold hailed Leucadia\u2019s cape afar;\u201d etc.\n\nThose who wish to know more of Sappho and her \u201cleap\u201d are referred to the\n\u201cSpectator,\u201d Nos. 223 and 229. See also Moore\u2019s \u201cEvenings in Greece.\u201d\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XXVI\n\n ENDYMION\u2014ORION\u2014AURORA AND TITHONUS\u2014ACIS AND GALATEA\n\n DIANA AND ENDYMION\n\nENDYMION was a beautiful youth who fed his flock on Mount Latmos. One\ncalm, clear night Diana, the moon, looked down and saw him sleeping. The\ncold heart of the virgin goddess was warmed by his surpassing beauty,\nand she came down to him, kissed him, and watched over him while he\nslept.\n\nAnother story was that Jupiter bestowed on him the gift of perpetual\nyouth united with perpetual sleep. Of one so gifted we can have but few\nadventures to record. Diana, it was said, took care that his fortunes\nshould not suffer by his inactive life, for she made his flock increase,\nand guarded his sheep and lambs from the wild beasts.\n\nThe story of Endymion has a peculiar charm from the human meaning which\nit so thinly veils. We see in Endymion the young poet, his fancy and his\nheart seeking in vain for that which can satisfy them, finding his\nfavorite hour in the quiet moonlight, and nursing there beneath the\nbeams of the bright and silent witness the melancholy and the ardor\nwhich consumes him. The story suggests aspiring and poetic love, a life\nspent more in dreams than in reality, and an early and welcome\ndeath.\u2014_S. G. B._\n\n\n\nThe \u201cEndymion\u201d of Keats is a wild and fanciful poem, containing some\nexquisite poetry, as this, to the moon:\n\n \u201c. . . The sleeping kine\n Couched in thy brightness dream of fields divine.\n Innumerable mountains rise, and rise,\n Ambitious for the hallowing of thine eyes,\n And yet thy benediction passeth not\n One obscure hiding-place, one little spot\n Where pleasure may be sent; the nested wren\n Has thy fair face within its tranquil ken;\u201d etc., etc.\n\nDr. Young, in the \u201cNight Thoughts,\u201d alludes to Endymion thus:\n\n \u201c. . . These thoughts, O night, are thine;\n From thee they came like lovers\u2019 secret sighs,\n While others slept. So Cynthia, poets feign,\n In shadows veiled, soft, sliding from her sphere,\n Her shepherd cheered, of her enamoured less\n Than I of thee.\u201d\n\nFletcher, in the \u201cFaithful Shepherdess,\u201d tells:\n\n \u201cHow the pale Ph\u0153be, hunting in a grove,\n First saw the boy Endymion, from whose eyes\n She took eternal fire that never dies;\n How she conveyed him softly in a sleep,\n His temples bound with poppy, to the steep\n Head of old Latmos, where she stoops each night,\n Gilding the mountain with her brother\u2019s light,\n To kiss her sweetest.\u201d\n\n ORION\n\nOrion was the son of Neptune. He was a handsome giant and a mighty\nhunter. His father gave him the power of wading through the depths of\nthe sea, or, as others say, of walking on its surface.\n\nOrion loved Merope, the daughter of \u0152nopion, king of Chios, and sought\nher in marriage. He cleared the island of wild beasts, and brought the\nspoils of the chase as presents to his beloved; but as \u0152nopion\nconstantly deferred his consent, Orion attempted to gain possession of\nthe maiden by violence. Her father, incensed at this conduct, having\nmade Orion drunk, deprived him of his sight and cast him out on the\nseashore. The blinded hero followed the sound of a Cyclops\u2019 hammer till\nhe reached Lemnos, and came to the forge of Vulcan, who, taking pity on\nhim, gave him Kedalion, one of his men, to be his guide to the abode of\nthe sun. Placing Kedalion on his shoulders, Orion proceeded to the east,\nand there meeting the sun-god, was restored to sight by his beam.\n\nAfter this he dwelt as a hunter with Diana, with whom he was a favorite,\nand it is even said she was about to marry him. Her brother was highly\ndispleased and often chid her, but to no purpose. One day, observing\nOrion wading through the sea with his head just above the water, Apollo\npointed it out to his sister and maintained that she could not hit that\nblack thing on the sea. The archer-goddess discharged a shaft with fatal\naim. The waves rolled the dead body of Orion to the land, and bewailing\nher fatal error with many tears, Diana placed him among the stars, where\nhe appears as a giant, with a girdle, sword, lion\u2019s skin, and club.\nSirius, his dog, follows him, and the Pleiads fly before him.\n\nThe Pleiads were daughters of Atlas, and nymphs of Diana\u2019s train. One\nday Orion saw them and became enamoured and pursued them. In their\ndistress they prayed to the gods to change their form, and Jupiter in\npity turned them into pigeons, and then made them a constellation in the\nsky. Though their number was seven, only six stars are visible, for\nElectra, one of them, it is said left her place that she might not\nbehold the ruin of Troy, for that city was founded by her son Dardanus.\nThe sight had such an effect on her sisters that they have looked pale\never since.\n\n\n\nMr. Longfellow has a poem on the \u201cOccultation of Orion.\u201d The following\nlines are those in which he alludes to the mythic story. We must premise\nthat on the celestial globe Orion is represented as robed in a lion\u2019s\nskin and wielding a club. At the moment the stars of the constellation,\none by one, were quenched in the light of the moon, the poet tells us\n\n \u201cDown fell the red skin of the lion\n Into the river at his feet.\n His mighty club no longer beat\n The forehead of the bull; but he\n Reeled as of yore beside the sea,\n When blinded by \u0152nopion\n He sought the blacksmith at his forge,\n And climbing up the narrow gorge,\n Fixed his blank eyes upon the sun.\u201d\n\nTennyson has a different theory of the Pleiads:\n\n \u201cMany a night I saw the Pleiads, rising through the mellow shade,\n Glitter like a swarm of fire-flies tangled in a silver braid.\u201d\n \u2014_Locksley Hall._\n\nByron alludes to the lost Pleiad:\n\n \u201cLike the lost Pleiad seen no more below.\u201d\n\nSee also Mrs. Hemans\u2019s verses on the same subject.\n\n AURORA AND TITHONUS\n\nThe goddess of the Dawn, like her sister the Moon, was at times inspired\nwith the love of mortals. Her greatest favorite was Tithonus, son of\nLaomedon, king of Troy. She stole him away, and prevailed on Jupiter to\ngrant him immortality; but, forgetting to have youth joined in the gift,\nafter some time she began to discern, to her great mortification, that\nhe was growing old. When his hair was quite white she left his society;\nbut he still had the range of her palace, lived on ambrosial food, and\nwas clad in celestial raiment. At length he lost the power of using his\nlimbs, and then she shut him up in his chamber, whence his feeble voice\nmight at times be heard. Finally she turned him into a grasshopper.\n\nMemnon was the son of Aurora and Tithonus. He was king of the\n\u00c6thiopians, and dwelt in the extreme east, on the shore of Ocean. He\ncame with his warriors to assist the kindred of his father in the war of\nTroy. King Priam received him with great honors, and listened with\nadmiration to his narrative of the wonders of the ocean shore.\n\nThe very day after his arrival, Memnon, impatient of repose, led his\ntroops to the field. Antilochus, the brave son of Nestor, fell by his\nhand, and the Greeks were put to flight, when Achilles appeared and\nrestored the battle. A long and doubtful contest ensued between him and\nthe son of Aurora; at length victory declared for Achilles, Memnon fell,\nand the Trojans fled in dismay.\n\nAurora, who from her station in the sky had viewed with apprehension the\ndanger of her son, when she saw him fall, directed his brothers, the\nWinds, to convey his body to the banks of the river Esepus in\nPaphlagonia. In the evening Aurora came, accompanied by the Hours and\nthe Pleiads, and wept and lamented over her son. Night, in sympathy with\nher grief, spread the heaven with clouds; all nature mourned for the\noffspring of the Dawn. The \u00c6thiopians raised his tomb on the banks of\nthe stream in the grove of the Nymphs, and Jupiter caused the sparks and\ncinders of his funeral pile to be turned into birds, which, dividing\ninto two flocks, fought over the pile till they fell into the flame.\nEvery year at the anniversary of his death they return and celebrate his\nobsequies in like manner. Aurora remains inconsolable for the loss of\nher son. Her tears still flow, and may be seen at early morning in the\nform of dew-drops on the grass.\n\n\n\nUnlike most of the marvels of ancient mythology, there still exist some\nmemorials of this. On the banks of the river Nile, in Egypt, are two\ncolossal statues, one of which is said to be the statue of Memnon.\nAncient writers record that when the first rays of the rising sun fall\nupon this statue a sound is heard to issue from it, which they compare\nto the snapping of a harp-string. There is some doubt about the\nidentification of the existing statue with the one described by the\nancients, and the mysterious sounds are still more doubtful. Yet there\nare not wanting some modern testimonies to their being still audible. It\nhas been suggested that sounds produced by confined air making its\nescape from crevices or caverns in the rocks may have given some ground\nfor the story. Sir Gardner Wilkinson, a late traveller, of the highest\nauthority, examined the statue itself, and discovered that it was\nhollow, and that \u201cin the lap of the statue is a stone, which on being\nstruck emits a metallic sound, that might still be made use of to\ndeceive a visitor who was predisposed to believe its powers.\u201d\n\nThe vocal statue of Memnon is a favorite subject of allusion with the\npoets. Darwin, in his \u201cBotanic Garden,\u201d says:\n\n \u201cSo to the sacred Sun in Memnon\u2019s fane\n Spontaneous concords choired the matin strain;\n Touched by his orient beam responsive rings\n The living lyre and vibrates all its strings;\n Accordant aisles the tender tones prolong,\n And holy echoes swell the adoring song.\u201d\n Book I., 1. 182.\n\n ACIS AND GALATEA\n\nScylla was a fair virgin of Sicily, a favorite of the Sea-Nymphs. She\nhad many suitors, but repelled them all, and would go to the grotto of\nGalatea, and tell her how she was persecuted. One day the goddess, while\nScylla dressed her hair, listened to the story, and then replied, \u201cYet,\nmaiden, your persecutors are of the not ungentle race of men, whom, if\nyou will, you can repel; but I, the daughter of Nereus, and protected by\nsuch a band of sisters, found no escape from the passion of the Cyclops\nbut in the depths of the sea;\u201d and tears stopped her utterance, which\nwhen the pitying maiden had wiped away with her delicate finger, and\nsoothed the goddess, \u201cTell me, dearest,\u201d said she, \u201cthe cause of your\ngrief.\u201d Galatea then said, \u201cAcis was the son of Faunus and a Naiad. His\nfather and mother loved him dearly, but their love was not equal to\nmine. For the beautiful youth attached himself to me alone, and he was\njust sixteen years old, the down just beginning to darken his cheeks. As\nmuch as I sought his society, so much did the Cyclops seek mine; and if\nyou ask me whether my love for Acis or my hatred of Polyphemus was the\nstronger, I cannot tell you; they were in equal measure. O Venus, how\ngreat is thy power! this fierce giant, the terror of the woods, whom no\nhapless stranger escaped unharmed, who defied even Jove himself, learned\nto feel what love was, and, touched with a passion for me, forgot his\nflocks and his well-stored caverns. Then for the first time he began to\ntake some care of his appearance, and to try to make himself agreeable;\nhe harrowed those coarse locks of his with a comb, and mowed his beard\nwith a sickle, looked at his harsh features in the water, and composed\nhis countenance. His love of slaughter, his fierceness and thirst of\nblood prevailed no more, and ships that touched at his island went away\nin safety. He paced up and down the seashore, imprinting huge tracks\nwith his heavy tread, and, when weary, lay tranquilly in his cave.\n\n\u201cThere is a cliff which projects into the sea, which washes it on either\nside. Thither one day the huge Cyclops ascended, and sat down while his\nflocks spread themselves around. Laying down his staff, which would have\nserved for a mast to hold a vessel\u2019s sail, and taking his instrument\ncompacted of numerous pipes, he made the hills and the waters echo the\nmusic of his song. I lay hid under a rock by the side of my beloved\nAcis, and listened to the distant strain. It was full of extravagant\npraises of my beauty, mingled with passionate reproaches of my coldness\nand cruelty.\n\n\u201cWhen he had finished he rose up, and, like a raging bull that cannot\nstand still, wandered off into the woods. Acis and I thought no more of\nhim, till on a sudden he came to a spot which gave him a view of us as\nwe sat. \u2018I see you,\u2019 he exclaimed, \u2018and I will make this the last of\nyour love-meetings.\u2019 His voice was a roar such as an angry Cyclops alone\ncould utter. \u00c6tna trembled at the sound. I, overcome with terror,\nplunged into the water. Acis turned and fled, crying, \u2018Save me, Galatea,\nsave me, my parents!\u2019 The Cyclops pursued him, and tearing a rock from\nthe side of the mountain hurled it at him. Though only a corner of it\ntouched him, it overwhelmed him.\n\n\u201cAll that fate left in my power I did for Acis. I endowed him with the\nhonors of his grandfather, the river-god. The purple blood flowed out\nfrom under the rock, but by degrees grew paler and looked like the\nstream of a river rendered turbid by rains, and in time it became clear.\nThe rock cleaved open, and the water, as it gushed from the chasm,\nuttered a pleasing murmur.\u201d\n\nThus Acis was changed into a river, and the river retains the name of\nAcis.\n\n\n\nDryden, in his \u201cCymon and Iphigenia,\u201d has told the story of a clown\nconverted into a gentleman by the power of love, in a way that shows\ntraces of kindred to the old story of Galatea and the Cyclops.\n\n \u201cWhat not his father\u2019s care nor tutor\u2019s art\n Could plant with pains in his unpolished heart,\n The best instructor, Love, at once inspired,\n As barren grounds to fruitfulness are fired.\n Love taught him shame, and shame with love at strife\n Soon taught the sweet civilities of life.\u201d\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XXVII\n\n THE TROJAN WAR\n\nMINERVA was the goddess of wisdom, but on one occasion she did a very\nfoolish thing; she entered into competition with Juno and Venus for the\nprize of beauty. It happened thus: At the nuptials of Peleus and Thetis\nall the gods were invited with the exception of Eris, or Discord.\nEnraged at her exclusion, the goddess threw a golden apple among the\nguests, with the inscription, \u201cFor the fairest.\u201d Thereupon Juno, Venus,\nand Minerva each claimed the apple. Jupiter, not willing to decide in so\ndelicate a matter, sent the goddesses to Mount Ida, where the beautiful\nshepherd Paris was tending his flocks, and to him was committed the\ndecision. The goddesses accordingly appeared before him. Juno promised\nhim power and riches, Minerva glory and renown in war, and Venus the\nfairest of women for his wife, each attempting to bias his decision in\nher own favor. Paris decided in favor of Venus and gave her the golden\napple, thus making the two other goddesses his enemies. Under the\nprotection of Venus, Paris sailed to Greece, and was hospitably received\nby Menelaus, king of Sparta. Now Helen, the wife of Menelaus, was the\nvery woman whom Venus had destined for Paris, the fairest of her sex.\nShe had been sought as a bride by numerous suitors, and before her\ndecision was made known, they all, at the suggestion of Ulysses, one of\ntheir number, took an oath that they would defend her from all injury\nand avenge her cause if necessary. She chose Menelaus, and was living\nwith him happily when Paris became their guest. Paris, aided by Venus,\npersuaded her to elope with him, and carried her to Troy, whence arose\nthe famous Trojan war, the theme of the greatest poems of antiquity,\nthose of Homer and Virgil.\n\nMenelaus called upon his brother chieftains of Greece to fulfil their\npledge, and join him in his efforts to recover his wife. They generally\ncame forward, but Ulysses, who had married Penelope, and was very happy\nin his wife and child, had no disposition to embark in such a\ntroublesome affair. He therefore hung back and Palamedes was sent to\nurge him. When Palamedes arrived at Ithaca Ulysses pretended to be mad.\nHe yoked an ass and an ox together to the plough and began to sow salt.\nPalamedes, to try him, placed the infant Telemachus before the plough,\nwhereupon the father turned the plough aside, showing plainly that he\nwas no madman, and after that could no longer refuse to fulfil his\npromise. Being now himself gained for the undertaking, he lent his aid\nto bring in other reluctant chiefs, especially Achilles. This hero was\nthe son of that Thetis at whose marriage the apple of Discord had been\nthrown among the goddesses. Thetis was herself one of the immortals, a\nsea-nymph, and knowing that her son was fated to perish before Troy if\nhe went on the expedition, she endeavored to prevent his going. She sent\nhim away to the court of King Lycomedes, and induced him to conceal\nhimself in the disguise of a maiden among the daughters of the king.\nUlysses, hearing he was there, went disguised as a merchant to the\npalace and offered for sale female ornaments, among which he had placed\nsome arms. While the king\u2019s daughters were engrossed with the other\ncontents of the merchant\u2019s pack, Achilles handled the weapons and\nthereby betrayed himself to the keen eye of Ulysses, who found no great\ndifficulty in persuading him to disregard his mother\u2019s prudent counsels\nand join his countrymen in the war.\n\nPriam was king of Troy, and Paris, the shepherd and seducer of Helen,\nwas his son. Paris had been brought up in obscurity, because there were\ncertain ominous forebodings connected with him from his infancy that he\nwould be the ruin of the state. These forebodings seemed at length\nlikely to be realized, for the Grecian armament now in preparation was\nthe greatest that had ever been fitted out. Agamemnon, king of Mycen\u00e6,\nand brother of the injured Menelaus, was chosen commander-in-chief.\nAchilles was their most illustrious warrior. After him ranked Ajax,\ngigantic in size and of great courage, but dull of intellect; Diomede,\nsecond only to Achilles in all the qualities of a hero; Ulysses, famous\nfor his sagacity; and Nestor, the oldest of the Grecian chiefs, and one\nto whom they all looked up for counsel. But Troy was no feeble enemy.\nPriam, the king, was now old, but he had been a wise prince and had\nstrengthened his state by good government at home and numerous alliances\nwith his neighbors. But the principal stay and support of his throne was\nhis son Hector, one of the noblest characters painted by heathen\nantiquity. He felt, from the first, a presentiment of the fall of his\ncountry, but still persevered in his heroic resistance, yet by no means\njustified the wrong which brought this danger upon her. He was united in\nmarriage with Andromache, and as a husband and father his character was\nnot less admirable than as a warrior. The principal leaders on the side\nof the Trojans, besides Hector, were \u00c6neas and Deiphobus, Glaucus and\nSarpedon.\n\nAfter two years of preparation the Greek fleet and army assembled in the\nport of Aulis in B\u0153otia. Here Agamemnon in hunting killed a stag which\nwas sacred to Diana, and the goddess in return visited the army with\npestilence, and produced a calm which prevented the ships from leaving\nthe port. Calchas, the soothsayer, thereupon announced that the wrath of\nthe virgin goddess could only be appeased by the sacrifice of a virgin\non her altar, and that none other but the daughter of the offender would\nbe acceptable. Agamemnon, however reluctant, yielded his consent, and\nthe maiden Iphigenia was sent for under the pretence that she was to be\nmarried to Achilles. When she was about to be sacrificed the goddess\nrelented and snatched her away, leaving a hind in her place, and\nIphigenia, enveloped in a cloud, was carried to Tauris, where Diana made\nher priestess of her temple.\n\n\n\nTennyson, in his \u201cDream of Fair Women,\u201d makes Iphigenia thus describe\nher feelings at the moment of sacrifice:\n\n \u201cI was cut off from hope in that sad place,\n Which yet to name my spirit loathes and fears;\n My father held his hand upon his face;\n I, blinded by my tears,\n\n \u201cStill strove to speak; my voice was thick with sighs,\n As in a dream. Dimly I could descry\n The stern black-bearded kings, with wolfish eyes,\n Waiting to see me die.\n\n \u201cThe tall masts quivered as they lay afloat,\n The temples and the people and the shore;\n One drew a sharp knife through my tender throat\n Slowly,\u2014and\u2014nothing more.\u201d\n\nThe wind now proving fair the fleet made sail and brought the forces to\nthe coast of Troy. The Trojans came to oppose their landing, and at the\nfirst onset Protesilaus fell by the hand of Hector. Protesilaus had left\nat home his wife, Laodamia, who was most tenderly attached to him. When\nthe news of his death reached her she implored the gods to be allowed to\nconverse with him only three hours. The request was granted. Mercury led\nProtesilaus back to the upper world, and when he died a second time\nLaodamia died with him. There was a story that the nymphs planted elm\ntrees round his grave which grew very well till they were high enough to\ncommand a view of Troy, and then withered away, while fresh branches\nsprang from the roots.\n\n\n\nWordsworth has taken the story of Protesilaus and Laodamia for the\nsubject of a poem. It seems the oracle had declared that victory should\nbe the lot of that party from which should fall the first victim to the\nwar. The poet represents Protesilaus, on his brief return to earth, as\nrelating to Laodamia the story of his fate:\n\n \u201c\u2018The wished-for wind was given; I then revolved\n The oracle, upon the silent sea;\n And if no worthier led the way, resolved\n That of a thousand vessels mine should be\n The foremost prow impressing to the strand,\u2014\n Mine the first blood that tinged the Trojan sand.\n\n \u201c\u2018Yet bitter, ofttimes bitter was the pang\n When of thy loss I thought, beloved wife!\n On thee too fondly did my memory hang,\n And on the joys we shared in mortal life,\n The paths which we had trod,\u2014these fountains, flowers;\n My new planned cities and unfinished towers.\n\n \u201c\u2018But should suspense permit the foe to cry,\n \u201cBehold they tremble! haughty their array,\n Yet of their number no one dares to die?\u201d\n In soul I swept the indignity away:\n Old frailties then recurred: but lofty thought\n In act embodied my deliverance wrought.\u2019\n\n . . . . . . .\n\n \u201c. . . upon the side\n Of Hellespont (such faith was entertained)\n A knot of spiry trees for ages grew\n From out the tomb of him for whom she died;\n And ever when such stature they had gained\n That Ilium\u2019s walls were subject to their view,\n The trees\u2019 tall summits withered at the sight,\n A constant interchange of growth and blight!\u201d\n\n \u201cTHE ILIAD\u201d\n\nThe war continued without decisive results for nine years. Then an event\noccurred which seemed likely to be fatal to the cause of the Greeks, and\nthat was a quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon. It is at this point\nthat the great poem of Homer, \u201cThe Iliad,\u201d begins. The Greeks, though\nunsuccessful against Troy, had taken the neighboring and allied cities,\nand in the division of the spoil a female captive, by name Chryseis,\ndaughter of Chryses, priest of Apollo, had fallen to the share of\nAgamemnon. Chryses came bearing the sacred emblems of his office, and\nbegged the release of his daughter. Agamemnon refused. Thereupon Chryses\nimplored Apollo to afflict the Greeks till they should be forced to\nyield their prey. Apollo granted the prayer of his priest, and sent\npestilence into the Grecian camp. Then a council was called to\ndeliberate how to allay the wrath of the gods and avert the plague.\nAchilles boldly charged their misfortunes upon Agamemnon as caused by\nhis withholding Chryseis. Agamemnon, enraged, consented to relinquish\nhis captive, but demanded that Achilles should yield to him in her stead\nBriseis, a maiden who had fallen to Achilles\u2019 share in the division of\nthe spoil. Achilles submitted, but forthwith declared that he would take\nno further part in the war. He withdrew his forces from the general camp\nand openly avowed his intention of returning home to Greece.\n\nThe gods and goddesses interested themselves as much in this famous war\nas the parties themselves. It was well known to them that fate had\ndecreed that Troy should fall, at last, if her enemies should persevere\nand not voluntarily abandon the enterprise. Yet there was room enough\nleft for chance to excite by turns the hopes and fears of the powers\nabove who took part with either side. Juno and Minerva, in consequence\nof the slight put upon their charms by Paris, were hostile to the\nTrojans; Venus for the opposite cause favored them. Venus enlisted her\nadmirer Mars on the same side, but Neptune favored the Greeks. Apollo\nwas neutral, sometimes taking one side, sometimes the other, and Jove\nhimself, though he loved the good King Priam, yet exercised a degree of\nimpartiality; not, however, without exceptions.\n\nThetis, the mother of Achilles, warmly resented the injury done to her\nson. She repaired immediately to Jove\u2019s palace and besought him to make\nthe Greeks repent of their injustice to Achilles by granting success to\nthe Trojan arms. Jupiter consented, and in the battle which ensued the\nTrojans were completely successful. The Greeks were driven from the\nfield and took refuge in their ships.\n\nThen Agamemnon called a council of his wisest and bravest chiefs. Nestor\nadvised that an embassy should be sent to Achilles to persuade him to\nreturn to the field; that Agamemnon should yield the maiden, the cause\nof the dispute, with ample gifts to atone for the wrong he had done.\nAgamemnon consented, and Ulysses, Ajax, and Ph\u0153nix were sent to carry to\nAchilles the penitent message. They performed that duty, but Achilles\nwas deaf to their entreaties. He positively refused to return to the\nfield, and persisted in his resolution to embark for Greece without\ndelay.\n\nThe Greeks had constructed a rampart around their ships, and now instead\nof besieging Troy they were in a manner besieged themselves, within\ntheir rampart. The next day after the unsuccessful embassy to Achilles,\na battle was fought, and the Trojans, favored by Jove, were successful,\nand succeeded in forcing a passage through the Grecian rampart, and were\nabout to set fire to the ships. Neptune, seeing the Greeks so pressed,\ncame to their rescue. He appeared in the form of Calchas the prophet,\nencouraged the warriors with his shouts, and appealed to each\nindividually till he raised their ardor to such a pitch that they forced\nthe Trojans to give way. Ajax performed prodigies of valor, and at\nlength encountered Hector. Ajax shouted defiance, to which Hector\nreplied, and hurled his lance at the huge warrior. It was well aimed and\nstruck Ajax, where the belts that bore his sword and shield crossed each\nother on the breast. The double guard prevented its penetrating and it\nfell harmless. Then Ajax, seizing a huge stone, one of those that served\nto prop the ships, hurled it at Hector. It struck him in the neck and\nstretched him on the plain. His followers instantly seized him and bore\nhim off, stunned and wounded.\n\nWhile Neptune was thus aiding the Greeks and driving back the Trojans,\nJupiter saw nothing of what was going on, for his attention had been\ndrawn from the field by the wiles of Juno. That goddess had arrayed\nherself in all her charms, and to crown all had borrowed of Venus her\ngirdle, called \u201cCestus,\u201d which had the effect to heighten the wearer\u2019s\ncharms to such a degree that they were quite irresistible. So prepared,\nJuno went to join her husband, who sat on Olympus watching the battle.\nWhen he beheld her she looked so charming that the fondness of his early\nlove revived, and, forgetting the contending armies and all other\naffairs of state, he thought only of her and let the battle go as it\nwould.\n\nBut this absorption did not continue long, and when, upon turning his\neyes downward, he beheld Hector stretched on the plain almost lifeless\nfrom pain and bruises, he dismissed Juno in a rage, commanding her to\nsend Iris and Apollo to him. When Iris came he sent her with a stern\nmessage to Neptune, ordering him instantly to quit the field. Apollo was\ndespatched to heal Hector\u2019s bruises and to inspirit his heart. These\norders were obeyed with such speed that, while the battle still raged,\nHector returned to the field and Neptune betook himself to his own\ndominions.\n\nAn arrow from Paris\u2019s bow wounded Machaon, son of \u00c6sculapius, who\ninherited his father\u2019s art of healing, and was therefore of great value\nto the Greeks as their surgeon, besides being one of their bravest\nwarriors. Nestor took Machaon in his chariot and conveyed him from the\nfield. As they passed the ships of Achilles, that hero, looking out over\nthe field, saw the chariot of Nestor and recognized the old chief, but\ncould not discern who the wounded chief was. So calling Patroclus, his\ncompanion and dearest friend, he sent him to Nestor\u2019s tent to inquire.\n\nPatroclus, arriving at Nestor\u2019s tent, saw Machaon wounded, and having\ntold the cause of his coming would have hastened away, but Nestor\ndetained him, to tell him the extent of the Grecian calamities. He\nreminded him also how, at the time of departing for Troy, Achilles and\nhimself had been charged by their respective fathers with different\nadvice: Achilles to aspire to the highest pitch of glory, Patroclus, as\nthe elder, to keep watch over his friend, and to guide his inexperience.\n\u201cNow,\u201d said Nestor, \u201cis the time for such influence. If the gods so\nplease, thou mayest win him back to the common cause; but if not let him\nat least send his soldiers to the field, and come thou, Patroclus, clad\nin his armor, and perhaps the very sight of it may drive back the\nTrojans.\u201d\n\nPatroclus was strongly moved with this address, and hastened back to\nAchilles, revolving in his mind all he had seen and heard. He told the\nprince the sad condition of affairs at the camp of their late\nassociates: Diomede, Ulysses, Agamemnon, Machaon, all wounded, the\nrampart broken down, the enemy among the ships preparing to burn them,\nand thus to cut off all means of return to Greece. While they spoke the\nflames burst forth from one of the ships. Achilles, at the sight,\nrelented so far as to grant Patroclus his request to lead the Myrmidons\n(for so were Achilles\u2019 soldiers called) to the field, and to lend him\nhis armor, that he might thereby strike more terror into the minds of\nthe Trojans. Without delay the soldiers were marshalled, Patroclus put\non the radiant armor and mounted the chariot of Achilles, and led forth\nthe men ardent for battle. But before he went, Achilles strictly charged\nhim that he should be content with repelling the foe. \u201cSeek not,\u201d said\nhe, \u201cto press the Trojans without me, lest thou add still more to the\ndisgrace already mine.\u201d Then exhorting the troops to do their best he\ndismissed them full of ardor to the fight.\n\nPatroclus and his Myrmidons at once plunged into the contest where it\nraged hottest; at the sight of which the joyful Grecians shouted and the\nships re\u00ebchoed the acclaim. The Trojans, at the sight of the well-known\narmor, struck with terror, looked everywhere for refuge. First those who\nhad got possession of the ship and set it on fire left and allowed the\nGrecians to retake it and extinguish the flames. Then the rest of the\nTrojans fled in dismay. Ajax, Menelaus, and the two sons of Nestor\nperformed prodigies of valor. Hector was forced to turn his horses\u2019\nheads and retire from the enclosure, leaving his men entangled in the\nfosse to escape as they could. Patroclus drove them before him, slaying\nmany, none daring to make a stand against him.\n\nAt last Sarpedon, son of Jove, ventured to oppose himself in fight to\nPatroclus. Jupiter looked down upon him and would have snatched him from\nthe fate which awaited him, but Juno hinted that if he did so it would\ninduce all others of the inhabitants of heaven to interpose in like\nmanner whenever any of their offspring were endangered; to which reason\nJove yielded. Sarpedon threw his spear, but missed Patroclus, but\nPatroclus threw his with better success. It pierced Sarpedon\u2019s breast\nand he fell, and, calling to his friends to save his body from the foe,\nexpired. Then a furious contest arose for the possession of the corpse.\nThe Greeks succeeded and stripped Sarpedon of his armor; but Jove would\nnot allow the remains of his son to be dishonored, and by his command\nApollo snatched from the midst of the combatants the body of Sarpedon\nand committed it to the care of the twin brothers Death and Sleep, by\nwhom it was transported to Lycia, the native land of Sarpedon, where it\nreceived due funeral rites.\n\nThus far Patroclus had succeeded to his utmost wish in repelling the\nTrojans and relieving his countrymen, but now came a change of fortune.\nHector, borne in his chariot, confronted him. Patroclus threw a vast\nstone at Hector, which missed its aim, but smote Cebriones, the\ncharioteer, and knocked him from the car. Hector leaped from the chariot\nto rescue his friend, and Patroclus also descended to complete his\nvictory. Thus the two heroes met face to face. At this decisive moment\nthe poet, as if reluctant to give Hector the glory, records that Ph\u0153bus\ntook part against Patroclus. He struck the helmet from his head and the\nlance from his hand. At the same moment an obscure Trojan wounded him in\nthe back, and Hector, pressing forward, pierced him with his spear. He\nfell mortally wounded.\n\nThen arose a tremendous conflict for the body of Patroclus, but his\narmor was at once taken possession of by Hector, who retiring a short\ndistance divested himself of his own armor and put on that of Achilles,\nthen returned to the fight. Ajax and Menelaus defended the body, and\nHector and his bravest warriors struggled to capture it. The battle\nraged with equal fortunes, when Jove enveloped the whole face of heaven\nwith a dark cloud. The lightning flashed, the thunder roared, and Ajax,\nlooking round for some one whom he might despatch to Achilles to tell\nhim of the death of his friend, and of the imminent danger that his\nremains would fall into the hands of the enemy, could see no suitable\nmessenger. It was then that he exclaimed in those famous lines so often\nquoted,\n\n \u201cFather of heaven and earth! deliver thou\n Achaia\u2019s host from darkness; clear the skies;\n Give day; and, since thy sovereign will is such,\n Destruction with it; but, O, give us day.\u201d\n \u2014_Cowper._\n\nOr, as rendered by Pope,\n\n \u201c. . . Lord of earth and air!\n O king! O father! hear my humble prayer!\n Dispel this cloud, the light of heaven restore;\n Give me to see and Ajax asks no more;\n If Greece must perish we thy will obey,\n But let us perish in the face of day.\u201d\n\nJupiter heard the prayer and dispersed the clouds. Then Ajax sent\nAntilochus to Achilles with the intelligence of Patroclus\u2019s death, and\nof the conflict raging for his remains. The Greeks at last succeeded in\nbearing off the body to the ships, closely pursued by Hector and \u00c6neas\nand the rest of the Trojans.\n\nAchilles heard the fate of his friend with such distress that Antilochus\nfeared for a while that he would destroy himself. His groans reached the\nears of his mother, Thetis, far down in the deeps of ocean where she\nabode, and she hastened to him to inquire the cause. She found him\noverwhelmed with self-reproach that he had indulged his resentment so\nfar, and suffered his friend to fall a victim to it. But his only\nconsolation was the hope of revenge. He would fly instantly in search of\nHector. But his mother reminded him that he was now without armor, and\npromised him, if he would but wait till the morrow, she would procure\nfor him a suit of armor from Vulcan more than equal to that he had lost.\nHe consented, and Thetis immediately repaired to Vulcan\u2019s palace. She\nfound him busy at his forge making tripods for his own use, so artfully\nconstructed that they moved forward of their own accord when wanted, and\nretired again when dismissed. On hearing the request of Thetis, Vulcan\nimmediately laid aside his work and hastened to comply with her wishes.\nHe fabricated a splendid suit of armor for Achilles, first a shield\nadorned with elaborate devices, then a helmet crested with gold, then a\ncorselet and greaves of impenetrable temper, all perfectly adapted to\nhis form, and of consummate workmanship. It was all done in one night,\nand Thetis, receiving it, descended with it to earth, and laid it down\nat Achilles\u2019 feet at the dawn of day.\n\nThe first glow of pleasure that Achilles had felt since the death of\nPatroclus was at the sight of this splendid armor. And now, arrayed in\nit, he went forth into the camp, calling all the chiefs to council. When\nthey were all assembled he addressed them. Renouncing his displeasure\nagainst Agamemnon and bitterly lamenting the miseries that had resulted\nfrom it, he called on them to proceed at once to the field. Agamemnon\nmade a suitable reply, laying all the blame on Ate, the goddess of\ndiscord; and thereupon complete reconcilement took place between the\nheroes.\n\nThen Achilles went forth to battle inspired with a rage and thirst for\nvengeance that made him irresistible. The bravest warriors fled before\nhim or fell by his lance. Hector, cautioned by Apollo, kept aloof; but\nthe god, assuming the form of one of Priam\u2019s sons, Lycaon, urged \u00c6neas\nto encounter the terrible warrior. \u00c6neas, though he felt himself\nunequal, did not decline the combat. He hurled his spear with all his\nforce against the shield the work of Vulcan. It was formed of five metal\nplates; two were of brass, two of tin, and one of gold. The spear\npierced two thicknesses, but was stopped in the third. Achilles threw\nhis with better success. It pierced through the shield of \u00c6neas, but\nglanced near his shoulder and made no wound. Then \u00c6neas seized a stone,\nsuch as two men of modern times could hardly lift, and was about to\nthrow it, and Achilles, with sword drawn, was about to rush upon him,\nwhen Neptune, who looked out upon the contest, moved with pity for\n\u00c6neas, who he saw would surely fall a victim if not speedily rescued,\nspread a cloud between the combatants, and lifting \u00c6neas from the\nground, bore him over the heads of warriors and steeds to the rear of\nthe battle. Achilles, when the mist cleared away, looked round in vain\nfor his adversary, and acknowledging the prodigy, turned his arms\nagainst other champions. But none dared stand before him, and Priam\nlooking down from the city walls beheld his whole army in full flight\ntowards the city. He gave command to open wide the gates to receive the\nfugitives, and to shut them as soon as the Trojans should have passed,\nlest the enemy should enter likewise. But Achilles was so close in\npursuit that that would have been impossible if Apollo had not, in the\nform of Agenor, Priam\u2019s son, encountered Achilles for a while, then\nturned to fly, and taken the way apart from the city. Achilles pursued\nand had chased his supposed victim far from the walls, when Apollo\ndisclosed himself, and Achilles, perceiving how he had been deluded,\ngave up the chase.\n\nBut when the rest had escaped into the town Hector stood without\ndetermined to await the combat. His old father called to him from the\nwalls and begged him to retire nor tempt the encounter. His mother,\nHecuba, also besought him to the same effect, but all in vain. \u201cHow can\nI,\u201d said he to himself, \u201cby whose command the people went to this day\u2019s\ncontest, where so many have fallen, seek safety for myself against a\nsingle foe? But what if I offer him to yield up Helen and all her\ntreasures and ample of our own beside? Ah, no! it is too late. He would\nnot even hear me through, but slay me while I spoke.\u201d While he thus\nruminated, Achilles approached, terrible as Mars, his armor flashing\nlightning as he moved. At that sight Hector\u2019s heart failed him and he\nfled. Achilles swiftly pursued. They ran, still keeping near the walls,\ntill they had thrice encircled the city. As often as Hector approached\nthe walls Achilles intercepted him and forced him to keep out in a wider\ncircle. But Apollo sustained Hector\u2019s strength and would not let him\nsink in weariness. Then Pallas, assuming the form of Deiphobus, Hector\u2019s\nbravest brother, appeared suddenly at his side. Hector saw him with\ndelight, and thus strengthened stopped his flight and turned to meet\nAchilles. Hector threw his spear, which struck the shield of Achilles\nand bounded back. He turned to receive another from the hand of\nDeiphobus, but Deiphobus was gone. Then Hector understood his doom and\nsaid, \u201cAlas! it is plain this is my hour to die! I thought Deiphobus at\nhand, but Pallas deceived me, and he is still in Troy. But I will not\nfall inglorious.\u201d So saying he drew his falchion from his side and\nrushed at once to combat. Achilles, secured behind his shield, waited\nthe approach of Hector. When he came within reach of his spear, Achilles\nchoosing with his eye a vulnerable part where the armor leaves the neck\nuncovered, aimed his spear at that part and Hector fell, death-wounded,\nand feebly said, \u201cSpare my body! Let my parents ransom it, and let me\nreceive funeral rites from the sons and daughters of Troy.\u201d To which\nAchilles replied, \u201cDog, name not ransom nor pity to me, on whom you have\nbrought such dire distress. No! trust me, naught shall save thy carcass\nfrom the dogs. Though twenty ransoms and thy weight in gold were\noffered, I would refuse it all.\u201d\n\nSo saying he stripped the body of its armor, and fastening cords to the\nfeet tied them behind his chariot, leaving the body to trail along the\nground. Then mounting the chariot he lashed the steeds and so dragged\nthe body to and fro before the city. What words can tell the grief of\nKing Priam and Queen Hecuba at this sight! His people could scarce\nrestrain the old king from rushing forth. He threw himself in the dust\nand besought them each by name to give him way. Hecuba\u2019s distress was\nnot less violent. The citizens stood round them weeping. The sound of\nthe mourning reached the ears of Andromache, the wife of Hector, as she\nsat among her maidens at work, and anticipating evil she went forth to\nthe wall. When she saw the sight there presented, she would have thrown\nherself headlong from the wall, but fainted and fell into the arms of\nher maidens. Recovering, she bewailed her fate, picturing to herself her\ncountry ruined, herself a captive, and her son dependent for his bread\non the charity of strangers.\n\nWhen Achilles and the Greeks had taken their revenge on the killer of\nPatroclus they busied themselves in paying due funeral rites to their\nfriend. A pile was erected, and the body burned with due solemnity; and\nthen ensued games of strength and skill, chariot races, wrestling,\nboxing, and archery. Then the chiefs sat down to the funeral banquet and\nafter that retired to rest. But Achilles neither partook of the feast\nnor of sleep. The recollection of his lost friend kept him awake,\nremembering their companionship in toil and dangers, in battle or on the\nperilous deep. Before the earliest dawn he left his tent, and joining to\nhis chariot his swift steeds, he fastened Hector\u2019s body to be dragged\nbehind. Twice he dragged him around the tomb of Patroclus, leaving him\nat length stretched in the dust. But Apollo would not permit the body to\nbe torn or disfigured with all this abuse, but preserved it free from\nall taint or defilement.\n\nWhile Achilles indulged his wrath in thus disgracing brave Hector,\nJupiter in pity summoned Thetis to his presence. He told her to go to\nher son and prevail on him to restore the body of Hector to his friends.\nThen Jupiter sent Iris to King Priam to encourage him to go to Achilles\nand beg the body of his son. Iris delivered her message, and Priam\nimmediately prepared to obey. He opened his treasuries and took out rich\ngarments and cloths, with ten talents in gold and two splendid tripods\nand a golden cup of matchless workmanship. Then he called to his sons\nand bade them draw forth his litter and place in it the various articles\ndesigned for a ransom to Achilles. When all was ready, the old king with\na single companion as aged as himself, the herald Id\u00e6us, drove forth\nfrom the gates, parting there with Hecuba, his queen, and all his\nfriends, who lamented him as going to certain death.\n\nBut Jupiter, beholding with compassion the venerable king, sent Mercury\nto be his guide and protector. Mercury, assuming the form of a young\nwarrior, presented himself to the aged couple, and while at the sight of\nhim they hesitated whether to fly or yield, the god approached, and\ngrasping Priam\u2019s hand offered to be their guide to Achilles\u2019 tent. Priam\ngladly accepted his offered service, and he, mounting the carriage,\nassumed the reins and soon conveyed them to the tent of Achilles.\nMercury\u2019s wand put to sleep all the guards, and without hinderance he\nintroduced Priam into the tent where Achilles sat, attended by two of\nhis warriors. The old king threw himself at the feet of Achilles, and\nkissed those terrible hands which had destroyed so many of his sons.\n\u201cThink, O Achilles,\u201d he said, \u201cof thy own father, full of days like me,\nand trembling on the gloomy verge of life. Perhaps even now some\nneighbor chief oppresses him and there is none at hand to succor him in\nhis distress. Yet doubtless knowing that Achilles lives he still\nrejoices, hoping that one day he shall see thy face again. But no\ncomfort cheers me, whose bravest sons, so late the flower of Ilium, all\nhave fallen. Yet one I had, one more than all the rest the strength of\nmy age, whom, fighting for his country, thou hast slain. I come to\nredeem his body, bringing inestimable ransom with me. Achilles!\nreverence the gods! recollect thy father! for his sake show compassion\nto me!\u201d These words moved Achilles, and he wept; remembering by turns\nhis absent father and his lost friend. Moved with pity of Priam\u2019s silver\nlocks and beard, he raised him from the earth, and thus spake: \u201cPriam, I\nknow that thou hast reached this place conducted by some god, for\nwithout aid divine no mortal even in his prime of youth had dared the\nattempt. I grant thy request, moved thereto by the evident will of\nJove.\u201d So saying he arose, and went forth with his two friends, and\nunloaded of its charge the litter, leaving two mantles and a robe for\nthe covering of the body, which they placed on the litter, and spread\nthe garments over it, that not unveiled it should be borne back to Troy.\nThen Achilles dismissed the old king with his attendants, having first\npledged himself to allow a truce of twelve days for the funeral\nsolemnities.\n\nAs the litter approached the city and was descried from the walls, the\npeople poured forth to gaze once more on the face of their hero.\nForemost of all, the mother and the wife of Hector came, and at the\nsight of the lifeless body renewed their lamentations. The people all\nwept with them, and to the going down of the sun there was no pause or\nabatement of their grief.\n\nThe next day preparations were made for the funeral solemnities. For\nnine days the people brought wood and built the pile, and on the tenth\nthey placed the body on the summit and applied the torch; while all Troy\nthronging forth encompassed the pile. When it had completely burned,\nthey quenched the cinders with wine, collected the bones and placed them\nin a golden urn, which they buried in the earth, and reared a pile of\nstones over the spot.\n\n \u201cSuch honors Ilium to her hero paid,\n And peaceful slept the mighty Hector\u2019s shade.\u201d\n \u2014_Pope._\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XXVIII\n\n THE FALL OF TROY\u2014RETURN OF THE GREEKS\u2014ORESTES AND ELECTRA\n\n THE FALL OF TROY\n\nTHE story of the Iliad ends with the death of Hector, and it is from the\nOdyssey and later poems that we learn the fate of the other heroes.\nAfter the death of Hector, Troy did not immediately fall, but receiving\naid from new allies still continued its resistance. One of these allies\nwas Memnon, the \u00c6thiopian prince, whose story we have already told.\nAnother was Penthesilea, queen of the Amazons, who came with a band of\nfemale warriors. All the authorities attest their valor and the fearful\neffect of their war cry. Penthesilea slew many of the bravest warriors,\nbut was at last slain by Achilles. But when the hero bent over his\nfallen foe, and contemplated her beauty, youth, and valor, he bitterly\nregretted his victory. Thersites, an insolent brawler and demagogue,\nridiculed his grief, and was in consequence slain by the hero.\n\nAchilles by chance had seen Polyxena, daughter of King Priam, perhaps on\nthe occasion of the truce which was allowed the Trojans for the burial\nof Hector. He was captivated with her charms, and to win her in marriage\nagreed to use his influence with the Greeks to grant peace to Troy.\nWhile in the temple of Apollo, negotiating the marriage, Paris\ndischarged at him a poisoned arrow, which, guided by Apollo, wounded\nAchilles in the heel, the only vulnerable part about him. For Thetis his\nmother had dipped him when an infant in the river Styx, which made every\npart of him invulnerable except the heel by which she held him.[21]\n\nThe body of Achilles so treacherously slain was rescued by Ajax and\nUlysses. Thetis directed the Greeks to bestow her son\u2019s armor on the\nhero who of all the survivors should be judged most deserving of it.\nAjax and Ulysses were the only claimants; a select number of the other\nchiefs were appointed to award the prize. It was awarded to Ulysses,\nthus placing wisdom before valor; whereupon Ajax slew himself. On the\nspot where his blood sank into the earth a flower sprang up, called the\nhyacinth, bearing on its leaves the first two letters of the name of\nAjax, Ai, the Greek for \u201cwoe.\u201d Thus Ajax is a claimant with the boy\nHyacinthus for the honor of giving birth to this flower. There is a\nspecies of Larkspur which represents the hyacinth of the poets in\npreserving the memory of this event, the Delphinium Ajacis\u2014Ajax\u2019s\nLarkspur.\n\nIt was now discovered that Troy could not be taken but by the aid of the\narrows of Hercules. They were in possession of Philoctetes, the friend\nwho had been with Hercules at the last and lighted his funeral pyre.\nPhiloctetes had joined the Grecian expedition against Troy, but had\naccidentally wounded his foot with one of the poisoned arrows, and the\nsmell from his wound proved so offensive that his companions carried him\nto the isle of Lemnos and left him there. Diomed was now sent to induce\nhim to rejoin the army. He succeeded. Philoctetes was cured of his wound\nby Machaon, and Paris was the first victim of the fatal arrows. In his\ndistress Paris bethought him of one whom in his prosperity he had\nforgotten. This was the nymph \u0152none, whom he had married when a youth,\nand had abandoned for the fatal beauty Helen. \u0152none, remembering the\nwrongs she had suffered, refused to heal the wound, and Paris went back\nto Troy and died. \u0152none quickly repented, and hastened after him with\nremedies, but came too late, and in her grief hung herself.[22]\n\nThere was in Troy a celebrated statue of Minerva called the Palladium.\nIt was said to have fallen from heaven, and the belief was that the city\ncould not be taken so long as this statue remained within it. Ulysses\nand Diomed entered the city in disguise and succeeded in obtaining the\nPalladium, which they carried off to the Grecian camp.\n\nBut Troy still held out, and the Greeks began to despair of ever\nsubduing it by force, and by advice of Ulysses resolved to resort to\nstratagem. They pretended to be making preparations to abandon the\nsiege, and a portion of the ships were withdrawn and lay hid behind a\nneighboring island. The Greeks then constructed an immense _wooden\nhorse_, which they gave out was intended as a propitiatory offering to\nMinerva, but in fact was filled with armed men. The remaining Greeks\nthen betook themselves to their ships and sailed away, as if for a final\ndeparture. The Trojans, seeing the encampment broken up and the fleet\ngone, concluded the enemy to have abandoned the siege. The gates were\nthrown open, and the whole population issued forth rejoicing at the\nlong-prohibited liberty of passing freely over the scene of the late\nencampment. The great _horse_ was the chief object of curiosity. All\nwondered what it could be for. Some recommended to take it into the city\nas a trophy; others felt afraid of it.\n\nWhile they hesitate, Laoco\u00f6n, the priest of Neptune exclaims, \u201cWhat\nmadness, citizens, is this? Have you not learned enough of Grecian fraud\nto be on your guard against it? For my part, I fear the Greeks even when\nthey offer gifts.\u201d[23] So saying he threw his lance at the horse\u2019s side.\nIt struck, and a hollow sound reverberated like a groan. Then perhaps\nthe people might have taken his advice and destroyed the fatal horse and\nall its contents; but just at that moment a group of people appeared,\ndragging forward one who seemed a prisoner and a Greek. Stupefied with\nterror, he was brought before the chiefs, who reassured him, promising\nthat his life should be spared on condition of his returning true\nanswers to the questions asked him. He informed them that he was a\nGreek, Sinon by name, and that in consequence of the malice of Ulysses\nhe had been left behind by his countrymen at their departure. With\nregard to the wooden horse, he told them that it was a propitiatory\noffering to Minerva, and made so huge for the express purpose of\npreventing its being carried within the city; for Calchas the prophet\nhad told them that if the Trojans took possession of it they would\nassuredly triumph over the Greeks. This language turned the tide of the\npeople\u2019s feelings and they began to think how they might best secure the\nmonstrous horse and the favorable auguries connected with it, when\nsuddenly a prodigy occurred which left no room to doubt. There appeared,\nadvancing over the sea, two immense serpents. They came upon the land,\nand the crowd fled in all directions. The serpents advanced directly to\nthe spot where Laoco\u00f6n stood with his two sons. They first attacked the\nchildren, winding round their bodies and breathing their pestilential\nbreath in their faces. The father, attempting to rescue them, is next\nseized and involved in the serpents\u2019 coils. He struggles to tear them\naway, but they overpower all his efforts and strangle him and the\nchildren in their poisonous folds. This event was regarded as a clear\nindication of the displeasure of the gods at Laoco\u00f6n\u2019s irreverent\ntreatment of the wooden horse, which they no longer hesitated to regard\nas a sacred object, and prepared to introduce with due solemnity into\nthe city. This was done with songs and triumphal acclamations, and the\nday closed with festivity. In the night the armed men who were enclosed\nin the body of the horse, being let out by the traitor Sinon, opened the\ngates of the city to their friends, who had returned under cover of the\nnight. The city was set on fire; the people, overcome with feasting and\nsleep, put to the sword, and Troy completely subdued.\n\n\n\nOne of the most celebrated groups of statuary in existence is that of\nLaoco\u00f6n and his children in the embrace of the serpents. A cast of it is\nowned by the Boston Athen\u00e6um; the original is in the Vatican at Rome.\nThe following lines are from the \u201cChilde Harold\u201d of Byron:\n\n \u201cNow turning to the Vatican go see\n Laoco\u00f6n\u2019s torture dignifying pain;\n A father\u2019s love and mortal\u2019s agony\n With an immortal\u2019s patience blending;\u2014vain\n The struggle! vain against the coiling strain\n And gripe and deepening of the dragon\u2019s grasp\n The old man\u2019s clinch; the long envenomed chain\n Rivets the living links; the enormous asp\n Enforces pang on pang and stifles gasp on gasp.\u201d\n\nThe comic poets will also occasionally borrow a classical allusion. The\nfollowing is from Swift\u2019s \u201cDescription of a City Shower\u201d:\n\n \u201cBoxed in a chair the beau impatient sits,\n While spouts run clattering o\u2019er the roof by fits,\n And ever and anon with frightful din\n The leather sounds; he trembles from within.\n So when Troy chairmen bore the wooden steed\n Pregnant with Greeks impatient to be freed,\n (Those bully Greeks, who, as the moderns do,\n Instead of paying chairmen, run them through);\n Laoco\u00f6n struck the outside with a spear,\n And each imprisoned champion quaked with fear.\u201d\n\nKing Priam lived to see the downfall of his kingdom and was slain at\nlast on the fatal night when the Greeks took the city. He had armed\nhimself and was about to mingle with the combatants, but was prevailed\non by Hecuba, his aged queen, to take refuge with herself and his\ndaughters as a suppliant at the altar of Jupiter. While there, his\nyoungest son Polites, pursued by Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles, rushed in\nwounded, and expired at the feet of his father; whereupon Priam,\novercome with indignation, hurled his spear with feeble hand against\nPyrrhus,[24] and was forthwith slain by him.\n\nQueen Hecuba and her daughter Cassandra were carried captives to Greece.\nCassandra had been loved by Apollo, and he gave her the gift of\nprophecy; but afterwards offended with her, he rendered the gift\nunavailing by ordaining that her predictions should never be believed.\nPolyxena, another daughter, who had been loved by Achilles, was demanded\nby the ghost of that warrior, and was sacrificed by the Greeks upon his\ntomb.\n\n MENELAUS AND HELEN\n\nOur readers will be anxious to know the fate of Helen, the fair but\nguilty occasion of so much slaughter. On the fall of Troy Menelaus\nrecovered possession of his wife, who had not ceased to love him, though\nshe had yielded to the might of Venus and deserted him for another.\nAfter the death of Paris she aided the Greeks secretly on several\noccasions, and in particular when Ulysses and Diomed entered the city in\ndisguise to carry off the Palladium. She saw and recognized Ulysses, but\nkept the secret and even assisted them in obtaining the image. Thus she\nbecame reconciled to her husband, and they were among the first to leave\nthe shores of Troy for their native land. But having incurred the\ndispleasure of the gods they were driven by storms from shore to shore\nof the Mediterranean, visiting Cyprus, Ph\u0153nicia, and Egypt. In Egypt\nthey were kindly treated and presented with rich gifts, of which Helen\u2019s\nshare was a golden spindle and a basket on wheels. The basket was to\nhold the wool and spools for the queen\u2019s work.\n\n\n\nDyer, in his poem of the \u201cFleece,\u201d thus alludes to this incident:\n\n \u201c. . . many yet adhere\n To the ancient distaff, at the bosom fixed,\n Casting the whirling spindle as they walk.\n . . . . . . .\n This was of old, in no inglorious days,\n The mode of spinning, when the Egyptian prince\n A golden distaff gave that beauteous nymph,\n Too beauteous Helen; no uncourtly gift.\u201d\n\nMilton also alludes to a famous recipe for an invigorating draught,\ncalled Nepenthe, which the Egyptian queen gave to Helen:\n\n \u201cNot that Nepenthes which the wife of Thone\n In Egypt gave to Jove-born Helena,\n Is of such power to stir up joy as this,\n To life so friendly or so cool to thirst.\u201d\n \u2014_Comus._\n\nMenelaus and Helen at length arrived in safety at Sparta, resumed their\nroyal dignity, and lived and reigned in splendor; and when Telemachus,\nthe son of Ulysses, in search of his father, arrived at Sparta, he found\nMenelaus and Helen celebrating the marriage of their daughter Hermione\nto Neoptolemus, son of Achilles.\n\n AGAMEMNON, ORESTES, AND ELECTRA\n\nAgamemnon, the general-in-chief of the Greeks, the brother of Menelaus,\nand who had been drawn into the quarrel to avenge his brother\u2019s wrongs,\nnot his own, was not so fortunate in the issue. During his absence his\nwife Clytemnestra had been false to him, and when his return was\nexpected, she with her paramour, \u00c6gisthus, laid a plan for his\ndestruction, and at the banquet given to celebrate his return, murdered\nhim.\n\nIt was intended by the conspirators to slay his son Orestes also, a lad\nnot yet old enough to be an object of apprehension, but from whom, if he\nshould be suffered to grow up, there might be danger. Electra, the\nsister of Orestes, saved her brother\u2019s life by sending him secretly away\nto his uncle Strophius, King of Phocis. In the palace of Strophius\nOrestes grew up with the king\u2019s son Pylades, and formed with him that\nardent friendship which has become proverbial. Electra frequently\nreminded her brother by messengers of the duty of avenging his father\u2019s\ndeath, and when grown up he consulted the oracle of Delphi, which\nconfirmed him in his design. He therefore repaired in disguise to Argos,\npretending to be a messenger from Strophius, who had come to announce\nthe death of Orestes, and brought the ashes of the deceased in a funeral\nurn. After visiting his father\u2019s tomb and sacrificing upon it, according\nto the rites of the ancients, he made himself known to his sister\nElectra, and soon after slew both \u00c6gisthus and Clytemnestra.\n\nThis revolting act, the slaughter of a mother by her son, though\nalleviated by the guilt of the victim and the express command of the\ngods, did not fail to awaken in the breasts of the ancients the same\nabhorrence that it does in ours. The Eumenides, avenging deities, seized\nupon Orestes, and drove him frantic from land to land. Pylades\naccompanied him in his wanderings and watched over him. At length, in\nanswer to a second appeal to the oracle, he was directed to go to Tauris\nin Scythia, and to bring thence a statue of Diana which was believed to\nhave fallen from heaven. Accordingly Orestes and Pylades went to Tauris,\nwhere the barbarous people were accustomed to sacrifice to the goddess\nall strangers who fell into their hands. The two friends were seized and\ncarried bound to the temple to be made victims. But the priestess of\nDiana was no other than Iphigenia, the sister of Orestes, who, our\nreaders will remember, was snatched away by Diana at the moment when she\nwas about to be sacrificed. Ascertaining from the prisoners who they\nwere, Iphigenia disclosed herself to them, and the three made their\nescape with the statue of the goddess, and returned to Mycen\u00e6.\n\nBut Orestes was not yet relieved from the vengeance of the Erinyes. At\nlength he took refuge with Minerva at Athens. The goddess afforded him\nprotection, and appointed the court of Areopagus to decide his fate. The\nErinyes brought forward their accusation, and Orestes made the command\nof the Delphic oracle his excuse. When the court voted and the voices\nwere equally divided, Orestes was acquitted by the command of Minerva.\n\n\n\nByron, in \u201cChilde Harold,\u201d Canto IV., alludes to the story of Orestes:\n\n \u201cO thou who never yet of human wrong\n Left the unbalanced scale, great Nemesis!\n Thou who didst call the Furies from the abyss,\n And round Orestes bade them howl and hiss,\n For that unnatural retribution,\u2014just,\n Had it but been from hands less near,\u2014in this,\n Thy former realm, I call thee from the dust!\u201d\n\nOne of the most pathetic scenes in the ancient drama is that in which\nSophocles represents the meeting of Orestes and Electra, on his return\nfrom Phocis. Orestes, mistaking Electra for one of the domestics, and\ndesirous of keeping his arrival a secret till the hour of vengeance\nshould arrive, produces the urn in which his ashes are supposed to rest.\nElectra, believing him to be really dead, takes the urn and, embracing\nit, pours forth her grief in language full of tenderness and despair.\n\n\n\nMilton, in one of his sonnets, says:\n\n \u201c. . . The repeated air\n Of sad Electra\u2019s poet had the power\n To save the Athenian walls from ruin bare.\u201d\n\nThis alludes to the story that when, on one occasion, the city of Athens\nwas at the mercy of her Spartan foes, and it was proposed to destroy it,\nthe thought was rejected upon the accidental quotation, by some one, of\na chorus of Euripides.\n\n TROY\n\nThe facts relating to the city of Troy are still unknown to history.\nAntiquarians have long sought for the actual city and some record of its\nrulers. The most interesting explorations were those conducted about\n1890 by the German scholar, Henry Schliemann, who believed that at the\nmound of Hissarlik, the traditional site of Troy, he had uncovered the\nancient capital. Schliemann excavated down below the ruins of three or\nfour settlements, each revealing an earlier civilization, and finally\ncame upon some royal jewels and other relics said to be \u201cPriam\u2019s\nTreasure.\u201d Scholars are by no means agreed as to the historic value of\nthese discoveries.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XXIX\n\nADVENTURES OF ULYSSES\u2014THE LOTUS-EATERS\u2014CYCLOPES\u2014CIRCE\u2014SIRENS\u2014SCYLLA AND\n CHARYBDIS\u2014CALYPSO\n\n RETURN OF ULYSSES\n\nTHE romantic poem of the Odyssey is now to engage our attention. It\nnarrates the wanderings of Ulysses (Odysseus in the Greek language) in\nhis return from Troy to his own kingdom Ithaca.\n\nFrom Troy the vessels first made land at Ismarus, city of the Ciconians,\nwhere, in a skirmish with the inhabitants, Ulysses lost six men from\neach ship. Sailing thence, they were overtaken by a storm which drove\nthem for nine days along the sea till they reached the country of the\nLotus-eaters. Here, after watering, Ulysses sent three of his men to\ndiscover who the inhabitants were. These men on coming among the\nLotus-eaters were kindly entertained by them, and were given some of\ntheir own food, the lotus plant, to eat. The effect of this food was\nsuch that those who partook of it lost all thoughts of home and wished\nto remain in that country. It was by main force that Ulysses dragged\nthese men away, and he was even obliged to tie them under the benches of\nthe ships.[25]\n\nThey next arrived at the country of the Cyclopes. The Cyclopes were\ngiants, who inhabited an island of which they were the only possessors.\nThe name means \u201cround eye,\u201d and these giants were so called because they\nhad but one eye, and that placed in the middle of the forehead. They\ndwelt in caves and fed on the wild productions of the island and on what\ntheir flocks yielded, for they were shepherds. Ulysses left the main\nbody of his ships at anchor, and with one vessel went to the Cyclopes\u2019\nisland to explore for supplies. He landed with his companions, carrying\nwith them a jar of wine for a present, and coming to a large cave they\nentered it, and finding no one within examined its contents. They found\nit stored with the richest of the flock, quantities of cheese, pails and\nbowls of milk, lambs and kids in their pens, all in nice order.\nPresently arrived the master of the cave, Polyphemus, bearing an immense\nbundle of firewood, which he threw down before the cavern\u2019s mouth. He\nthen drove into the cave the sheep and goats to be milked, and,\nentering, rolled to the cave\u2019s mouth an enormous rock, that twenty oxen\ncould not draw. Next he sat down and milked his ewes, preparing a part\nfor cheese, and setting the rest aside for his customary drink. Then,\nturning round his great eye, he discerned the strangers, and growled out\nto them, demanding who they were, and where from. Ulysses replied most\nhumbly, stating that they were Greeks, from the great expedition that\nhad lately won so much glory in the conquest of Troy; that they were now\non their way home, and finished by imploring his hospitality in the name\nof the gods. Polyphemus deigned no answer, but reaching out his hand\nseized two of the Greeks, whom he hurled against the side of the cave,\nand dashed out their brains. He proceeded to devour them with great\nrelish, and having made a hearty meal, stretched himself out on the\nfloor to sleep. Ulysses was tempted to seize the opportunity and plunge\nhis sword into him as he slept, but recollected that it would only\nexpose them all to certain destruction, as the rock with which the giant\nhad closed up the door was far beyond their power to remove, and they\nwould therefore be in hopeless imprisonment. Next morning the giant\nseized two more of the Greeks, and despatched them in the same manner as\ntheir companions, feasting on their flesh till no fragment was left. He\nthen moved away the rock from the door, drove out his flocks, and went\nout, carefully replacing the barrier after him. When he was gone Ulysses\nplanned how he might take vengeance for his murdered friends, and effect\nhis escape with his surviving companions. He made his men prepare a\nmassive bar of wood cut by the Cyclops for a staff, which they found in\nthe cave. They sharpened the end of it, and seasoned it in the fire, and\nhid it under the straw on the cavern floor. Then four of the boldest\nwere selected, with whom Ulysses joined himself as a fifth. The Cyclops\ncame home at evening, rolled away the stone and drove in his flock as\nusual. After milking them and making his arrangements as before, he\nseized two more of Ulysses\u2019 companions and dashed their brains out, and\nmade his evening meal upon them as he had on the others. After he had\nsupped, Ulysses approaching him handed him a bowl of wine, saying,\n\u201cCyclops, this is wine; taste and drink after thy meal of men\u2019s flesh.\u201d\nHe took and drank it, and was hugely delighted with it, and called for\nmore. Ulysses supplied him once again, which pleased the giant so much\nthat he promised him as a favor that he should be the last of the party\ndevoured. He asked his name, to which Ulysses replied, \u201cMy name is\nNoman.\u201d\n\nAfter his supper the giant lay down to repose, and was soon sound\nasleep. Then Ulysses with his four select friends thrust the end of the\nstake into the fire till it was all one burning coal, then poising it\nexactly above the giant\u2019s only eye, they buried it deeply into the\nsocket, twirling it round as a carpenter does his auger. The howling\nmonster with his outcry filled the cavern, and Ulysses with his aids\nnimbly got out of his way and concealed themselves in the cave. He,\nbellowing, called aloud on all the Cyclopes dwelling in the caves around\nhim, far and near. They on his cry flocked round the den, and inquired\nwhat grievous hurt had caused him to sound such an alarm and break their\nslumbers. He replied, \u201cO friends, I die, and Noman gives the blow.\u201d They\nanswered, \u201cIf no man hurts thee it is the stroke of Jove, and thou must\nbear it.\u201d So saying, they left him groaning.\n\nNext morning the Cyclops rolled away the stone to let his flock out to\npasture, but planted himself in the door of the cave to feel of all as\nthey went out, that Ulysses and his men should not escape with them. But\nUlysses had made his men harness the rams of the flock three abreast,\nwith osiers which they found on the floor of the cave. To the middle ram\nof the three one of the Greeks suspended himself, so protected by the\nexterior rams on either side. As they passed, the giant felt of the\nanimals\u2019 backs and sides, but never thought of their bellies; so the men\nall passed safe, Ulysses himself being on the last one that passed. When\nthey had got a few paces from the cavern, Ulysses and his friends\nreleased themselves from their rams, and drove a good part of the flock\ndown to the shore to their boat. They put them aboard with all haste,\nthen pushed off from the shore, and when at a safe distance Ulysses\nshouted out, \u201cCyclops, the gods have well requited thee for thy\natrocious deeds. Know it is Ulysses to whom thou owest thy shameful loss\nof sight.\u201d The Cyclops, hearing this, seized a rock that projected from\nthe side of the mountain, and rending it from its bed, he lifted it high\nin the air, then exerting all his force, hurled it in the direction of\nthe voice. Down came the mass, just clearing the vessel\u2019s stern. The\nocean, at the plunge of the huge rock, heaved the ship towards the land,\nso that it barely escaped being swamped by the waves. When they had with\nthe utmost difficulty pulled off shore, Ulysses was about to hail the\ngiant again, but his friends besought him not to do so. He could not\nforbear, however, letting the giant know that they had escaped his\nmissile, but waited till they had reached a safer distance than before.\nThe giant answered them with curses, but Ulysses and his friends plied\ntheir oars vigorously, and soon regained their companions.\n\n\n\nUlysses next arrived at the island of \u00c6olus. To this monarch Jupiter had\nintrusted the government of the winds, to send them forth or retain them\nat his will. He treated Ulysses hospitably, and at his departure gave\nhim, tied up in a leathern bag, with a silver string, such winds as\nmight be hurtful and dangerous, commanding fair winds to blow the barks\ntowards their country. Nine days they sped before the wind, and all that\ntime Ulysses had stood at the helm, without sleep. At last quite\nexhausted he lay down to sleep. While he slept, the crew conferred\ntogether about the mysterious bag, and concluded it must contain\ntreasures given by the hospitable king \u00c6olus to their commander. Tempted\nto secure some portion for themselves, they loosed the string, when\nimmediately the winds rushed forth. The ships were driven far from their\ncourse, and back again to the island they had just left. \u00c6olus was so\nindignant at their folly that he refused to assist them further, and\nthey were obliged to labor over their course once more by means of their\noars.\n\n THE L\u00c6STRYGONIANS\n\nTheir next adventure was with the barbarous tribe of L\u00e6strygonians. The\nvessels all pushed into the harbor, tempted by the secure appearance of\nthe cove, completely land-locked; only Ulysses moored his vessel\nwithout. As soon as the L\u00e6strygonians found the ships completely in\ntheir power they attacked them, heaving huge stones which broke and\noverturned them, and with their spears despatched the seamen as they\nstruggled in the water. All the vessels with their crews were destroyed,\nexcept Ulysses\u2019 own ship, which had remained outside, and finding no\nsafety but in flight, he exhorted his men to ply their oars vigorously,\nand they escaped.\n\nWith grief for their slain companions mixed with joy at their own\nescape, they pursued their way till they arrived at the \u00c6\u00e6an isle, where\nCirce dwelt, the daughter of the sun. Landing here, Ulysses climbed a\nhill, and gazing round saw no signs of habitation except in one spot at\nthe centre of the island, where he perceived a palace embowered with\ntrees. He sent forward one-half of his crew, under the command of\nEurylochus, to see what prospect of hospitality they might find. As they\napproached the palace, they found themselves surrounded by lions,\ntigers, and wolves, not fierce, but tamed by Circe\u2019s art, for she was a\npowerful magician. All these animals had once been men, but had been\nchanged by Circe\u2019s enchantments into the forms of beasts. The sounds of\nsoft music were heard from within, and a sweet female voice singing.\nEurylochus called aloud and the goddess came forth and invited them in;\nthey all gladly entered except Eurylochus, who suspected danger. The\ngoddess conducted her guests to a seat, and had them served with wine\nand other delicacies. When they had feasted heartily, she touched them\none by one with her wand, and they became immediately changed into\n_swine_, in \u201chead, body, voice, and bristles,\u201d yet with their intellects\nas before. She shut them in her sties and supplied them with acorns and\nsuch other things as swine love.\n\nEurylochus hurried back to the ship and told the tale. Ulysses thereupon\ndetermined to go himself, and try if by any means he might deliver his\ncompanions. As he strode onward alone, he met a youth who addressed him\nfamiliarly, appearing to be acquainted with his adventures. He announced\nhimself as Mercury, and informed Ulysses of the arts of Circe, and of\nthe danger of approaching her. As Ulysses was not to be dissuaded from\nhis attempt, Mercury provided him with a sprig of the plant Moly, of\nwonderful power to resist sorceries, and instructed him how to act.\nUlysses proceeded, and reaching the palace was courteously received by\nCirce, who entertained him as she had done his companions, and after he\nhad eaten and drank, touched him with her wand, saying, \u201cHence, seek the\nsty and wallow with thy friends.\u201d But he, instead of obeying, drew his\nsword and rushed upon her with fury in his countenance. She fell on her\nknees and begged for mercy. He dictated a solemn oath that she would\nrelease his companions and practise no further harm against him or them;\nand she repeated it, at the same time promising to dismiss them all in\nsafety after hospitably entertaining them. She was as good as her word.\nThe men were restored to their shapes, the rest of the crew summoned\nfrom the shore, and the whole magnificently entertained day after day,\ntill Ulysses seemed to have forgotten his native land, and to have\nreconciled himself to an inglorious life of ease and pleasure.\n\nAt length his companions recalled him to nobler sentiments, and he\nreceived their admonition gratefully. Circe aided their departure, and\ninstructed them how to pass safely by the coast of the Sirens. The\nSirens were sea-nymphs who had the power of charming by their song all\nwho heard them, so that the unhappy mariners were irresistibly impelled\nto cast themselves into the sea to their destruction. Circe directed\nUlysses to fill the ears of his seamen with wax, so that they should not\nhear the strain; and to cause himself to be bound to the mast, and his\npeople to be strictly enjoined, whatever he might say or do, by no means\nto release him till they should have passed the Sirens\u2019 island. Ulysses\nobeyed these directions. He filled the ears of his people with wax, and\nsuffered them to bind him with cords firmly to the mast. As they\napproached the Sirens\u2019 island, the sea was calm, and over the waters\ncame the notes of music so ravishing and attractive that Ulysses\nstruggled to get loose, and by cries and signs to his people begged to\nbe released; but they, obedient to his previous orders, sprang forward\nand bound him still faster. They held on their course, and the music\ngrew fainter till it ceased to be heard, when with joy Ulysses gave his\ncompanions the signal to unseal their ears, and they relieved him from\nhis bonds.\n\n\n\nThe imagination of a modern poet, Keats, has discovered for us the\nthoughts that passed through the brains of the victims of Circe, after\ntheir transformation. In his \u201cEndymion\u201d he represents one of them, a\nmonarch in the guise of an elephant, addressing the sorceress in human\nlanguage, thus:\n\n \u201cI sue not for my happy crown again;\n I sue not for my phalanx on the plain;\n I sue not for my lone, my widowed wife;\n I sue not for my ruddy drops of life,\n My children fair, my lovely girls and boys;\n I will forget them; I will pass these joys,\n Ask nought so heavenward; so too\u2014too high;\n Only I pray, as fairest boon, to die;\n To be delivered from this cumbrous flesh,\n From this gross, detestable, filthy mesh,\n And merely given to the cold, bleak air.\n Have mercy, goddess! Circe, feel my prayer!\u201d\n\n SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS\n\nUlysses had been warned by Circe of the two monsters Scylla and\nCharybdis. We have already met with Scylla in the story of Glaucus, and\nremember that she was once a beautiful maiden and was changed into a\nsnaky monster by Circe. She dwelt in a cave high up on the cliff, from\nwhence she was accustomed to thrust forth her long necks (for she had\nsix heads), and in each of her mouths to seize one of the crew of every\nvessel passing within reach. The other terror, Charybdis, was a gulf,\nnearly on a level with the water. Thrice each day the water rushed into\na frightful chasm, and thrice was disgorged. Any vessel coming near the\nwhirlpool when the tide was rushing in must inevitably be ingulfed; not\nNeptune himself could save it.\n\nOn approaching the haunt of the dread monsters, Ulysses kept strict\nwatch to discover them. The roar of the waters as Charybdis ingulfed\nthem, gave warning at a distance, but Scylla could nowhere be discerned.\nWhile Ulysses and his men watched with anxious eyes the dreadful\nwhirlpool, they were not equally on their guard from the attack of\nScylla, and the monster, darting forth her snaky heads, caught six of\nhis men, and bore them away, shrieking, to her den. It was the saddest\nsight Ulysses had yet seen; to behold his friends thus sacrificed and\nhear their cries, unable to afford them any assistance.\n\nCirce had warned him of another danger. After passing Scylla and\nCharybdis the next land he would make was Thrinakia, an island whereon\nwere pastured the cattle of Hyperion, the Sun, tended by his daughters\nLampetia and Pha\u00ebthusa. These flocks must not be violated, whatever the\nwants of the voyagers might be. If this injunction were transgressed\ndestruction was sure to fall on the offenders.\n\nUlysses would willingly have passed the island of the Sun without\nstopping, but his companions so urgently pleaded for the rest and\nrefreshment that would be derived from anchoring and passing the night\non shore, that Ulysses yielded. He bound them, however, with an oath\nthat they would not touch one of the animals of the sacred flocks and\nherds, but content themselves with what provision they yet had left of\nthe supply which Circe had put on board. So long as this supply lasted\nthe people kept their oath, but contrary winds detained them at the\nisland for a month, and after consuming all their stock of provisions,\nthey were forced to rely upon the birds and fishes they could catch.\nFamine pressed them, and at length one day, in the absence of Ulysses,\nthey slew some of the cattle, vainly attempting to make amends for the\ndeed by offering from them a portion to the offended powers. Ulysses, on\nhis return to the shore, was horror-struck at perceiving what they had\ndone, and the more so on account of the portentous signs which followed.\nThe skins crept on the ground, and the joints of meat lowed on the spits\nwhile roasting.\n\nThe wind becoming fair they sailed from the island. They had not gone\nfar when the weather changed, and a storm of thunder and lightning\nensued. A stroke of lightning shattered their mast, which in its fall\nkilled the pilot. At last the vessel itself came to pieces. The keel and\nmast floating side by side, Ulysses formed of them a raft, to which he\nclung, and, the wind changing, the waves bore him to Calypso\u2019s island.\nAll the rest of the crew perished.\n\n\n\nThe following allusion to the topics we have just been considering is\nfrom Milton\u2019s \u201cComus,\u201d line 252:\n\n \u201c. . . I have often heard\n My mother Circe and the Sirens three,\n Amidst the flowery-kirtled Naiades,\n Culling their potent herbs and baneful drugs,\n Who as they sung would take the prisoned soul\n And lap it in Elysium. Scylla wept,\n And chid her barking waves into attention,\n And fell Charybdis murmured soft applause.\u201d\n\nScylla and Charybdis have become proverbial, to denote opposite dangers\nwhich beset one\u2019s course. See Proverbial Expressions.\n\n CALYPSO\n\nCalypso was a sea-nymph, which name denotes a numerous class of female\ndivinities of lower rank, yet sharing many of the attributes of the\ngods. Calypso received Ulysses hospitably, entertained him\nmagnificently, became enamoured of him, and wished to retain him\nforever, conferring on him immortality. But he persisted in his\nresolution to return to his country and his wife and son. Calypso at\nlast received the command of Jove to dismiss him. Mercury brought the\nmessage to her, and found her in her grotto, which is thus described by\nHomer:\n\n \u201cA garden vine, luxuriant on all sides,\n Mantled the spacious cavern, cluster-hung\n Profuse; four fountains of serenest lymph,\n Their sinuous course pursuing side by side,\n Strayed all around, and everywhere appeared\n Meadows of softest verdure, purpled o\u2019er\n With violets; it was a scene to fill\n A god from heaven with wonder and delight.\u201d\n\nCalypso with much reluctance proceeded to obey the commands of Jupiter.\nShe supplied Ulysses with the means of constructing a raft, provisioned\nit well for him, and gave him a favoring gale. He sped on his course\nprosperously for many days, till at length, when in sight of land, a\nstorm arose that broke his mast, and threatened to rend the raft\nasunder. In this crisis he was seen by a compassionate sea-nymph, who in\nthe form of a cormorant alighted on the raft, and presented him a\ngirdle, directing him to bind it beneath his breast, and if he should be\ncompelled to trust himself to the waves, it would buoy him up and enable\nhim by swimming to reach the land.\n\n\n\nFenelon, in his romance of \u201cTelemachus,\u201d has given us the adventures of\nthe son of Ulysses in search of his father. Among other places at which\nhe arrived, following on his father\u2019s footsteps, was Calypso\u2019s isle,\nand, as in the former case, the goddess tried every art to keep him with\nher, and offered to share her immortality with him. But Minerva, who in\nthe shape of Mentor accompanied him and governed all his movements, made\nhim repel her allurements, and when no other means of escape could be\nfound, the two friends leaped from a cliff into the sea, and swam to a\nvessel which lay becalmed off shore. Byron alludes to this leap of\nTelemachus and Mentor in the following stanza:\n\n \u201cBut not in silence pass Calypso\u2019s isles,\n The sister tenants of the middle deep;\n There for the weary still a haven smiles,\n Though the fair goddess long has ceased to weep,\n And o\u2019er her cliffs a fruitless watch to keep\n For him who dared prefer a mortal bride.\n Here too his boy essayed the dreadful leap,\n Stern Mentor urged from high to yonder tide;\n While thus of both bereft the nymph-queen doubly sighed.\u201d\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XXX\n\n The PH\u00c6ACIANS\u2014FATE OF THE SUITORS\n\n THE PH\u00c6ACIANS\n\nULYSSES clung to the raft while any of its timbers kept together, and\nwhen it no longer yielded him support, binding the girdle around him, he\nswam. Minerva smoothed the billows before him and sent him a wind that\nrolled the waves towards the shore. The surf beat high on the rocks and\nseemed to forbid approach; but at length finding calm water at the mouth\nof a gentle stream, he landed, spent with toil, breathless and\nspeechless and almost dead. After some time, reviving, he kissed the\nsoil, rejoicing, yet at a loss what course to take. At a short distance\nhe perceived a wood, to which he turned his steps. There, finding a\ncovert sheltered by intermingling branches alike from the sun and the\nrain, he collected a pile of leaves and formed a bed, on which he\nstretched himself, and heaping the leaves over him, fell asleep.\n\nThe land where he was thrown was Scheria, the country of the Ph\u00e6acians.\nThese people dwelt originally near the Cyclopes; but being oppressed by\nthat savage race, they migrated to the isle of Scheria, under the\nconduct of Nausitho\u00fcs, their king. They were, the poet tells us, a\npeople akin to the gods, who appeared manifestly and feasted among them\nwhen they offered sacrifices, and did not conceal themselves from\nsolitary wayfarers when they met them. They had abundance of wealth and\nlived in the enjoyment of it undisturbed by the alarms of war, for as\nthey dwelt remote from gain-seeking man, no enemy ever approached their\nshores, and they did not even require to make use of bows and quivers.\nTheir chief employment was navigation. Their ships, which went with the\nvelocity of birds, were endued with intelligence; they knew every port\nand needed no pilot. Alcino\u00fcs, the son of Nausitho\u00fcs, was now their\nking, a wise and just sovereign, beloved by his people.\n\nNow it happened that the very night on which Ulysses was cast ashore on\nthe Ph\u00e6acian island, and while he lay sleeping on his bed of leaves,\nNausicaa, the daughter of the king, had a dream sent by Minerva,\nreminding her that her wedding-day was not far distant, and that it\nwould be but a prudent preparation for that event to have a general\nwashing of the clothes of the family. This was no slight affair, for the\nfountains were at some distance, and the garments must be carried\nthither. On awaking, the princess hastened to her parents to tell them\nwhat was on her mind; not alluding to her wedding-day, but finding other\nreasons equally good. Her father readily assented and ordered the grooms\nto furnish forth a wagon for the purpose. The clothes were put therein,\nand the queen mother placed in the wagon, likewise, an abundant supply\nof food and wine. The princess took her seat and plied the lash, her\nattendant virgins following her on foot. Arrived at the river-side, they\nturned out the mules to graze, and unlading the carriage, bore the\ngarments down to the water, and working with cheerfulness and alacrity\nsoon despatched their labor. Then having spread the garments on the\nshore to dry, and having themselves bathed, they sat down to enjoy their\nmeal; after which they rose and amused themselves with a game of ball,\nthe princess singing to them while they played. But when they had\nrefolded the apparel and were about to resume their way to the town,\nMinerva caused the ball thrown by the princess to fall into the water,\nwhereat they all screamed and Ulysses awaked at the sound.\n\nNow we must picture to ourselves Ulysses, a shipwrecked mariner, but a\nfew hours escaped from the waves, and utterly destitute of clothing,\nawaking and discovering that only a few bushes were interposed between\nhim and a group of young maidens whom, by their deportment and attire,\nhe discovered to be not mere peasant girls, but of a higher class. Sadly\nneeding help, how could he yet venture, naked as he was, to discover\nhimself and make his wants known? It certainly was a case worthy of the\ninterposition of his patron goddess Minerva, who never failed him at a\ncrisis. Breaking off a leafy branch from a tree, he held it before him\nand stepped out from the thicket. The virgins at sight of him fled in\nall directions, Nausicaa alone excepted, for _her_ Minerva aided and\nendowed with courage and discernment. Ulysses, standing respectfully\naloof, told his sad case, and besought the fair object (whether queen or\ngoddess he professed he knew not) for food and clothing. The princess\nreplied courteously, promising present relief and her father\u2019s\nhospitality when he should become acquainted with the facts. She called\nback her scattered maidens, chiding their alarm, and reminding them that\nthe Ph\u00e6acians had no enemies to fear. This man, she told them, was an\nunhappy wanderer, whom it was a duty to cherish, for the poor and\nstranger are from Jove. She bade them bring food and clothing, for some\nof her brother\u2019s garments were among the contents of the wagon. When\nthis was done, and Ulysses, retiring to a sheltered place, had washed\nhis body free from the sea-foam, clothed and refreshed himself with\nfood, Pallas dilated his form and diffused grace over his ample chest\nand manly brows.\n\nThe princess, seeing him, was filled with admiration, and scrupled not\nto say to her damsels that she wished the gods would sent her such a\nhusband. To Ulysses she recommended that he should repair to the city,\nfollowing herself and train so far as the way lay through the fields;\nbut when they should approach the city she desired that he would no\nlonger be seen in her company, for she feared the remarks which rude and\nvulgar people might make on seeing her return accompanied by such a\ngallant stranger. To avoid which she directed him to stop at a grove\nadjoining the city, in which were a farm and garden belonging to the\nking. After allowing time for the princess and her companions to reach\nthe city, he was then to pursue his way thither, and would be easily\nguided by any he might meet to the royal abode.\n\nUlysses obeyed the directions and in due time proceeded to the city, on\napproaching which he met a young woman bearing a pitcher forth for\nwater. It was Minerva, who had assumed that form. Ulysses accosted her\nand desired to be directed to the palace of Alcino\u00fcs the king. The\nmaiden replied respectfully, offering to be his guide; for the palace,\nshe informed him, stood near her father\u2019s dwelling. Under the guidance\nof the goddess, and by her power enveloped in a cloud which shielded him\nfrom observation, Ulysses passed among the busy crowd, and with wonder\nobserved their harbor, their ships, their forum (the resort of heroes),\nand their battlements, till they came to the palace, where the goddess,\nhaving first given him some information of the country, king, and people\nhe was about to meet, left him. Ulysses, before entering the courtyard\nof the palace, stood and surveyed the scene. Its splendor astonished\nhim. Brazen walls stretched from the entrance to the interior house, of\nwhich the doors were gold, the doorposts silver, the lintels silver\nornamented with gold. On either side were figures of mastiffs wrought in\ngold and silver, standing in rows as if to guard the approach. Along the\nwalls were seats spread through all their length with mantles of finest\ntexture, the work of Ph\u00e6acian maidens. On these seats the princes sat\nand feasted, while golden statues of graceful youths held in their hands\nlighted torches which shed radiance over the scene. Full fifty female\nmenials served in household offices, some employed to grind the corn,\nothers to wind off the purple wool or ply the loom. For the Ph\u00e6acian\nwomen as far exceeded all other women in household arts as the mariners\nof that country did the rest of mankind in the management of ships.\nWithout the court a spacious garden lay, four acres in extent. In it\ngrew many a lofty tree, pomegranate, pear, apple, fig, and olive.\nNeither winter\u2019s cold nor summer\u2019s drought arrested their growth, but\nthey flourished in constant succession, some budding while others were\nmaturing. The vineyard was equally prolific. In one quarter you might\nsee the vines, some in blossom, some loaded with ripe grapes, and in\nanother observe the vintagers treading the wine press. On the garden\u2019s\nborders flowers of all hues bloomed all the year round, arranged with\nneatest art. In the midst two fountains poured forth their waters, one\nflowing by artificial channels over all the garden, the other conducted\nthrough the courtyard of the palace, whence every citizen might draw his\nsupplies.\n\nUlysses stood gazing in admiration, unobserved himself, for the cloud\nwhich Minerva spread around him still shielded him. At length, having\nsufficiently observed the scene, he advanced with rapid step into the\nhall where the chiefs and senators were assembled, pouring libation to\nMercury, whose worship followed the evening meal. Just then Minerva\ndissolved the cloud and disclosed him to the assembled chiefs. Advancing\nto the place where the queen sat, he knelt at her feet and implored her\nfavor and assistance to enable him to return to his native country. Then\nwithdrawing, he seated himself in the manner of suppliants, at the\nhearth side.\n\nFor a time none spoke. At last an aged statesman, addressing the king,\nsaid, \u201cIt is not fit that a stranger who asks our hospitality should be\nkept waiting in suppliant guise, none welcoming him. Let him therefore\nbe led to a seat among us and supplied with food and wine.\u201d At these\nwords the king rising gave his hand to Ulysses and led him to a seat,\ndisplacing thence his own son to make room for the stranger. Food and\nwine were set before him and he ate and refreshed himself.\n\nThe king then dismissed his guests, notifying them that the next day he\nwould call them to council to consider what had best be done for the\nstranger.\n\nWhen the guests had departed and Ulysses was left alone with the king\nand queen, the queen asked him who he was and whence he came, and\n(recognizing the clothes which he wore as those which her maidens and\nherself had made) from whom he received those garments. He told them of\nhis residence in Calypso\u2019s isle and his departure thence; of the wreck\nof his raft, his escape by swimming, and of the relief afforded by the\nprincess. The parents heard approvingly, and the king promised to\nfurnish a ship in which his guest might return to his own land.\n\nThe next day the assembled chiefs confirmed the promise of the king. A\nbark was prepared and a crew of stout rowers selected, and all betook\nthemselves to the palace, where a bounteous repast was provided. After\nthe feast the king proposed that the young men should show their guest\ntheir proficiency in manly sports, and all went forth to the arena for\ngames of running, wrestling, and other exercises. After all had done\ntheir best, Ulysses being challenged to show what he could do, at first\ndeclined, but being taunted by one of the youths, seized a quoit of\nweight far heavier than any of the Ph\u00e6acians had thrown, and sent it\nfarther than the utmost throw of theirs. All were astonished, and viewed\ntheir guest with greatly increased respect.\n\nAfter the games they returned to the hall, and the herald led in\nDemodocus, the blind bard,\u2014\n\n \u201c. . . Dear to the Muse,\n Who yet appointed him both good and ill,\n Took from him sight, but gave him strains divine.\u201d\n\nHe took for his theme the \u201cWooden Horse,\u201d by means of which the Greeks\nfound entrance into Troy. Apollo inspired him, and he sang so feelingly\nthe terrors and the exploits of that eventful time that all were\ndelighted, but Ulysses was moved to tears. Observing which, Alcino\u00fcs,\nwhen the song was done, demanded of him why at the mention of Troy his\nsorrows awaked. Had he lost there a father, or brother, or any dear\nfriend? Ulysses replied by announcing himself by his true name, and at\ntheir request, recounted the adventures which had befallen him since his\ndeparture from Troy. This narrative raised the sympathy and admiration\nof the Ph\u00e6acians for their guest to the highest pitch. The king proposed\nthat all the chiefs should present him with a gift, himself setting the\nexample. They obeyed, and vied with one another in loading the\nillustrious stranger with costly gifts.\n\nThe next day Ulysses set sail in the Ph\u00e6acian vessel, and in a short\ntime arrived safe at Ithaca, his own island. When the vessel touched the\nstrand he was asleep. The mariners, without waking him, carried him on\nshore, and landed with him the chest containing his presents, and then\nsailed away.\n\nNeptune was so displeased at the conduct of the Ph\u00e6acians in thus\nrescuing Ulysses from his hands that on the return of the vessel to port\nhe transformed it into a rock, right opposite the mouth of the harbor.\n\n\n\nHomer\u2019s description of the ships of the Ph\u00e6acians has been thought to\nlook like an anticipation of the wonders of modern steam navigation.\nAlcino\u00fcs says to Ulysses:\n\n \u201cSay from what city, from what regions tossed,\n And what inhabitants those regions boast?\n So shalt thou quickly reach the realm assigned,\n In wondrous ships, self-moved, instinct with mind;\n No helm secures their course, no pilot guides;\n Like man intelligent they plough the tides,\n Conscious of every coast and every bay\n That lies beneath the sun\u2019s all-seeing ray.\u201d\n \u2014_Odyssey_, Book VIII.\n\n\n\nLord Carlisle, in his \u201cDiary in the Turkish and Greek Waters,\u201d thus\nspeaks of Corfu, which he considers to be the ancient Ph\u00e6acian island:\n\n\u201cThe sites explain the \u2018Odyssey.\u2019 The temple of the sea-god could not\nhave been more fitly placed, upon a grassy platform of the most elastic\nturf, on the brow of a crag commanding harbor, and channel, and ocean.\nJust at the entrance of the inner harbor there is a picturesque rock\nwith a small convent perched upon it, which by one legend is the\ntransformed pinnace of Ulysses.\n\n\u201cAlmost the only river in the island is just at the proper distance from\nthe probable site of the city and palace of the king, to justify the\nprincess Nausicaa having had resort to her chariot and to luncheon when\nshe went with the maidens of the court to wash their garments.\u201d\n\n FATE OF THE SUITORS\n\nUlysses had now been away from Ithaca for twenty years, and when he\nawoke he did not recognize his native land. Minerva appeared to him in\nthe form of a young shepherd, informed him where he was, and told him\nthe state of things at his palace. More than a hundred nobles of Ithaca\nand of the neighboring islands had been for years suing for the hand of\nPenelope, his wife, imagining him dead, and lording it over his palace\nand people, as if they were owners of both. That he might be able to\ntake vengeance upon them, it was important that he should not be\nrecognized. Minerva accordingly metamorphosed him into an unsightly\nbeggar, and as such he was kindly received by Eum\u00e6us, the swine-herd, a\nfaithful servant of his house.\n\nTelemachus, his son, was absent in quest of his father. He had gone to\nthe courts of the other kings, who had returned from the Trojan\nexpedition. While on the search, he received counsel from Minerva to\nreturn home. He arrived and sought Eum\u00e6us to learn something of the\nstate of affairs at the palace before presenting himself among the\nsuitors. Finding a stranger with Eum\u00e6us, he treated him courteously,\nthough in the garb of a beggar, and promised him assistance. Eum\u00e6us was\nsent to the palace to inform Penelope privately of her son\u2019s arrival,\nfor caution was necessary with regard to the suitors, who, as Telemachus\nhad learned, were plotting to intercept and kill him. When Eum\u00e6us was\ngone, Minerva presented herself to Ulysses, and directed him to make\nhimself known to his son. At the same time she touched him, removed at\nonce from him the appearance of age and penury, and gave him the aspect\nof vigorous manhood that belonged to him. Telemachus viewed him with\nastonishment, and at first thought he must be more than mortal. But\nUlysses announced himself as his father, and accounted for the change of\nappearance by explaining that it was Minerva\u2019s doing.\n\n \u201c. . . Then threw Telemachus\n His arms around his father\u2019s neck and wept.\n Desire intense of lamentation seized\n On both; soft murmurs uttering, each indulged\n His grief.\u201d\n\nThe father and son took counsel together how they should get the better\nof the suitors and punish them for their outrages. It was arranged that\nTelemachus should proceed to the palace and mingle with the suitors as\nformerly; that Ulysses should also go as a beggar, a character which in\nthe rude old times had different privileges from what we concede to it\nnow. As traveller and storyteller, the beggar was admitted in the halls\nof chieftains, and often treated like a guest; though sometimes, also,\nno doubt, with contumely. Ulysses charged his son not to betray, by any\ndisplay of unusual interest in him, that he knew him to be other than he\nseemed, and even if he saw him insulted, or beaten, not to interpose\notherwise than he might do for any stranger. At the palace they found\nthe usual scene of feasting and riot going on. The suitors pretended to\nreceive Telemachus with joy at his return, though secretly mortified at\nthe failure of their plots to take his life. The old beggar was\npermitted to enter, and provided with a portion from the table. A\ntouching incident occurred as Ulysses entered the courtyard of the\npalace. An old dog lay in the yard almost dead with age, and seeing a\nstranger enter, raised his head, with ears erect. It was Argus, Ulysses\u2019\nown dog, that he had in other days often led to the chase.\n\n \u201c. . . Soon as he perceived\n Long-lost Ulysses nigh, down fell his ears\n Clapped close, and with his tail glad sign he gave\n Of gratulation, impotent to rise,\n And to approach his master as of old.\n Ulysses, noting him, wiped off a tear\n Unmarked.\n . . . Then his destiny released\n Old Argus, soon as he had lived to see\n Ulysses in the twentieth year restored.\u201d\n\nAs Ulysses sat eating his portion in the hall, the suitors began to\nexhibit their insolence to him. When he mildly remonstrated, one of them\nraised a stool and with it gave him a blow. Telemachus had hard work to\nrestrain his indignation at seeing his father so treated in his own\nhall, but remembering his father\u2019s injunctions, said no more than what\nbecame him as master of the house, though young, and protector of his\nguests.\n\nPenelope had protracted her decision in favor of either of her suitors\nso long that there seemed to be no further pretence for delay. The\ncontinued absence of her husband seemed to prove that his return was no\nlonger to be expected. Meanwhile her son had grown up, and was able to\nmanage his own affairs. She therefore consented to submit the question\nof her choice to a trial of skill among the suitors. The test selected\nwas shooting with the bow. Twelve rings were arranged in a line, and he\nwhose arrow was sent through the whole twelve was to have the queen for\nhis prize. A bow that one of his brother heroes had given to Ulysses in\nformer times was brought from the armory, and with its quiver full of\narrows was laid in the hall. Telemachus had taken care that all other\nweapons should be removed, under pretence that in the heat of\ncompetition there was danger, in some rash moment, of putting them to an\nimproper use.\n\nAll things being prepared for the trial, the first thing to be done was\nto bend the bow in order to attach the string. Telemachus endeavored to\ndo it, but found all his efforts fruitless; and modestly confessing that\nhe had attempted a task beyond his strength, he yielded the bow to\nanother. _He_ tried it with no better success, and, amidst the laughter\nand jeers of his companions, gave it up. Another tried it and another;\nthey rubbed the bow with tallow, but all to no purpose; it would not\nbend. Then spoke Ulysses, humbly suggesting that he should be permitted\nto try; for, said he, \u201cbeggar as I am, I was once a soldier, and there\nis still some strength in these old limbs of mine.\u201d The suitors hooted\nwith derision, and commanded to turn him out of the hall for his\ninsolence. But Telemachus spoke up for him, and, merely to gratify the\nold man, bade him try. Ulysses took the bow, and handled it with the\nhand of a master. With ease he adjusted the cord to its notch, then\nfitting an arrow to the bow he drew the string and sped the arrow\nunerring through the rings.\n\nWithout allowing them time to express their astonishment, he said, \u201cNow\nfor another mark!\u201d and aimed direct at the most insolent one of the\nsuitors. The arrow pierced through his throat and he fell dead.\nTelemachus, Eum\u00e6us, and another faithful follower, well armed, now\nsprang to the side of Ulysses. The suitors, in amazement, looked round\nfor arms, but found none, neither was there any way of escape, for\nEum\u00e6us had secured the door. Ulysses left them not long in uncertainty;\nhe announced himself as the long-lost chief, whose house they had\ninvaded, whose substance they had squandered, whose wife and son they\nhad persecuted for ten long years; and told them he meant to have ample\nvengeance. All were slain, and Ulysses was left master of his palace and\npossessor of his kingdom and his wife.\n\n\n\nTennyson\u2019s poem of \u201cUlysses\u201d represents the old hero, after his dangers\npast and nothing left but to stay at home and be happy, growing tired of\ninaction and resolving to set forth again in quest of new adventures:\n\n \u201c. . . Come, my friends,\n \u2019Tis not too late to seek a newer world.\n Push off, and sitting well in order smite\n The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds\n To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths\n Of all the western stars, until I die.\n It may be that the gulfs will wash us down;\n It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,\n And see the great Achilles whom we knew;\u201d etc.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XXXI\n\n ADVENTURES OF \u00c6NEAS\u2014THE HARPIES\u2014DIDO\u2014PALINURUS\n\n ADVENTURES OF \u00c6NEAS\n\nWE have followed one of the Grecian heroes, Ulysses, in his wanderings\non his return home from Troy, and now we propose to share the fortunes\nof the remnant of the _conquered_ people, under their chief \u00c6neas, in\ntheir search for a new home, after the ruin of their native city. On\nthat fatal night when the wooden horse disgorged its contents of armed\nmen, and the capture and conflagration of the city were the result,\n\u00c6neas made his escape from the scene of destruction, with his father,\nand his wife, and young son. The father, Anchises, was too old to walk\nwith the speed required, and \u00c6neas took him upon his shoulders. Thus\nburdened, leading his son and followed by his wife, he made the best of\nhis way out of the burning city; but, in the confusion, his wife was\nswept away and lost.\n\nOn arriving at the place of rendezvous, numerous fugitives, of both\nsexes, were found, who put themselves under the guidance of \u00c6neas. Some\nmonths were spent in preparation, and at length they embarked. They\nfirst landed on the neighboring shores of Thrace, and were preparing to\nbuild a city, but \u00c6neas was deterred by a prodigy. Preparing to offer\nsacrifice, he tore some twigs from one of the bushes. To his dismay the\nwounded part dropped blood. When he repeated the act a voice from the\nground cried out to him, \u201cSpare me, \u00c6neas; I am your kinsman, Polydore,\nhere murdered with many arrows, from which a bush has grown, nourished\nwith my blood.\u201d These words recalled to the recollection of \u00c6neas that\nPolydore was a young prince of Troy, whom his father had sent with ample\ntreasures to the neighboring land of Thrace, to be there brought up, at\na distance from the horrors of war. The king to whom he was sent had\nmurdered him and seized his treasures. \u00c6neas and his companions,\nconsidering the land accursed by the stain of such a crime, hastened\naway.\n\nThey next landed on the island of Delos, which was once a floating\nisland, till Jupiter fastened it by adamantine chains to the bottom of\nthe sea. Apollo and Diana were born there, and the island was sacred to\nApollo. Here \u00c6neas consulted the oracle of Apollo, and received an\nanswer, ambiguous as usual,\u2014\u201cSeek your ancient mother; there the race\nof \u00c6neas shall dwell, and reduce all other nations to their sway.\u201d The\nTrojans heard with joy and immediately began to ask one another, \u201cWhere\nis the spot intended by the oracle?\u201d Anchises remembered that there was\na tradition that their forefathers came from Crete and thither they\nresolved to steer. They arrived at Crete and began to build their city,\nbut sickness broke out among them, and the fields that they had planted\nfailed to yield a crop. In this gloomy aspect of affairs \u00c6neas was\nwarned in a dream to leave the country and seek a western land, called\nHesperia, whence Dardanus, the true founder of the Trojan race, had\noriginally migrated. To Hesperia, now called Italy, therefore, they\ndirected their future course, and not till after many adventures and the\nlapse of time sufficient to carry a modern navigator several times round\nthe world, did they arrive there.\n\nTheir first landing was at the island of the Harpies. These were\ndisgusting birds with the heads of maidens, with long claws and faces\npale with hunger. They were sent by the gods to torment a certain\nPhineus, whom Jupiter had deprived of his sight, in punishment of his\ncruelty; and whenever a meal was placed before him the Harpies darted\ndown from the air and carried it off. They were driven away from Phineus\nby the heroes of the Argonautic expedition, and took refuge in the\nisland where \u00c6neas now found them.\n\nWhen they entered the port the Trojans saw herds of cattle roaming over\nthe plain. They slew as many as they wished and prepared for a feast.\nBut no sooner had they seated themselves at the table than a horrible\nclamor was heard in the air, and a flock of these odious harpies came\nrushing down upon them, seizing in their talons the meat from the dishes\nand flying away with it. \u00c6neas and his companions drew their swords and\ndealt vigorous blows among the monsters, but to no purpose, for they\nwere so nimble it was almost impossible to hit them, and their feathers\nwere like armor impenetrable to steel. One of them, perched on a\nneighboring cliff, screamed out, \u201cIs it thus, Trojans, you treat us\ninnocent birds, first slaughter our cattle and then make war on\nourselves?\u201d She then predicted dire sufferings to them in their future\ncourse, and having vented her wrath flew away. The Trojans made haste to\nleave the country, and next found themselves coasting along the shore of\nEpirus. Here they landed, and to their astonishment learned that certain\nTrojan exiles, who had been carried there as prisoners, had become\nrulers of the country. Andromache, the widow of Hector, became the wife\nof one of the victorious Grecian chiefs, to whom she bore a son. Her\nhusband dying, she was left regent of the country, as guardian of her\nson, and had married a fellow-captive, Helenus, of the royal race of\nTroy. Helenus and Andromache treated the exiles with the utmost\nhospitality, and dismissed them loaded with gifts.\n\nFrom hence \u00c6neas coasted along the shore of Sicily and passed the\ncountry of the Cyclopes. Here they were hailed from the shore by a\nmiserable object, whom by his garments, tattered as they were, they\nperceived to be a Greek. He told them he was one of Ulysses\u2019s\ncompanions, left behind by that chief in his hurried departure. He\nrelated the story of Ulysses\u2019s adventure with Polyphemus, and besought\nthem to take him off with them as he had no means of sustaining his\nexistence where he was but wild berries and roots, and lived in constant\nfear of the Cyclopes. While he spoke Polyphemus made his appearance; a\nterrible monster, shapeless, vast, whose only eye had been put out.[26]\nHe walked with cautious steps, feeling his way with a staff, down to the\nsea-side, to wash his eye-socket in the waves. When he reached the\nwater, he waded out towards them, and his immense height enabled him to\nadvance far into the sea, so that the Trojans, in terror, took to their\noars to get out of his way. Hearing the oars, Polyphemus shouted after\nthem, so that the shores resounded, and at the noise the other Cyclopes\ncame forth from their caves and woods and lined the shore, like a row of\nlofty pine trees. The Trojans plied their oars and soon left them out of\nsight.\n\n\u00c6neas had been cautioned by Helenus to avoid the strait guarded by the\nmonsters Scylla and Charybdis. There Ulysses, the reader will remember,\nhad lost six of his men, seized by Scylla while the navigators were\nwholly intent upon avoiding Charybdis. \u00c6neas, following the advice of\nHelenus, shunned the dangerous pass and coasted along the island of\nSicily.\n\nJuno, seeing the Trojans speeding their way prosperously towards their\ndestined shore, felt her old grudge against them revive, for she could\nnot forget the slight that Paris had put upon her, in awarding the prize\nof beauty to another. In heavenly minds can such resentments dwell![27]\nAccordingly she hastened to \u00c6olus, the ruler of the winds,\u2014the same who\nsupplied Ulysses with favoring gales, giving him the contrary ones tied\nup in a bag. \u00c6olus obeyed the goddess and sent forth his sons, Boreas,\nTyphon, and the other winds, to toss the ocean. A terrible storm ensued\nand the Trojan ships were driven out of their course towards the coast\nof Africa. They were in imminent danger of being wrecked, and were\nseparated, so that \u00c6neas thought that all were lost except his own.\n\nAt this crisis, Neptune, hearing the storm raging, and knowing that he\nhad given no orders for one, raised his head above the waves, and saw\nthe fleet of \u00c6neas driving before the gale. Knowing the hostility of\nJuno, he was at no loss to account for it, but his anger was not the\nless at this interference in his province. He called the winds and\ndismissed them with a severe reprimand. He then soothed the waves, and\nbrushed away the clouds from before the face of the sun. Some of the\nships which had got on the rocks he pried off with his own trident,\nwhile Triton and a sea-nymph, putting their shoulders under others, set\nthem afloat again. The Trojans, when the sea became calm, sought the\nnearest shore, which was the coast of Carthage, where \u00c6neas was so happy\nas to find that one by one the ships all arrived safe, though badly\nshaken.\n\n\n\nWaller, in his \u201cPanegyric to the Lord Protector\u201d (Cromwell), alludes to\nthis stilling of the storm by Neptune:\n\n \u201cAbove the waves, as Neptune showed his face,\n To chide the winds and save the Trojan race,\n So has your Highness, raised above the rest,\n Storms of ambition tossing us repressed.\u201d\n\n DIDO\n\nCarthage, where the exiles had now arrived, was a spot on the coast of\nAfrica opposite Sicily, where at that time a Tyrian colony under Dido,\ntheir queen, were laying the foundations of a state destined in later\nages to be the rival of Rome itself. Dido was the daughter of Belus,\nking of Tyre, and sister of Pygmalion, who succeeded his father on the\nthrone. Her husband was Sich\u00e6us, a man of immense wealth, but Pygmalion,\nwho coveted his treasures, caused him to be put to death. Dido, with a\nnumerous body of friends and followers, both men and women, succeeded in\neffecting their escape from Tyre, in several vessels, carrying with them\nthe treasures of Sich\u00e6us. On arriving at the spot which they selected as\nthe seat of their future home, they asked of the natives only so much\nland as they could enclose with a bull\u2019s hide. When this was readily\ngranted, she caused the hide to be cut into strips, and with them\nenclosed a spot on which she built a citadel, and called it Byrsa (a\nhide). Around this fort the city of Carthage rose, and soon became a\npowerful and flourishing place.\n\nSuch was the state of affairs when \u00c6neas with his Trojans arrived there.\nDido received the illustrious exiles with friendliness and hospitality.\n\u201cNot unacquainted with distress,\u201d she said, \u201cI have learned to succor\nthe unfortunate.\u201d[28] The queen\u2019s hospitality displayed itself in\nfestivities at which games of strength and skill were exhibited. The\nstrangers contended for the palm with her own subjects, on equal terms,\nthe queen declaring that whether the victor were \u201cTrojan or Tyrian\nshould make no difference to her.\u201d[29] At the feast which followed the\ngames, \u00c6neas gave at her request a recital of the closing events of the\nTrojan history and his own adventures after the fall of the city. Dido\nwas charmed with his discourse and filled with admiration of his\nexploits. She conceived an ardent passion for him, and he for his part\nseemed well content to accept the fortunate chance which appeared to\noffer him at once a happy termination of his wanderings, a home, a\nkingdom, and a bride. Months rolled away in the enjoyment of pleasant\nintercourse, and it seemed as if Italy and the empire destined to be\nfounded on its shores were alike forgotten. Seeing which, Jupiter\ndespatched Mercury with a message to \u00c6neas recalling him to a sense of\nhis high destiny, and commanding him to resume his voyage.\n\n\u00c6neas parted from Dido, though she tried every allurement and persuasion\nto detain him. The blow to her affection and her pride was too much for\nher to endure, and when she found that he was gone, she mounted a\nfuneral pile which she had caused to be erected, and having stabbed\nherself was consumed with the pile. The flames rising over the city were\nseen by the departing Trojans, and, though the cause was unknown, gave\nto \u00c6neas some intimation of the fatal event.\n\n\n\nThe following epigram we find in \u201cElegant Extracts\u201d:\n\n FROM THE LATIN\n\n \u201cUnhappy, Dido, was thy fate\n In first and second married state!\n One husband caused thy flight by dying,\n Thy death the other caused by flying.\u201d\n\n PALINURUS\n\nAfter touching at the island of Sicily, where Acestes, a prince of\nTrojan lineage, bore sway, who gave them a hospitable reception, the\nTrojans re\u00ebmbarked, and held on their course for Italy. Venus now\ninterceded with Neptune to allow her son at last to attain the\nwished-for goal and find an end of his perils on the deep. Neptune\nconsented, stipulating only for one life as a ransom for the rest. The\nvictim was Palinurus, the pilot. As he sat watching the stars, with his\nhand on the helm, Somnus sent by Neptune approached in the guise of\nPhorbas and said: \u201cPalinurus, the breeze is fair, the water smooth, and\nthe ship sails steadily on her course. Lie down awhile and take needful\nrest. I will stand at the helm in your place.\u201d Palinurus replied, \u201cTell\nme not of smooth seas or favoring winds,\u2014me who have seen so much of\ntheir treachery. Shall I trust \u00c6neas to the chances of the weather and\nthe winds?\u201d And he continued to grasp the helm and to keep his eyes\nfixed on the stars. But Somnus waved over him a branch moistened with\nLeth\u00e6an dew, and his eyes closed in spite of all his efforts. Then\nSomnus pushed him overboard and he fell; but keeping his hold upon the\nhelm, it came away with him. Neptune was mindful of his promise and kept\nthe ship on her track without helm or pilot, till \u00c6neas discovered his\nloss, and, sorrowing deeply for his faithful steersman, took charge of\nthe ship himself.\n\n\n\nThere is a beautiful allusion to the story of Palinurus in Scott\u2019s\n\u201cMarmion,\u201d Introduction to Canto I., where the poet, speaking of the\nrecent death of William Pitt, says:\n\n \u201cO, think how, to his latest day,\n When death just hovering claimed his prey,\n With Palinure\u2019s unaltered mood,\n Firm at his dangerous post he stood;\n Each call for needful rest repelled,\n With dying hand the rudder held,\n Till in his fall, with fateful sway,\n The steerage of the realm gave way.\u201d\n\nThe ships at last reached the shores of Italy, and joyfully did the\nadventurers leap to land. While his people were employed in making their\nencampment \u00c6neas sought the abode of the Sibyl. It was a cave connected\nwith a temple and grove, sacred to Apollo and Diana. While \u00c6neas\ncontemplated the scene, the Sibyl accosted him. She seemed to know his\nerrand, and under the influence of the deity of the place, burst forth\nin a prophetic strain, giving dark intimations of labors and perils\nthrough which he was destined to make his way to final success. She\nclosed with the encouraging words which have become proverbial: \u201cYield\nnot to disasters, but press onward the more bravely.\u201d[30] \u00c6neas replied\nthat he had prepared himself for whatever might await him. He had but\none request to make. Having been directed in a dream to seek the abode\nof the dead in order to confer with his father, Anchises, to receive\nfrom him a revelation of his future fortunes and those of his race, he\nasked her assistance to enable him to accomplish the task. The Sibyl\nreplied, \u201cThe descent to Avernus is easy: the gate of Pluto stands open\nnight and day; but to retrace one\u2019s steps and return to the upper air,\nthat is the toil, that the difficulty.\u201d[31] She instructed him to seek\nin the forest a tree on which grew a golden branch. This branch was to\nbe plucked off and borne as a gift to Proserpine, and if fate was\npropitious it would yield to the hand and quit its parent trunk, but\notherwise no force could rend it away. If torn away, another would\nsucceed.[32]\n\n\u00c6neas followed the directions of the Sibyl. His mother, Venus, sent two\nof her doves to fly before him and show him the way, and by their\nassistance he found the tree, plucked the branch, and hastened back with\nit to the Sibyl.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XXXII\n\n THE INFERNAL REGIONS\u2014THE SIBYL\n\n THE INFERNAL REGIONS\n\nAS at the commencement of our series we have given the pagan account of\nthe creation of the world, so as we approach its conclusion we present a\nview of the regions of the dead, depicted by one of their most\nenlightened poets, who drew his doctrines from their most esteemed\nphilosophers. The region where Virgil locates the entrance to this abode\nis perhaps the most strikingly adapted to excite ideas of the terrific\nand preternatural of any on the face of the earth. It is the volcanic\nregion near Vesuvius, where the whole country is cleft with chasms, from\nwhich sulphurous flames arise, while the ground is shaken with pent-up\nvapors, and mysterious sounds issue from the bowels of the earth. The\nlake Avernus is supposed to fill the crater of an extinct volcano. It is\ncircular, half a mile wide, and very deep, surrounded by high banks,\nwhich in Virgil\u2019s time were covered with a gloomy forest. Mephitic\nvapors rise from its waters, so that no life is found on its banks, and\nno birds fly over it. Here, according to the poet, was the cave which\nafforded access to the infernal regions, and here \u00c6neas offered\nsacrifices to the infernal deities, Proserpine, Hecate, and the Furies.\nThen a roaring was heard in the earth, the woods on the hill-tops were\nshaken, and the howling of dogs announced the approach of the deities.\n\u201cNow,\u201d said the Sibyl, \u201csummon up your courage, for you will need it.\u201d\nShe descended into the cave, and \u00c6neas followed. Before the threshold of\nhell they passed through a group of beings who are enumerated as Griefs\nand avenging Cares, pale Diseases and melancholy Age, Fear and Hunger\nthat tempt to crime, Toil, Poverty, and Death,\u2014forms horrible to view.\nThe Furies spread their couches there, and Discord, whose hair was of\nvipers tied up with a bloody fillet. Here also were the monsters,\nBriareus, with his hundred arms, Hydras hissing, and Chim\u00e6ras breathing\nfire. \u00c6neas shuddered at the sight, drew his sword and would have\nstruck, but the Sibyl restrained him. They then came to the black river\nCocytus, where they found the ferryman, Charon, old and squalid, but\nstrong and vigorous, who was receiving passengers of all kinds into his\nboat, magnanimous heroes, boys and unmarried girls, as numerous as the\nleaves that fall at autumn, or the flocks that fly southward at the\napproach of winter. They stood pressing for a passage and longing to\ntouch the opposite shore. But the stern ferryman took in only such as he\nchose, driving the rest back. \u00c6neas, wondering at the sight, asked the\nSibyl, \u201cWhy this discrimination?\u201d She answered, \u201cThose who are taken on\nboard the bark are the souls of those who have received due burial\nrites; the host of others who have remained unburied are not permitted\nto pass the flood, but wander a hundred years, and flit to and fro about\nthe shore, till at last they are taken over.\u201d \u00c6neas grieved at\nrecollecting some of his own companions who had perished in the storm.\nAt that moment he beheld Palinurus, his pilot, who fell overboard and\nwas drowned. He addressed him and asked him the cause of his misfortune.\nPalinurus replied that the rudder was carried away, and he, clinging to\nit, was swept away with it. He besought \u00c6neas most urgently to extend to\nhim his hand and take him in company to the opposite shore. But the\nSibyl rebuked him for the wish thus to transgress the laws of Pluto; but\nconsoled him by informing him that the people of the shore where his\nbody had been wafted by the waves should be stirred up by prodigies to\ngive it due burial, and that the promontory should bear the name of Cape\nPalinurus, which it does to this day. Leaving Palinurus consoled by\nthese words, they approached the boat. Charon, fixing his eyes sternly\nupon the advancing warrior, demanded by what right he, living and armed,\napproached that shore. To which the Sibyl replied that they would commit\nno violence, that \u00c6neas\u2019s only object was to see his father, and finally\nexhibited the golden branch, at sight of which Charon\u2019s wrath relaxed,\nand he made haste to turn his bark to the shore, and receive them on\nboard. The boat, adapted only to the light freight of bodiless spirits,\ngroaned under the weight of the hero. They were soon conveyed to the\nopposite shore. There they were encountered by the three-headed dog,\nCerberus, with his necks bristling with snakes. He barked with all his\nthree throats till the Sibyl threw him a medicated cake which he eagerly\ndevoured, and then stretched himself out in his den and fell asleep.\n\u00c6neas and the Sibyl sprang to land. The first sound that struck their\nears was the wailing of young children, who had died on the threshold of\nlife, and near to these were they who had perished under false charges.\nMinos presides over them as judge, and examines the deeds of each. The\nnext class was of those who had died by their own hand, hating life and\nseeking refuge in death. O how willingly would they now endure poverty,\nlabor, and any other infliction, if they might but return to life! Next\nwere situated the regions of sadness, divided off into retired paths,\nleading through groves of myrtle. Here roamed those who had fallen\nvictims to unrequited love, not freed from pain even by death itself.\nAmong these, \u00c6neas thought he descried the form of Dido, with a wound\nstill recent. In the dim light he was for a moment uncertain, but\napproaching, perceived it was indeed herself. Tears fell from his eyes,\nand he addressed her in the accents of love. \u201cUnhappy Dido! was then the\nrumor true that you had perished? and was I, alas! the cause? I call the\ngods to witness that my departure from you was reluctant, and in\nobedience to the commands of Jove; nor could I believe that my absence\nwould cost you so dear. Stop, I beseech you, and refuse me not a last\nfarewell.\u201d She stood for a moment with averted countenance, and eyes\nfixed on the ground, and then silently passed on, as insensible to his\npleadings as a rock. \u00c6neas followed for some distance; then, with a\nheavy heart, rejoined his companion and resumed his route.\n\nThey next entered the fields where roam the heroes who have fallen in\nbattle. Here they saw many shades of Grecian and Trojan warriors. The\nTrojans thronged around him, and could not be satisfied with the sight.\nThey asked the cause of his coming, and plied him with innumerable\nquestions. But the Greeks, at the sight of his armor glittering through\nthe murky atmosphere, recognized the hero, and filled with terror turned\ntheir backs and fled, as they used to do on the plains of Troy.\n\n\u00c6neas would have lingered long with his Trojan friends, but the Sibyl\nhurried him away. They next came to a place where the road divided, the\none leading to Elysium, the other to the regions of the condemned. \u00c6neas\nbeheld on one side the walls of a mighty city, around which Phlegethon\nrolled its fiery waters. Before him was the gate of adamant that neither\ngods nor men can break through. An iron tower stood by the gate, on\nwhich Tisiphone, the avenging Fury, kept guard. From the city were heard\ngroans, and the sound of the scourge, the creaking of iron, and the\nclanking of chains. \u00c6neas, horror-struck, inquired of his guide what\ncrimes were those whose punishments produced the sounds he heard? The\nSibyl answered, \u201cHere is the judgment hall of Rhadamanthus, who brings\nto light crimes done in life, which the perpetrator vainly thought\nimpenetrably hid. Tisiphone applies her whip of scorpions, and delivers\nthe offender over to her sister Furies.\u201d At this moment with horrid\nclang the brazen gates unfolded, and \u00c6neas saw within a Hydra with fifty\nheads guarding the entrance. The Sibyl told him that the gulf of\nTartarus descended deep, so that its recesses were as far beneath their\nfeet as heaven was high above their heads. In the bottom of this pit,\nthe Titan race, who warred against the gods, lie prostrate; Salmoneus,\nalso, who presumed to vie with Jupiter, and built a bridge of brass over\nwhich he drove his chariot that the sound might resemble thunder,\nlaunching flaming brands at his people in imitation of lightning, till\nJupiter struck him with a real thunderbolt, and taught him the\ndifference between mortal weapons and divine. Here, also, is Tityus, the\ngiant, whose form is so immense that as he lies he stretches over nine\nacres, while a vulture preys upon his liver, which as fast as it is\ndevoured grows again, so that his punishment will have no end.\n\n\u00c6neas saw groups seated at tables loaded with dainties, while near by\nstood a Fury who snatched away the viands from their lips as fast as\nthey prepared to taste them. Others beheld suspended over their heads\nhuge rocks, threatening to fall, keeping them in a state of constant\nalarm. These were they who had hated their brothers, or struck their\nparents, or defrauded the friends who trusted them, or who, having grown\nrich, kept their money to themselves, and gave no share to others; the\nlast being the most numerous class. Here also were those who had\nviolated the marriage vow, or fought in a bad cause, or failed in\nfidelity to their employers. Here was one who had sold his country for\ngold, another who perverted the laws, making them say one thing to-day\nand another to-morrow.\n\nIxion was there, fastened to the circumference of a wheel ceaselessly\nrevolving; and Sisyphus, whose task was to roll a huge stone up to a\nhill-top, but when the steep was well-nigh gained, the rock, repulsed by\nsome sudden force, rushed again headlong down to the plain. Again he\ntoiled at it, while the sweat bathed all his weary limbs, but all to no\neffect. There was Tantalus, who stood in a pool, his chin level with the\nwater, yet he was parched with thirst, and found nothing to assuage it;\nfor when he bowed his hoary head, eager to quaff, the water fled away,\nleaving the ground at his feet all dry. Tall trees laden with fruit\nstooped their heads to him, pears, pomegranates, apples, and luscious\nfigs; but when with a sudden grasp he tried to seize them winds whirled\nthem high above his reach.\n\nThe Sibyl now warned \u00c6neas that it was time to turn from these\nmelancholy regions and seek the city of the blessed. They passed through\na middle tract of darkness, and came upon the Elysian fields, the groves\nwhere the happy reside. They breathed a freer air, and saw all objects\nclothed in a purple light. The region has a sun and stars of its own.\nThe inhabitants were enjoying themselves in various ways, some in sports\non the grassy turf, in games of strength or skill, others dancing or\nsinging. Orpheus struck the chords of his lyre, and called forth\nravishing sounds. Here \u00c6neas saw the founders of the Trojan state,\nmagnanimous heroes who lived in happier times. He gazed with admiration\non the war chariots and glittering arms now reposing in disuse. Spears\nstood fixed in the ground, and the horses, unharnessed, roamed over the\nplain. The same pride in splendid armor and generous steeds which the\nold heroes felt in life, accompanied them here. He saw another group\nfeasting and listening to the strains of music. They were in a laurel\ngrove, whence the great river Po has its origin, and flows out among\nmen. Here dwelt those who fell by wounds received in their country\u2019s\ncause, holy priests also, and poets who have uttered thoughts worthy of\nApollo, and others who have contributed to cheer and adorn life by their\ndiscoveries in the useful arts, and have made their memory blessed by\nrendering service to mankind. They wore snow-white fillets about their\nbrows. The Sibyl addressed a group of these, and inquired where Anchises\nwas to be found. They were directed where to seek him, and soon found\nhim in a verdant valley, where he was contemplating the ranks of his\nposterity, their destinies and worthy deeds to be achieved in coming\ntimes. When he recognized \u00c6neas approaching, he stretched out both hands\nto him, while tears flowed freely. \u201cHave you come at last,\u201d said he,\n\u201clong expected, and do I behold you after such perils past? O my son,\nhow have I trembled for you as I have watched your career!\u201d To which\n\u00c6neas replied, \u201cO father! your image was always before me to guide and\nguard me.\u201d Then he endeavored to enfold his father in his embrace, but\nhis arms enclosed only an unsubstantial image.\n\n\u00c6neas perceived before him a spacious valley, with trees gently waving\nto the wind, a tranquil landscape, through which the river Lethe flowed.\nAlong the banks of the stream wandered a countless multitude, numerous\nas insects in the summer air. \u00c6neas, with surprise, inquired who were\nthese. Anchises answered, \u201cThey are souls to which bodies are to be\ngiven in due time. Meanwhile they dwell on Lethe\u2019s bank, and drink\noblivion of their former lives.\u201d \u201cO father!\u201d said \u00c6neas, \u201cis it possible\nthat any can be so in love with life as to wish to leave these tranquil\nseats for the upper world?\u201d Anchises replied by explaining the plan of\ncreation. The Creator, he told him, originally made the material of\nwhich souls are composed of the four elements, fire, air, earth, and\nwater, all which when united took the form of the most excellent part,\nfire, and became _flame_. This material was scattered like seed among\nthe heavenly bodies, the sun, moon, and stars. Of this seed the inferior\ngods created man and all other animals, mingling it with various\nproportions of earth, by which its purity was alloyed and reduced. Thus,\nthe more earth predominates in the composition the less pure is the\nindividual; and we see men and women with their full-grown bodies have\nnot the purity of childhood. So in proportion to the time which the\nunion of body and soul has lasted is the impurity contracted by the\nspiritual part. This impurity must be purged away after death, which is\ndone by ventilating the souls in the current of winds, or merging them\nin water, or burning out their impurities by fire. Some few, of whom\nAnchises intimates that he is one, are admitted at once to Elysium,\nthere to remain. But the rest, after the impurities of earth are purged\naway, are sent back to life endowed with new bodies, having had the\nremembrance of their former lives effectually washed away by the waters\nof Lethe. Some, however, there still are, so thoroughly corrupted, that\nthey are not fit to be intrusted with human bodies, and these are made\ninto brute animals, lions, tigers, cats, dogs, monkeys, etc. This is\nwhat the ancients called Metempsychosis, or the transmigration of souls;\na doctrine which is still held by the natives of India, who scruple to\ndestroy the life even of the most insignificant animal, not knowing but\nit may be one of their relations in an altered form.\n\nAnchises, having explained so much, proceeded to point out to \u00c6neas\nindividuals of his race, who were hereafter to be born, and to relate to\nhim the exploits they should perform in the world. After this he\nreverted to the present, and told his son of the events that remained to\nhim to be accomplished before the complete establishment of himself and\nhis followers in Italy. Wars were to be waged, battles fought, a bride\nto be won, and in the result a Trojan state founded, from which should\nrise the Roman power, to be in time the sovereign of the world.\n\n\u00c6neas and the Sibyl then took leave of Anchises, and returned by some\nshort cut, which the poet does not explain, to the upper world.\n\n ELYSIUM\n\nVirgil, we have seen, places his Elysium under the earth, and assigns it\nfor a residence to the spirits of the blessed. But in Homer Elysium\nforms no part of the realms of the dead. He places it on the west of the\nearth, near Ocean, and describes it as a happy land, where there is\nneither snow, nor cold, nor rain, and always fanned by the delightful\nbreezes of Zephyrus. Hither favored heroes pass without dying and live\nhappy under the rule of Rhadamanthus. The Elysium of Hesiod and Pindar\nis in the Isles of the Blessed, or Fortunate Islands, in the Western\nOcean. From these sprang the legend of the happy island Atlantis. This\nblissful region may have been wholly imaginary, but possibly may have\nsprung from the reports of some storm-driven mariners who had caught a\nglimpse of the coast of America.\n\n\n\nJ. R. Lowell, in one of his shorter poems, claims for the present age\nsome of the privileges of that happy realm. Addressing the Past, he\nsays:\n\n \u201cWhatever of true life there was in thee,\n Leaps in our age\u2019s veins.\n . . . . . . .\n Here, \u2019mid the bleak waves of our strife and care,\n Float the green \u2018Fortunate Isles,\u2019\n Where all thy hero-spirits dwell and share\n Our martyrdoms and toils.\n The present moves attended\n With all of brave and excellent and fair\n That made the old time splendid.\u201d\n\nMilton also alludes to the same fable in \u201cParadise Lost,\u201d Book III., 1.\n568:\n\n \u201cLike those Hesperian gardens famed of old,\n Fortunate fields and groves and flowery vales,\n Thrice happy isles.\u201d\n\nAnd in Book II. he characterizes the rivers of Erebus according to the\nmeaning of their names in the Greek language:\n\n \u201cAbhorred Styx, the flood of deadly hate,\n Sad Acheron of sorrow black and deep;\n Cocytus named of lamentation loud\n Heard on the rueful stream; fierce Phlegethon\n Whose waves of torrent fire inflame with rage.\n Far off from these a slow and silent stream,\n Lethe, the river of oblivion, rolls\n Her watery labyrinth, whereof who drinks\n Forthwith his former state and being forgets,\n Forgets both joy and grief, pleasure and pain.\u201d\n\n THE SIBYL\n\nAs \u00c6neas and the Sibyl pursued their way back to earth, he said to her,\n\u201cWhether thou be a goddess or a mortal beloved of the gods, by me thou\nshalt always be held in reverence. When I reach the upper air I will\ncause a temple to be built to thy honor, and will myself bring\nofferings.\u201d \u201cI am no goddess,\u201d said the Sibyl; \u201cI have no claim to\nsacrifice or offering. I am mortal; yet if I could have accepted the\nlove of Apollo I might have been immortal. He promised me the fulfilment\nof my wish, if I would consent to be his. I took a handful of sand, and\nholding it forth, said, \u2018Grant me to see as many birthdays as there are\nsand grains in my hand.\u2019 Unluckily I forgot to ask for enduring youth.\nThis also he would have granted, could I have accepted his love, but\noffended at my refusal, he allowed me to grow old. My youth and youthful\nstrength fled long ago. I have lived seven hundred years, and to equal\nthe number of the sand grains I have still to see three hundred springs\nand three hundred harvests. My body shrinks up as years increase, and in\ntime, I shall be lost to sight, but my voice will remain, and future\nages will respect my sayings.\u201d\n\nThese concluding words of the Sibyl alluded to her prophetic power. In\nher cave she was accustomed to inscribe on leaves gathered from the\ntrees the names and fates of individuals. The leaves thus inscribed were\narranged in order within the cave, and might be consulted by her\nvotaries. But if perchance at the opening of the door the wind rushed in\nand dispersed the leaves the Sibyl gave no aid to restoring them again,\nand the oracle was irreparably lost.\n\nThe following legend of the Sibyl is fixed at a later date. In the reign\nof one of the Tarquins there appeared before the king a woman who\noffered him nine books for sale. The king refused to purchase them,\nwhereupon the woman went away and burned three of the books, and\nreturning offered the remaining books for the same price she had asked\nfor the nine. The king again rejected them; but when the woman, after\nburning three books more, returned and asked for the three remaining the\nsame price which she had before asked for the nine, his curiosity was\nexcited, and he purchased the books. They were found to contain the\ndestinies of the Roman state. They were kept in the temple of Jupiter\nCapitolinus, preserved in a stone chest, and allowed to be inspected\nonly by especial officers appointed for that duty, who, on great\noccasions, consulted them and interpreted their oracles to the people.\n\nThere were various Sibyls; but the Cum\u00e6an Sibyl, of whom Ovid and Virgil\nwrite, is the most celebrated of them. Ovid\u2019s story of her life\nprotracted to one thousand years may be intended to represent the\nvarious Sibyls as being only reappearances of one and the same\nindividual.\n\n\n\nYoung, in the \u201cNight Thoughts,\u201d alludes to the Sibyl. Speaking of\nWorldly Wisdom, he says:\n\n \u201cIf future fate she plans \u2019tis all in leaves,\n Like Sibyl, unsubstantial, fleeting bliss;\n At the first blast it vanishes in air.\n . . . . . . .\n As worldly schemes resemble Sibyl\u2019s leaves,\n The good man\u2019s days to Sibyl\u2019s books compare,\n The price still rising as in number less.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: THETIS BEARING THE ARMOR OF ACHILLES.\n From painting by Fran\u00e7ois Gerard.]\n\n[Illustration: CIRCE AND THE FRIENDS OF ULYSSES.\n From painting by Briton Rivi\u00e8re.]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXXIII\n\n CAMILLA\u2014EVANDER\u2014NISUS AND EURYALUS\u2014MEZENTIUS\u2014TURNUS\n\n\u00c6NEAS, having parted from the Sibyl and rejoined his fleet, coasted\nalong the shores of Italy and cast anchor in the mouth of the Tiber. The\npoet, having brought his hero to this spot, the destined termination of\nhis wanderings, invokes his Muse to tell him the situation of things at\nthat eventful moment. Latinus, third in descent from Saturn, ruled the\ncountry. He was now old and had no male descendant, but had one charming\ndaughter, Lavinia, who was sought in marriage by many neighboring\nchiefs, one of whom, Turnus, king of the Rutulians, was favored by the\nwishes of her parents. But Latinus had been warned in a dream by his\nfather Faunus, that the destined husband of Lavinia should come from a\nforeign land. From that union should spring a race destined to subdue\nthe world.\n\nOur readers will remember that in the conflict with the Harpies one of\nthose half-human birds had threatened the Trojans with dire sufferings.\nIn particular she predicted that before their wanderings ceased they\nshould be pressed by hunger to devour their tables. This portent now\ncame true; for as they took their scanty meal, seated on the grass, the\nmen placed their hard biscuit on their laps, and put thereon whatever\ntheir gleanings in the woods supplied. Having despatched the latter they\nfinished by eating the crusts. Seeing which, the boy Iulus said\nplayfully, \u201cSee, we are eating our tables.\u201d \u00c6neas caught the words and\naccepted the omen. \u201cAll hail, promised land!\u201d he exclaimed, \u201cthis is our\nhome, this our country.\u201d He then took measures to find out who were the\npresent inhabitants of the land, and who their rulers. A hundred chosen\nmen were sent to the village of Latinus, bearing presents and a request\nfor friendship and alliance. They went and were favorably received.\nLatinus immediately concluded that the Trojan hero was no other than the\npromised son-in-law announced by the oracle. He cheerfully granted his\nalliance and sent back the messengers mounted on steeds from his\nstables, and loaded with gifts and friendly messages.\n\nJuno, seeing things go thus prosperously for the Trojans, felt her old\nanimosity revive, summoned Alecto from Erebus, and sent her to stir up\ndiscord. The Fury first took possession of the queen, Amata, and roused\nher to oppose in every way the new alliance. Alecto then speeded to the\ncity of Turnus, and assuming the form of an old priestess, informed him\nof the arrival of the foreigners and of the attempts of their prince to\nrob him of his bride. Next she turned her attention to the camp of the\nTrojans. There she saw the boy Iulus and his companions amusing\nthemselves with hunting. She sharpened the scent of the dogs, and led\nthem to rouse up from the thicket a tame stag, the favorite of Silvia,\nthe daughter of Tyrrheus, the king\u2019s herdsman. A javelin from the hand\nof Iulus wounded the animal, and he had only strength left to run\nhomewards, and died at his mistress\u2019s feet. Her cries and tears roused\nher brothers and the herdsmen, and they, seizing whatever weapons came\nto hand, furiously assaulted the hunting party. These were protected by\ntheir friends, and the herdsmen were finally driven back with the loss\nof two of their number.\n\nThese things were enough to rouse the storm of war, and the queen,\nTurnus, and the peasants all urged the old king to drive the strangers\nfrom the country. He resisted as long as he could, but, finding his\nopposition unavailing, finally gave way and retreated to his retirement.\n\n OPENING THE GATES OF JANUS\n\nIt was the custom of the country, when war was to be undertaken, for the\nchief magistrate, clad in his robes of office, with solemn pomp to open\nthe gates of the temple of Janus, which were kept shut as long as peace\nendured. His people now urged the old king to perform that solemn\noffice, but he refused to do so. While they contested, Juno herself,\ndescending from the skies, smote the doors with irresistible force, and\nburst them open. Immediately the whole country was in a flame. The\npeople rushed from every side breathing nothing but war.\n\nTurnus was recognized by all as leader; others joined as allies, chief\nof whom was Mezentius, a brave and able soldier, but of detestable\ncruelty. He had been the chief of one of the neighboring cities, but his\npeople drove him out. With him was joined his son Lausus, a generous\nyouth, worthy of a better sire.\n\n CAMILLA\n\nCamilla, the favorite of Diana, a huntress and warrior, after the\nfashion of the Amazons, came with her band of mounted followers,\nincluding a select number of her own sex, and ranged herself on the side\nof Turnus. This maiden had never accustomed her fingers to the distaff\nor the loom, but had learned to endure the toils of war, and in speed to\noutstrip the wind. It seemed as if she might run over the standing corn\nwithout crushing it, or over the surface of the water without dipping\nher feet. Camilla\u2019s history had been singular from the beginning. Her\nfather, Metabus, driven from his city by civil discord, carried with him\nin his flight his infant daughter. As he fled through the woods, his\nenemies in hot pursuit, he reached the bank of the river Amazenus,\nwhich, swelled by rains, seemed to debar a passage. He paused for a\nmoment, then decided what to do. He tied the infant to his lance with\nwrappers of bark, and poising the weapon in his upraised hand thus\naddressed Diana: \u201cGoddess of the woods! I consecrate this maid to you;\u201d\nthen hurled the weapon with its burden to the opposite bank. The spear\nflew across the roaring water. His pursuers were already upon him, but\nhe plunged into the river and swam across, and found the spear, with the\ninfant safe on the other side. Thenceforth he lived among the shepherds\nand brought up his daughter in woodland arts. While a child she was\ntaught to use the bow and throw the javelin. With her sling she could\nbring down the crane or the wild swan. Her dress was a tiger\u2019s skin.\nMany mothers sought her for a daughter-in-law, but she continued\nfaithful to Diana and repelled the thought of marriage.\n\n EVANDER\n\nSuch were the formidable allies that ranged themselves against \u00c6neas. It\nwas night and he lay stretched in sleep on the bank of the river under\nthe open heavens. The god of the stream, Father Tiber, seemed to raise\nhis head above the willows and to say, \u201cO goddess-born, destined\npossessor of the Latin realms, this is the promised land, here is to be\nyour home, here shall terminate the hostility of the heavenly powers, if\nonly you faithfully persevere. There are friends not far distant.\nPrepare your boats and row up my stream; I will lead you to Evander, the\nArcadian chief, he has long been at strife with Turnus and the\nRutulians, and is prepared to become an ally of yours. Rise! offer your\nvows to Juno, and deprecate her anger. When you have achieved your\nvictory then think of me.\u201d \u00c6neas woke and paid immediate obedience to\nthe friendly vision. He sacrificed to Juno, and invoked the god of the\nriver and all his tributary fountains to lend their aid. Then for the\nfirst time a vessel filled with armed warriors floated on the stream of\nthe Tiber. The river smoothed its waves, and bade its current flow\ngently, while, impelled by the vigorous strokes of the rowers, the\nvessels shot rapidly up the stream.\n\nAbout the middle of the day they came in sight of the scattered\nbuildings of the infant town, where in after times the proud city of\nRome grew, whose glory reached the skies. By chance the old king,\nEvander, was that day celebrating annual solemnities in honor of\nHercules and all the gods. Pallas, his son, and all the chiefs of the\nlittle commonwealth stood by. When they saw the tall ship gliding onward\nnear the wood, they were alarmed at the sight, and rose from the tables.\nBut Pallas forbade the solemnities to be interrupted, and seizing a\nweapon, stepped forward to the river\u2019s bank. He called aloud, demanding\nwho they were, and what their object. \u00c6neas, holding forth an\nolive-branch, replied, \u201cWe are Trojans, friends to you, and enemies to\nthe Rutulians. We seek Evander, and offer to join our arms with yours.\u201d\nPallas, in amaze at the sound of so great a name, invited them to land,\nand when \u00c6neas touched the shore he seized his hand, and held it long in\nfriendly grasp. Proceeding through the wood, they joined the king and\nhis party and were most favorably received. Seats were provided for them\nat the tables, and the repast proceeded.\n\n INFANT ROME\n\nWhen the solemnities were ended all moved towards the city. The king,\nbending with age, walked between his son and \u00c6neas, taking the arm of\none or the other of them, and with much variety of pleasing talk\nshortening the way. \u00c6neas with delight looked and listened, observing\nall the beauties of the scene, and learning much of heroes renowned in\nancient times. Evander said, \u201cThese extensive groves were once inhabited\nby fauns and nymphs, and a rude race of men who sprang from the trees\nthemselves, and had neither laws nor social culture. They knew not how\nto yoke the cattle nor raise a harvest, nor provide from present\nabundance for future want; but browsed like beasts upon the leafy\nboughs, or fed voraciously on their hunted prey. Such were they when\nSaturn, expelled from Olympus by his sons, came among them and drew\ntogether the fierce savages, formed them into society, and gave them\nlaws. Such peace and plenty ensued that men ever since have called his\nreign the golden age; but by degrees far other times succeeded, and the\nthirst of gold and the thirst of blood prevailed. The land was a prey to\nsuccessive tyrants, till fortune and resistless destiny brought me\nhither, an exile from my native land, Arcadia.\u201d\n\nHaving thus said, he showed him the Tarpeian rock, and the rude spot\nthen overgrown with bushes where in after times the Capitol rose in all\nits magnificence. He next pointed to some dismantled walls, and said,\n\u201cHere stood Janiculum, built by Janus, and there Saturnia, the town of\nSaturn.\u201d Such discourse brought them to the cottage of poor Evander,\nwhence they saw the lowing herds roaming over the plain where now the\nproud and stately Forum stands. They entered, and a couch was spread for\n\u00c6neas, well stuffed with leaves, and covered with the skin of a Libyan\nbear.\n\nNext morning, awakened by the dawn and the shrill song of birds beneath\nthe eaves of his low mansion, old Evander rose. Clad in a tunic, and a\npanther\u2019s skin thrown over his shoulders, with sandals on his feet and\nhis good sword girded to his side, he went forth to seek his guest. Two\nmastiffs followed him, his whole retinue and body guard. He found the\nhero attended by his faithful Achates, and, Pallas soon joining them,\nthe old king spoke thus:\n\n\u201cIllustrious Trojan, it is but little we can do in so great a cause. Our\nstate is feeble, hemmed in on one side by the river, on the other by the\nRutulians. But I propose to ally you with a people numerous and rich, to\nwhom fate has brought you at the propitious moment. The Etruscans hold\nthe country beyond the river. Mezentius was their king, a monster of\ncruelty, who invented unheard-of torments to gratify his vengeance. He\nwould fasten the dead to the living, hand to hand and face to face, and\nleave the wretched victims to die in that dreadful embrace. At length\nthe people cast him out, him and his house. They burned his palace and\nslew his friends. He escaped and took refuge with Turnus, who protects\nhim with arms. The Etruscans demand that he shall be given up to\ndeserved punishment, and would ere now have attempted to enforce their\ndemand; but their priests restrain them, telling them that it is the\nwill of heaven that no native of the land shall guide them to victory,\nand that their destined leader must come from across the sea. They have\noffered the crown to me, but I am too old to undertake such great\naffairs, and my son is native-born, which precludes him from the choice.\nYou, equally by birth and time of life, and fame in arms, pointed out by\nthe gods, have but to appear to be hailed at once as their leader. With\nyou I will join Pallas, my son, my only hope and comfort. Under you he\nshall learn the art of war, and strive to emulate your great exploits.\u201d\n\nThen the king ordered horses to be furnished for the Trojan chiefs, and\n\u00c6neas, with a chosen band of followers and Pallas accompanying, mounted\nand took the way to the Etruscan city,[33] having sent back the rest of\nhis party in the ships. \u00c6neas and his band safely arrived at the\nEtruscan camp and were received with open arms by Tarchon and his\ncountrymen.\n\n NISUS AND EURYALUS\n\nIn the meanwhile Turnus had collected his bands and made all necessary\npreparations for the war. Juno sent Iris to him with a message inciting\nhim to take advantage of the absence of \u00c6neas and surprise the Trojan\ncamp. Accordingly the attempt was made, but the Trojans were found on\ntheir guard, and having received strict orders from \u00c6neas not to fight\nin his absence, they lay still in their intrenchments, and resisted all\nthe efforts of the Rutulians to draw them into the field. Night coming\non, the army of Turnus, in high spirits at their fancied superiority,\nfeasted and enjoyed themselves, and finally stretched themselves on the\nfield and slept secure.\n\nIn the camp of the Trojans things were far otherwise. There all was\nwatchfulness and anxiety and impatience for \u00c6neas\u2019s return. Nisus stood\nguard at the entrance of the camp, and Euryalus, a youth distinguished\nabove all in the army for graces of person and fine qualities, was with\nhim. These two were friends and brothers in arms. Nisus said to his\nfriend, \u201cDo you perceive what confidence and carelessness the enemy\ndisplay? Their lights are few and dim, and the men seem all oppressed\nwith wine or sleep. You know how anxiously our chiefs wish to send to\n\u00c6neas, and to get intelligence from him. Now, I am strongly moved to\nmake my way through the enemy\u2019s camp and to go in search of our chief.\nIf I succeed, the glory of the deed will be reward enough for me, and if\nthey judge the service deserves anything more, let them pay it to you.\u201d\n\nEuryalus, all on fire with the love of adventure, replied, \u201cWould you,\nthen, Nisus, refuse to share your enterprise with me? And shall I let\nyou go into such danger alone? Not so my brave father brought me up, nor\nso have I planned for myself when I joined the standard of \u00c6neas, and\nresolved to hold my life cheap in comparison with honor.\u201d Nisus replied,\n\u201cI doubt it not, my friend; but you know the uncertain event of such an\nundertaking, and whatever may happen to me, I wish you to be safe. You\nare younger than I and have more of life in prospect. Nor can I be the\ncause of such grief to your mother, who has chosen to be here in the\ncamp with you rather than stay and live in peace with the other matrons\nin Acestes\u2019 city.\u201d Euryalus replied, \u201cSay no more. In vain you seek\narguments to dissuade me. I am fixed in the resolution to go with you.\nLet us lose no time.\u201d They called the guard, and committing the watch to\nthem, sought the general\u2019s tent. They found the chief officers in\nconsultation, deliberating how they should send notice to \u00c6neas of their\nsituation. The offer of the two friends was gladly accepted, themselves\nloaded with praises and promised the most liberal rewards in case of\nsuccess. Iulus especially addressed Euryalus, assuring him of his\nlasting friendship. Euryalus replied, \u201cI have but one boon to ask. My\naged mother is with me in the camp. For me she left the Trojan soil, and\nwould not stay behind with the other matrons at the city of Acestes. I\ngo now without taking leave of her. I could not bear her tears nor set\nat nought her entreaties. But do thou, I beseech you, comfort her in her\ndistress. Promise me that and I shall go more boldly into whatever\ndangers may present themselves.\u201d Iulus and the other chiefs were moved\nto tears, and promised to do all his request. \u201cYour mother shall be\nmine,\u201d said Iulus, \u201cand all that I have promised to you shall be made\ngood to her, if you do not return to receive it.\u201d\n\nThe two friends left the camp and plunged at once into the midst of the\nenemy. They found no watch, no sentinels posted, but, all about, the\nsleeping soldiers strewn on the grass and among the wagons. The laws of\nwar at that early day did not forbid a brave man to slay a sleeping foe,\nand the two Trojans slew, as they passed, such of the enemy as they\ncould without exciting alarm. In one tent Euryalus made prize of a\nhelmet brilliant with gold and plumes. They had passed through the\nenemy\u2019s ranks without being discovered, but now suddenly appeared a\ntroop directly in front of them, which, under Volscens, their leader,\nwere approaching the camp. The glittering helmet of Euryalus caught\ntheir attention, and Volscens hailed the two, and demanded who and\nwhence they were. They made no answer, but plunged into the wood. The\nhorsemen scattered in all directions to intercept their flight. Nisus\nhad eluded pursuit and was out of danger, but Euryalus being missing he\nturned back to seek him. He again entered the wood and soon came within\nsound of voices. Looking through the thicket he saw the whole band\nsurrounding Euryalus with noisy questions. What should he do? how\nextricate the youth, or would it be better to die with him.\n\nRaising his eyes to the moon, which now shone clear, he said, \u201cGoddess!\nfavor my effort!\u201d and aiming his javelin at one of the leaders of the\ntroop, struck him in the back and stretched him on the plain with a\ndeathblow. In the midst of their amazement another weapon flew and\nanother of the party fell dead. Volscens, the leader, ignorant whence\nthe darts came, rushed sword in hand upon Euryalus. \u201cYou shall pay the\npenalty of both,\u201d he said, and would have plunged the sword into his\nbosom, when Nisus, who from his concealment saw the peril of his friend,\nrushed forward exclaiming, \u201c\u2019Twas I, \u2019twas I; turn your swords against\nme, Rutulians, I did it; he only followed me as a friend.\u201d While he\nspoke the sword fell, and pierced the comely bosom of Euryalus. His head\nfell over on his shoulder, like a flower cut down by the plough. Nisus\nrushed upon Volscens and plunged his sword into his body, and was\nhimself slain on the instant by numberless blows.\n\n MEZENTIUS\n\n\u00c6neas, with his Etrurian allies, arrived on the scene of action in time\nto rescue his beleaguered camp; and now the two armies being nearly\nequal in strength, the war began in good earnest. We cannot find space\nfor all the details, but must simply record the fate of the principal\ncharacters whom we have introduced to our readers. The tyrant Mezentius,\nfinding himself engaged against his revolting subjects, raged like a\nwild beast. He slew all who dared to withstand him, and put the\nmultitude to flight wherever he appeared. At last he encountered \u00c6neas,\nand the armies stood still to see the issue. Mezentius threw his spear,\nwhich striking \u00c6neas\u2019s shield glanced off and hit Anthor. He was a\nGrecian by birth, who had left Argos, his native city, and followed\nEvander into Italy. The poet says of him with simple pathos which has\nmade the words proverbial, \u201cHe fell, unhappy, by a wound intended for\nanother, looked up at the skies, and dying remembered sweet Argos.\u201d[34]\n\u00c6neas now in turn hurled his lance. It pierced the shield of Mezentius,\nand wounded him in the thigh. Lausus, his son, could not bear the sight,\nbut rushed forward and interposed himself, while the followers pressed\nround Mezentius and bore him away. \u00c6neas held his sword suspended over\nLausus and delayed to strike, but the furious youth pressed on and he\nwas compelled to deal the fatal blow. Lausus fell, and \u00c6neas bent over\nhim in pity. \u201cHapless youth,\u201d he said, \u201cwhat can I do for you worthy of\nyour praise? Keep those arms in which you glory, and fear not but that\nyour body shall be restored to your friends, and have due funeral\nhonors.\u201d So saying, he called the timid followers and delivered the body\ninto their hands.\n\nMezentius meanwhile had been borne to the riverside, and washed his\nwound. Soon the news reached him of Lausus\u2019s death, and rage and despair\nsupplied the place of strength. He mounted his horse and dashed into the\nthickest of the fight, seeking \u00c6neas. Having found him he rode round him\nin a circle, throwing one javelin after another, while \u00c6neas stood\nfenced with his shield, turning every way to meet them. At last, after\nMezentius had three times made the circuit, \u00c6neas threw his lance\ndirectly at the horse\u2019s head. It pierced his temples and he fell, while\na shout from both armies rent the skies. Mezentius asked no mercy, but\nonly that his body might be spared the insults of his revolted subjects,\nand be buried in the same grave with his son. He received the fatal\nstroke not unprepared, and poured out his life and his blood together.\n\n PALLAS, CAMILLA, TURNUS\n\nWhile these things were doing in one part of the field, in another\nTurnus encountered the youthful Pallas. The contest between champions so\nunequally matched could not be doubtful. Pallas bore himself bravely,\nbut fell by the lance of Turnus. The victor almost relented when he saw\nthe brave youth lying dead at his feet, and spared to use the privilege\nof a conqueror in despoiling him of his arms. The belt only, adorned\nwith studs and carvings of gold, he took and clasped round his own body.\nThe rest he remitted to the friends of the slain.\n\nAfter the battle there was a cessation of arms for some days to allow\nboth armies to bury their dead. In this interval \u00c6neas challenged Turnus\nto decide the contest by single combat, but Turnus evaded the challenge.\nAnother battle ensued, in which Camilla, the virgin warrior, was chiefly\nconspicuous. Her deeds of valor surpassed those of the bravest warriors,\nand many Trojans and Etruscans fell pierced with her darts or struck\ndown by her battle-axe. At last an Etruscan named Aruns, who had watched\nher long, seeking for some advantage, observed her pursuing a flying\nenemy whose splendid armor offered a tempting prize. Intent on the chase\nshe observed not her danger, and the javelin of Aruns struck her and\ninflicted a fatal wound. She fell and breathed her last in the arms of\nher attendant maidens. But Diana, who beheld her fate, suffered not her\nslaughter to be unavenged. Aruns, as he stole away, glad, but\nfrightened, was struck by a secret arrow, launched by one of the nymphs\nof Diana\u2019s train, and died ignobly and unknown.\n\nAt length the final conflict took place between \u00c6neas and Turnus. Turnus\nhad avoided the contest as long as he could, but at last, impelled by\nthe ill success of his arms and by the murmurs of his followers, he\nbraced himself to the conflict. It could not be doubtful. On the side of\n\u00c6neas were the expressed decree of destiny, the aid of his\ngoddess-mother at every emergency, and impenetrable armor fabricated by\nVulcan, at her request, for her son. Turnus, on the other hand, was\ndeserted by his celestial allies, Juno having been expressly forbidden\nby Jupiter to assist him any longer. Turnus threw his lance, but it\nrecoiled harmless from the shield of \u00c6neas. The Trojan hero then threw\nhis, which penetrated the shield of Turnus, and pierced his thigh. Then\nTurnus\u2019s fortitude forsook him and he begged for mercy; and \u00c6neas would\nhave given him his life, but at the instant his eye fell on the belt of\nPallas, which Turnus had taken from the slaughtered youth. Instantly his\nrage revived, and exclaiming, \u201cPallas immolates thee with this blow,\u201d he\nthrust him through with his sword.\n\nHere the poem of the \u201c\u00c6neid\u201d closes, and we are left to infer that\n\u00c6neas, having triumphed over his foes, obtained Lavinia for his bride.\nTradition adds that he founded his city, and called it after her name,\nLavinium. His son Iulus founded Alba Longa, which was the birthplace of\nRomulus and Remus and the cradle of Rome itself.\n\n\n\nThere is an allusion to Camilla in those well-known lines of Pope, in\nwhich, illustrating the rule that \u201cthe sound should be an echo to the\nsense,\u201d he says:\n\n \u201cWhen Ajax strives some rock\u2019s vast weight to throw,\n The line too labors and the words move slow.\n Not so when swift Camilla scours the plain,\n Flies o\u2019er th\u2019 unbending corn or skims along the main.\u201d\n \u2014_Essay on Criticism._\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XXXIV\n\n PYTHAGORAS\u2014EGYPTIAN DEITIES\u2014ORACLES\n\n PYTHAGORAS\n\nTHE teachings of Anchises to \u00c6neas, respecting the nature of the human\nsoul, were in conformity with the doctrines of the Pythagoreans.\nPythagoras (born five hundred and forty years B.C.) was a native of the\nisland of Samos, but passed the chief portion of his life at Crotona in\nItaly. He is therefore sometimes called \u201cthe Samian,\u201d and sometimes \u201cthe\nphilosopher of Crotona.\u201d When young he travelled extensively, and it is\nsaid visited Egypt, where he was instructed by the priests in all their\nlearning, and afterwards journeyed to the East, and visited the Persian\nand Chaldean Magi, and the Brahmins of India.\n\nAt Crotona, where he finally established himself, his extraordinary\nqualities collected round him a great number of disciples. The\ninhabitants were notorious for luxury and licentiousness, but the good\neffects of his influence were soon visible. Sobriety and temperance\nsucceeded. Six hundred of the inhabitants became his disciples and\nenrolled themselves in a society to aid each other in the pursuit of\nwisdom, uniting their property in one common stock for the benefit of\nthe whole. They were required to practise the greatest purity and\nsimplicity of manners. The first lesson they learned was _silence_; for\na time they were required to be only hearers. \u201cHe [Pythagoras] said so\u201d\n(_Ipse dixit_), was to be held by them as sufficient, without any proof.\nIt was only the advanced pupils, after years of patient submission, who\nwere allowed to ask questions and to state objections.\n\nPythagoras considered _numbers_ as the essence and principle of all\nthings, and attributed to them a real and distinct existence; so that,\nin his view, they were the elements out of which the universe was\nconstructed. How he conceived this process has never been satisfactorily\nexplained. He traced the various forms and phenomena of the world to\nnumbers as their basis and essence. The \u201cMonad\u201d or _unit_ he regarded as\nthe source of all numbers. The number _Two_ was imperfect, and the cause\nof increase and division. _Three_ was called the number of the whole\nbecause it had a beginning, middle, and end. _Four_, representing the\nsquare, is in the highest degree perfect; and _Ten_, as it contains the\nsum of the four prime numbers, comprehends all musical and arithmetical\nproportions, and denotes the system of the world.\n\nAs the numbers proceed from the monad, so he regarded the pure and\nsimple essence of the Deity as the source of all the forms of nature.\nGods, demons, and heroes are emanations of the Supreme, and there is a\nfourth emanation, the human soul. This is immortal, and when freed from\nthe fetters of the body passes to the habitation of the dead, where it\nremains till it returns to the world, to dwell in some other human or\nanimal body, and at last, when sufficiently purified, it returns to the\nsource from which it proceeded. This doctrine of the transmigration of\nsouls (metempsychosis), which was originally Egyptian and connected with\nthe doctrine of reward and punishment of human actions, was the chief\ncause why the Pythagoreans killed no animals. Ovid represents Pythagoras\naddressing his disciples in these words: \u201cSouls never die, but always on\nquitting one abode pass to another. I myself can remember that in the\ntime of the Trojan war I was Euphorbus, the son of Panthus, and fell by\nthe spear of Menelaus. Lately being in the temple of Juno, at Argos, I\nrecognized my shield hung up there among the trophies. All things\nchange, nothing perishes. The soul passes hither and thither, occupying\nnow this body, now that, passing from the body of a beast into that of a\nman, and thence to a beast\u2019s again. As wax is stamped with certain\nfigures, then melted, then stamped anew with others, yet is always the\nsame wax, so the soul, being always the same, yet wears, at different\ntimes, different forms. Therefore, if the love of kindred is not extinct\nin your bosoms, forbear, I entreat you, to violate the life of those who\nmay haply be your own relatives.\u201d\n\n\n\nShakspeare, in the \u201cMerchant of Venice,\u201d makes Gratiano allude to the\nmetempsychosis, where he says to Shylock:\n\n \u201cThou almost mak\u2019st me waver in my faith,\n To hold opinion with Pythagoras,\n That souls of animals infuse themselves\n Into the trunks of men; thy currish spirit\n Governed a wolf; who hanged for human slaughter\n Infused his soul in thee; for thy desires\n Are wolfish, bloody, starved and ravenous.\u201d\n\nThe relation of the notes of the musical scale to numbers, whereby\nharmony results from vibrations in equal times, and discord from the\nreverse, led Pythagoras to apply the word \u201charmony\u201d to the visible\ncreation, meaning by it the just adaptation of parts to each other. This\nis the idea which Dryden expresses in the beginning of his \u201cSong for St.\nCecilia\u2019s Day\u201d:\n\n \u201cFrom harmony, from heavenly harmony\n This everlasting frame began;\n From harmony to harmony\n Through all the compass of the notes it ran,\n The Diapason closing full in Man.\u201d\n\nIn the centre of the universe (he taught) there was a central fire, the\nprinciple of life. The central fire was surrounded by the earth, the\nmoon, the sun, and the five planets. The distances of the various\nheavenly bodies from one another were conceived to correspond to the\nproportions of the musical scale. The heavenly bodies, with the gods who\ninhabited them, were supposed to perform a choral dance round the\ncentral fire, \u201cnot without song.\u201d It is this doctrine which Shakspeare\nalludes to when he makes Lorenzo teach astronomy to Jessica in this\nfashion:\n\n \u201cLook, Jessica, see how the floor of heaven\n Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold!\n There\u2019s not the smallest orb that thou behold\u2019st\n But in his motion like an angel sings,\n Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubim;\n Such harmony is in immortal souls!\n But whilst this muddy vesture of decay\n Doth grossly close it in we cannot hear it.\u201d\n \u2014_Merchant of Venice._\n\nThe spheres were conceived to be crystalline or glassy fabrics arranged\nover one another like a nest of bowls reversed. In the substance of each\nsphere one or more of the heavenly bodies was supposed to be fixed, so\nas to move with it. As the spheres are transparent we look through them\nand see the heavenly bodies which they contain and carry round with\nthem. But as these spheres cannot move on one another without friction,\na sound is thereby produced which is of exquisite harmony, too fine for\nmortal ears to recognize. Milton, in his \u201cHymn on the Nativity,\u201d thus\nalludes to the music of the spheres:\n\n \u201cRing out, ye crystal spheres!\n Once bless our human ears\n (If ye have power to charm our senses so);\n And let your silver chime\n Move in melodious time,\n And let the base of Heaven\u2019s deep organ blow;\n And with your ninefold harmony\n Make up full concert with the angelic symphony.\u201d\n\nPythagoras is said to have invented the lyre. Our own poet Longfellow,\nin \u201cVerses to a Child,\u201d thus relates the story:\n\n \u201cAs great Pythagoras of yore,\n Standing beside the blacksmith\u2019s door,\n And hearing the hammers as they smote\n The anvils with a different note,\n Stole from the varying tones that hung\n Vibrant on every iron tongue,\n The secret of the sounding wire,\n And formed the seven-chorded lyre.\u201d\n\nSee also the same poet\u2019s \u201cOccultation of Orion\u201d\u2014\n\n \u201cThe Samian\u2019s great \u00c6olian lyre.\u201d\n\n SYBARIS AND CROTONA\n\nSybaris, a neighboring city to Crotona, was as celebrated for luxury and\neffeminacy as Crotona for the reverse. The name has become proverbial.\nJ. R. Lowell uses it in this sense in his charming little poem \u201cTo the\nDandelion\u201d:\n\n \u201cNot in mid June the golden cuirassed bee\n Feels a more summer-like, warm ravishment\n In the white lily\u2019s breezy tent\n (His conquered Sybaris) than I when first\n From the dark green thy yellow circles burst.\u201d\n\nA war arose between the two cities, and Sybaris was conquered and\ndestroyed. Milo, the celebrated athlete, led the army of Crotona. Many\nstories are told of Milo\u2019s vast strength, such as his carrying a heifer\nof four years old upon his shoulders and afterwards eating the whole of\nit in a single day. The mode of his death is thus related: As he was\npassing through a forest he saw the trunk of a tree which had been\npartially split open by wood-cutters, and attempted to rend it further;\nbut the wood closed upon his hands and held him fast, in which state he\nwas attacked and devoured by wolves.\n\n\n\nByron, in his \u201cOde to Napoleon Bonaparte,\u201d alludes to the story of Milo:\n\n \u201cHe who of old would rend the oak\n Deemed not of the rebound;\n Chained by the trunk he vainly broke,\n Alone, how looked he round!\u201d\n\n EGYPTIAN DEITIES\n\nThe Egyptians acknowledged as the highest deity Amun, afterwards called\nZeus, or Jupiter Ammon. Amun manifested himself in his word or will,\nwhich created Kneph and Athor, of different sexes. From Kneph and Athor\nproceeded Osiris and Isis. Osiris was worshipped as the god of the sun,\nthe source of warmth, life, and fruitfulness, in addition to which he\nwas also regarded as the god of the Nile, who annually visited his wife,\nIsis (the Earth), by means of an inundation. Serapis or Hermes is\nsometimes represented as identical with Osiris, and sometimes as a\ndistinct divinity, the ruler of Tartarus and god of medicine. Anubis is\nthe guardian god, represented with a dog\u2019s head, emblematic of his\ncharacter of fidelity and watchfulness. Horus or Harpocrates was the son\nof Osiris. He is represented seated on a Lotus flower, with his finger\non his lips, as the god of Silence.\n\n\n\nIn one of Moore\u2019s \u201cIrish Melodies\u201d is an allusion to Harpocrates:\n\n \u201cThyself shall, under some rosy bower,\n Sit mute, with thy finger on thy lip;\n Like him, the boy, who born among\n The flowers that on the Nile-stream blush,\n Sits ever thus,\u2014his only song\n To Earth and Heaven, \u2018Hush all, hush!\u2019\u201d\n\n MYTH OF OSIRIS AND ISIS\n\nOsiris and Isis were at one time induced to descend to the earth to\nbestow gifts and blessings on its inhabitants. Isis showed them first\nthe use of wheat and barley, and Osiris made the instruments of\nagriculture and taught men the use of them, as well as how to harness\nthe ox to the plough. He then gave men laws, the institution of\nmarriage, a civil organization, and taught them how to worship the gods.\nAfter he had thus made the valley of the Nile a happy country, he\nassembled a host with which he went to bestow his blessings upon the\nrest of the world. He conquered the nations everywhere, but not with\nweapons, only with music and eloquence. His brother Typhon saw this, and\nfilled with envy and malice sought during his absence to usurp his\nthrone. But Isis, who held the reins of government, frustrated his\nplans. Still more embittered, he now resolved to kill his brother. This\nhe did in the following manner: Having organized a conspiracy of\nseventy-two members, he went with them to the feast which was celebrated\nin honor of the king\u2019s return. He then caused a box or chest to be\nbrought in, which had been made to fit exactly the size of Osiris, and\ndeclared that he would give that chest of precious wood to whosoever\ncould get into it. The rest tried in vain, but no sooner was Osiris in\nit than Typhon and his companions closed the lid and flung the chest\ninto the Nile. When Isis heard of the cruel murder she wept and mourned,\nand then with her hair shorn, clothed in black and beating her breast,\nshe sought diligently for the body of her husband. In this search she\nwas materially assisted by Anubis, the son of Osiris and Nephthys. They\nsought in vain for some time; for when the chest, carried by the waves\nto the shores of Byblos, had become entangled in the reeds that grew at\nthe edge of the water, the divine power that dwelt in the body of Osiris\nimparted such strength to the shrub that it grew into a mighty tree,\nenclosing in its trunk the coffin of the god. This tree with its sacred\ndeposit was shortly after felled, and erected as a column in the palace\nof the king of Ph\u0153nicia. But at length by the aid of Anubis and the\nsacred birds, Isis ascertained these facts, and then went to the royal\ncity. There she offered herself at the palace as a servant, and being\nadmitted, threw off her disguise and appeared as a goddess, surrounded\nwith thunder and lightning. Striking the column with her wand she caused\nit to split open and give up the sacred coffin. This she seized and\nreturned with it, and concealed it in the depth of a forest, but Typhon\ndiscovered it, and cutting the body into fourteen pieces scattered them\nhither and thither. After a tedious search, Isis found thirteen pieces,\nthe fishes of the Nile having eaten the other. This she replaced by an\nimitation of sycamore wood, and buried the body at Phil\u00e6, which became\never after the great burying place of the nation, and the spot to which\npilgrimages were made from all parts of the country. A temple of\nsurpassing magnificence was also erected there in honor of the god, and\nat every place where one of his limbs had been found minor temples and\ntombs were built to commemorate the event. Osiris became after that the\ntutelar deity of the Egyptians. His soul was supposed always to inhabit\nthe body of the bull Apis, and at his death to transfer itself to his\nsuccessor.\n\nApis, the Bull of Memphis, was worshipped with the greatest reverence by\nthe Egyptians. The individual animal who was held to be Apis was\nrecognized by certain signs. It was requisite that he should be quite\nblack, have a white square mark on the forehead, another, in the form of\nan eagle, on his back, and under his tongue a lump somewhat in the shape\nof a scarab\u00e6us or beetle. As soon as a bull thus marked was found by\nthose sent in search of him, he was placed in a building facing the\neast, and was fed with milk for four months. At the expiration of this\nterm the priests repaired at new moon, with great pomp, to his\nhabitation and saluted him Apis. He was placed in a vessel magnificently\ndecorated and conveyed down the Nile to Memphis, where a temple, with\ntwo chapels and a court for exercise, was assigned to him. Sacrifices\nwere made to him, and once every year, about the time when the Nile\nbegan to rise, a golden cup was thrown into the river, and a grand\nfestival was held to celebrate his birthday. The people believed that\nduring this festival the crocodiles forgot their natural ferocity and\nbecame harmless. There was, however, one drawback to his happy lot: he\nwas not permitted to live beyond a certain period, and if, when he had\nattained the age of twenty-five years, he still survived, the priests\ndrowned him in the sacred cistern and then buried him in the temple of\nSerapis. On the death of this bull, whether it occurred in the course of\nnature or by violence, the whole land was filled with sorrow and\nlamentations, which lasted until his successor was found.\n\nWe find the following item in one of the newspapers of the day:\n\n\u201c_The Tomb of Apis._\u2014The excavations going on at Memphis bid fair to\nmake that buried city as interesting as Pompeii. The monster tomb of\nApis is now open, after having lain unknown for centuries.\u201d\n\n\n\nMilton, in his \u201cHymn on the Nativity,\u201d alludes to the Egyptian deities,\nnot as imaginary beings, but as real demons, put to flight by the coming\nof Christ.\n\n \u201cThe brutish gods of Nile as fast,\n Isis and Horus and the dog Anubis haste.\n Nor is Osiris seen\n In Memphian grove or green\n Trampling the unshowered[35] grass with lowings loud;\n Nor can he be at rest\n Within his sacred chest;\n Nought but profoundest hell can be his shroud.\n In vain with timbrel\u2019d anthems dark\n The sable-stoled sorcerers bear his worshipped ark.\u201d\n\nIsis was represented in statuary with the head veiled, a symbol of\nmystery. It is this which Tennyson alludes to in \u201cMaud,\u201d IV., 8:\n\n \u201cFor the drift of the Maker is dark, an Isis hid by the veil,\u201d etc.\n\n ORACLES\n\nOracle was the name used to denote the place where answers were supposed\nto be given by any of the divinities to those who consulted them\nrespecting the future. The word was also used to signify the response\nwhich was given.\n\nThe most ancient Grecian oracle was that of Jupiter at Dodona. According\nto one account, it was established in the following manner: Two black\ndoves took their flight from Thebes in Egypt. One flew to Dodona in\nEpirus, and alighting in a grove of oaks, it proclaimed in human\nlanguage to the inhabitants of the district that they must establish\nthere an oracle of Jupiter. The other dove flew to the temple of Jupiter\nAmmon in the Libyan Oasis, and delivered a similar command there.\nAnother account is, that they were not doves, but priestesses, who were\ncarried off from Thebes in Egypt by the Ph\u0153nicians, and set up oracles\nat the Oasis and Dodona. The responses of the oracle were given from the\ntrees, by the branches rustling in the wind, the sounds being\ninterpreted by the priests.\n\nBut the most celebrated of the Grecian oracles was that of Apollo at\nDelphi, a city built on the slopes of Parnassus in Phocis.\n\nIt had been observed at a very early period that the goats feeding on\nParnassus were thrown into convulsions when they approached a certain\nlong deep cleft in the side of the mountain. This was owing to a\npeculiar vapor arising out of the cavern, and one of the goatherds was\ninduced to try its effects upon himself. Inhaling the intoxicating air,\nhe was affected in the same manner as the cattle had been, and the\ninhabitants of the surrounding country, unable to explain the\ncircumstance, imputed the convulsive ravings to which he gave utterance\nwhile under the power of the exhalations to a divine inspiration. The\nfact was speedily circulated widely, and a temple was erected on the\nspot. The prophetic influence was at first variously attributed to the\ngoddess Earth, to Neptune, Themis, and others, but it was at length\nassigned to Apollo, and to him alone. A priestess was appointed whose\noffice it was to inhale the hallowed air, and who was named the Pythia.\nShe was prepared for this duty by previous ablution at the fountain of\nCastalia, and being crowned with laurel was seated upon a tripod\nsimilarly adorned, which was placed over the chasm whence the divine\nafflatus proceeded. Her inspired words while thus situated were\ninterpreted by the priests.\n\n ORACLE OF TROPHONIUS\n\nBesides the oracles of Jupiter and Apollo, at Dodona and Delphi, that of\nTrophonius in B\u0153otia was held in high estimation. Trophonius and\nAgamedes were brothers. They were distinguished architects, and built\nthe temple of Apollo at Delphi, and a treasury for King Hyrieus. In the\nwall of the treasury they placed a stone, in such a manner that it could\nbe taken out; and by this means, from time to time, purloined the\ntreasure. This amazed Hyrieus, for his locks and seals were untouched,\nand yet his wealth continually diminished. At length he set a trap for\nthe thief and Agamedes was caught. Trophonius, unable to extricate him,\nand fearing that when found he would be compelled by torture to discover\nhis accomplice, cut off his head. Trophonius himself is said to have\nbeen shortly afterwards swallowed up by the earth.\n\nThe oracle of Trophonius was at Lebadea in B\u0153otia. During a great\ndrought the B\u0153otians, it is said, were directed by the god at Delphi to\nseek aid of Trophonius at Lebadea. They came thither, but could find no\noracle. One of them, however, happening to see a swarm of bees, followed\nthem to a chasm in the earth, which proved to be the place sought.\n\nPeculiar ceremonies were to be performed by the person who came to\nconsult the oracle. After these preliminaries, he descended into the\ncave by a narrow passage. This place could be entered only in the night.\nThe person returned from the cave by the same narrow passage, but\nwalking backwards. He appeared melancholy and dejected; and hence the\nproverb which was applied to a person low-spirited and gloomy, \u201cHe has\nbeen consulting the oracle of Trophonius.\u201d\n\n ORACLE OF \u00c6SCULAPIUS\n\nThere were numerous oracles of \u00c6sculapius, but the most celebrated one\nwas at Epidaurus. Here the sick sought responses and the recovery of\ntheir health by sleeping in the temple. It has been inferred from the\naccounts that have come down to us that the treatment of the sick\nresembled what is now called Animal Magnetism or Mesmerism.\n\nSerpents were sacred to \u00c6sculapius, probably because of a superstition\nthat those animals have a faculty of renewing their youth by a change of\nskin. The worship of \u00c6sculapius was introduced into Rome in a time of\ngreat sickness, and an embassy sent to the temple of Epidaurus to\nentreat the aid of the god. \u00c6sculapius was propitious, and on the return\nof the ship accompanied it in the form of a serpent. Arriving in the\nriver Tiber, the serpent glided from the vessel and took possession of\nan island in the river, and a temple was there erected to his honor.\n\n ORACLE OF APIS\n\nAt Memphis the sacred bull Apis gave answer to those who consulted him\nby the manner in which he received or rejected what was presented to\nhim. If the bull refused food from the hand of the inquirer it was\nconsidered an unfavorable sign, and the contrary when he received it.\n\nIt has been a question whether oracular responses ought to be ascribed\nto mere human contrivance or to the agency of evil spirits. The latter\nopinion has been most general in past ages. A third theory has been\nadvanced since the phenomena of Mesmerism have attracted attention, that\nsomething like the mesmeric trance was induced in the Pythoness, and the\nfaculty of clairvoyance really called into action.\n\nAnother question is as to the time when the Pagan oracles ceased to give\nresponses. Ancient Christian writers assert that they became silent at\nthe birth of Christ, and were heard no more after that date. Milton\nadopts this view in his \u201cHymn on the Nativity,\u201d and in lines of solemn\nand elevated beauty pictures the consternation of the heathen idols at\nthe advent of the Saviour:\n\n \u201cThe oracles are dumb;\n No voice or hideous hum\n Rings through the arched roof in words deceiving.\n Apollo from his shrine\n Can no more divine,\n With hollow shriek the steep of Delphos leaving.\n No nightly trance or breathed spell\n Inspires the pale-eyed priest from the prophetic cell.\u201d\n\nIn Cowper\u2019s poem of \u201cYardley Oak\u201d there are some beautiful mythological\nallusions. The former of the two following is to the fable of Castor and\nPollux; the latter is more appropriate to our present subject.\nAddressing the acorn he says:\n\n \u201cThou fell\u2019st mature; and in the loamy clod,\n Swelling with vegetative force instinct,\n Didst burst thine egg, as theirs the fabled Twins\n Now stars; two lobes protruding, paired exact;\n A leaf succeeded and another leaf,\n And, all the elements thy puny growth\n Fostering propitious, thou becam\u2019st a twig.\n Who lived when thou wast such? O, couldst thou speak,\n As in Dodona once thy kindred trees\n Oracular, I would not curious ask\n The future, best unknown, but at thy mouth\n Inquisitive, the less ambiguous past.\u201d\n\nTennyson, in his \u201cTalking Oak,\u201d alludes to the oaks of Dodona in these\nlines:\n\n \u201cAnd I will work in prose and rhyme,\n And praise thee more in both\n Than bard has honored beech or lime,\n Or that Thessalian growth\n In which the swarthy ring-dove sat\n And mystic sentence spoke;\u201d etc.\n\nByron alludes to the oracle of Delphi where, speaking of Rousseau, whose\nwritings he conceives did much to bring on the French revolution, he\nsays:\n\n \u201cFor then he was inspired, and from him came,\n As from the Pythian\u2019s mystic cave of yore,\n Those oracles which set the world in flame,\n Nor ceased to burn till kingdoms were no more.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: \u00c6NEAS AT THE COURT OF QUEEN DIDO.\n From painting by P. Guerin. Salon of 1817.]\n\n[Illustration: A VALKYR.\n From painting by P. N. Arbo.]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXXV\n\n ORIGIN OF MYTHOLOGY\u2014STATUES OF GODS AND GODDESSES\u2014POETS OF MYTHOLOGY\n\n ORIGIN OF MYTHOLOGY\n\nHAVING reached the close of our series of stories of Pagan mythology, an\ninquiry suggests itself. \u201cWhence came these stories? Have they a\nfoundation in truth, or are they simply dreams of the imagination?\u201d\nPhilosophers have suggested various theories on the subject; and 1. The\nScriptural theory; according to which all mythological legends are\nderived from the narratives of Scripture, though the real facts have\nbeen disguised and altered. Thus Deucalion is only another name for\nNoah, Hercules for Samson, Arion for Jonah, etc. Sir Walter Raleigh, in\nhis \u201cHistory of the World,\u201d says, \u201cJubal, Tubal, and Tubal-Cain were\nMercury, Vulcan, and Apollo, inventors of Pasturage, Smithing, and\nMusic. The Dragon which kept the golden apples was the serpent that\nbeguiled Eve. Nimrod\u2019s tower was the attempt of the Giants against\nHeaven.\u201d There are doubtless many curious coincidences like these, but\nthe theory cannot without extravagance be pushed so far as to account\nfor any great proportion of the stories.\n\n2. The Historical theory; according to which all the persons mentioned\nin mythology were once real human beings, and the legends and fabulous\ntraditions relating to them are merely the additions and embellishments\nof later times. Thus the story of \u00c6olus, the king and god of the winds,\nis supposed to have risen from the fact that \u00c6olus was the ruler of some\nislands in the Tyrrhenian Sea, where he reigned as a just and pious\nking, and taught the natives the use of sails for ships, and how to tell\nfrom the signs of the atmosphere the changes of the weather and the\nwinds. Cadmus, who, the legend says, sowed the earth with dragon\u2019s\nteeth, from which sprang a crop of armed men, was in fact an emigrant\nfrom Ph\u0153nicia, and brought with him into Greece the knowledge of the\nletters of the alphabet, which he taught to the natives. From these\nrudiments of learning sprung civilization, which the poets have always\nbeen prone to describe as a deterioration of man\u2019s first estate, the\nGolden Age of innocence and simplicity.\n\n3. The Allegorical theory supposes that all the myths of the ancients\nwere allegorical and symbolical, and contained some moral, religious, or\nphilosophical truth or historical fact, under the form of an allegory,\nbut came in process of time to be understood literally. Thus Saturn, who\ndevours his own children, is the same power whom the Greeks called\nCronos (Time), which may truly be said to destroy whatever it has\nbrought into existence. The story of Io is interpreted in a similar\nmanner. Io is the moon, and Argus the starry sky, which, as it were,\nkeeps sleepless watch over her. The fabulous wanderings of Io represent\nthe continual revolutions of the moon, which also suggested to Milton\nthe same idea.\n\n \u201cTo behold the wandering moon\n Riding near her highest noon,\n Like one that had been led astray\n In the heaven\u2019s wide, pathless way.\u201d\n \u2014_Il Penseroso._\n\n4. The Physical theory; according to which the elements of air, fire,\nand water were originally the objects of religious adoration, and the\nprincipal deities were personifications of the powers of nature. The\ntransition was easy from a personification of the elements to the notion\nof supernatural beings presiding over and governing the different\nobjects of nature. The Greeks, whose imagination was lively, peopled all\nnature with invisible beings, and supposed that every object, from the\nsun and sea to the smallest fountain and rivulet, was under the care of\nsome particular divinity. Wordsworth, in his \u201cExcursion,\u201d has\nbeautifully developed this view of Grecian mythology:\n\n \u201cIn that fair clime the lonely herdsman, stretched\n On the soft grass through half a summer\u2019s day,\n With music lulled his indolent repose;\n And, in some fit of weariness, if he,\n When his own breath was silent, chanced to hear\n A distant strain far sweeter than the sounds\n Which his poor skill could make, his fancy fetched\n Even from the blazing chariot of the Sun\n A beardless youth who touched a golden lute,\n And filled the illumined groves with ravishment.\n The mighty hunter, lifting up his eyes\n Toward the crescent Moon, with grateful heart\n Called on the lovely Wanderer who bestowed\n That timely light to share his joyous sport;\n And hence a beaming goddess with her nymphs\n Across the lawn and through the darksome grove\n (Not unaccompanied with tuneful notes\n By echo multiplied from rock or cave)\n Swept in the storm of chase, as moon and stars\n Glance rapidly along the clouded heaven\n When winds are blowing strong. The Traveller slaked\n His thirst from rill or gushing fount, and thanked\n The Naiad. Sunbeams upon distant hills\n Gliding apace with shadows in their train,\n Might with small help from fancy, be transformed\n Into fleet Oreads sporting visibly.\n The Zephyrs, fanning, as they passed, their wings,\n Lacked not for love fair objects whom they wooed\n With gentle whisper. Withered boughs grotesque,\n Stripped of their leaves and twigs by hoary age,\n From depth of shaggy covert peeping forth\n In the low vale, or on steep mountain side;\n And sometimes intermixed with stirring horns\n Of the live deer, or goat\u2019s depending beard;\n These were the lurking Satyrs, a wild brood\n Of gamesome deities; or Pan himself,\n That simple shepherd\u2019s awe-inspiring god.\u201d\n\nAll the theories which have been mentioned are true to a certain extent.\nIt would therefore be more correct to say that the mythology of a nation\nhas sprung from all these sources combined than from any one in\nparticular. We may add also that there are many myths which have arisen\nfrom the desire of man to account for those natural phenomena which he\ncannot understand; and not a few have had their rise from a similar\ndesire of giving a reason for the names of places and persons.\n\n STATUES OF THE GODS\n\nTo adequately represent to the eye the ideas intended to be conveyed to\nthe mind under the several names of deities was a task which called into\nexercise the highest powers of genius and art. Of the many attempts\n_four_ have been most celebrated, the first two known to us only by the\ndescriptions of the ancients, the others still extant and the\nacknowledged masterpieces of the sculptor\u2019s art.\n\n THE OLYMPIAN JUPITER\n\nThe statue of the Olympian Jupiter by Phidias was considered the highest\nachievement of this department of Grecian art. It was of colossal\ndimensions, and was what the ancients called \u201cchryselephantine;\u201d that\nis, composed of ivory and gold; the parts representing flesh being of\nivory laid on a core of wood or stone, while the drapery and other\nornaments were of gold. The height of the figure was forty feet, on a\npedestal twelve feet high. The god was represented seated on his throne.\nHis brows were crowned with a wreath of olive, and he held in his right\nhand a sceptre, and in his left a statue of Victory. The throne was of\ncedar, adorned with gold and precious stones.\n\nThe idea which the artist essayed to embody was that of the supreme\ndeity of the Hellenic (Grecian) nation, enthroned as a conqueror, in\nperfect majesty and repose, and ruling with a nod the subject world.\nPhidias avowed that he took his idea from the representation which Homer\ngives in the first book of the \u201cIliad,\u201d in the passage thus translated\nby Pope:\n\n \u201cHe spoke and awful bends his sable brows,\n Shakes his ambrosial curls and gives the nod,\n The stamp of fate and sanction of the god.\n High heaven with reverence the dread signal took,\n And all Olympus to the centre shook.\u201d[36]\n\n THE MINERVA OF THE PARTHENON\n\nThis was also the work of Phidias. It stood in the Parthenon, or temple\nof Minerva at Athens. The goddess was represented standing. In one hand\nshe held a spear, in the other a statue of Victory. Her helmet, highly\ndecorated, was surmounted by a Sphinx. The statue was forty feet in\nheight, and, like the Jupiter, composed of ivory and gold. The eyes were\nof marble, and probably painted to represent the iris and pupil. The\nParthenon, in which this statue stood, was also constructed under the\ndirection and superintendence of Phidias. Its exterior was enriched with\nsculptures, many of them from the hand of Phidias. The Elgin marbles,\nnow in the British Museum, are a part of them.\n\nBoth the Jupiter and Minerva of Phidias are lost, but there is good\nground to believe that we have, in several extant statues and busts, the\nartist\u2019s conceptions of the countenances of both. They are characterized\nby grave and dignified beauty, and freedom from any transient\nexpression, which in the language of art is called _repose_.\n\n THE VENUS DE\u2019 MEDICI\n\nThe Venus of the Medici is so called from its having been in the\npossession of the princes of that name in Rome when it first attracted\nattention, about two hundred years ago. An inscription on the base\nrecords it to be the work of Cleomenes, an Athenian sculptor of 200\nB.C., but the authenticity of the inscription is doubtful. There is a\nstory that the artist was employed by public authority to make a statue\nexhibiting the perfection of female beauty, and to aid him in his task\nthe most perfect forms the city could supply were furnished him for\nmodels. It is this which Thomson alludes to in his \u201cSummer\u201d:\n\n \u201cSo stands the statue that enchants the world;\n So bending tries to veil the matchless boast,\n The mingled beauties of exulting Greece.\u201d\n\nByron also alludes to this statue. Speaking of the Florence Museum, he\nsays:\n\n \u201cThere, too, the goddess loves in stone, and fills\n The air around with beauty;\u201d etc.\n\nAnd in the next stanza,\n\n \u201cBlood, pulse, and breast confirm the Dardan shepherd\u2019s prize.\u201d\n\nSee this last allusion explained in Chapter XXVII.\n\n THE APOLLO BELVEDERE\n\nThe most highly esteemed of all the remains of ancient sculpture is the\nstatue of Apollo, called the Belvedere, from the name of the apartment\nof the Pope\u2019s palace at Rome in which it was placed. The artist is\nunknown. It is supposed to be a work of Roman art, of about the first\ncentury of our era. It is a standing figure, in marble, more than seven\nfeet high, naked except for the cloak which is fastened around the neck\nand hangs over the extended left arm. It is supposed to represent the\ngod in the moment when he has shot the arrow to destroy the monster\nPython. (See Chapter III.) The victorious divinity is in the act of\nstepping forward. The left arm, which seems to have held the bow, is\noutstretched, and the head is turned in the same direction. In attitude\nand proportion the graceful majesty of the figure is unsurpassed. The\neffect is completed by the countenance, where on the perfection of\nyouthful godlike beauty there dwells the consciousness of triumphant\npower.\n\n THE DIANA A LA BICHE\n\nThe Diana of the Hind, in the palace of the Louvre, may be considered\nthe counterpart to the Apollo Belvedere. The attitude much resembles\nthat of the Apollo, the sizes correspond and also the style of\nexecution. It is a work of the highest order, though by no means equal\nto the Apollo. The attitude is that of hurried and eager motion, the\nface that of a huntress in the excitement of the chase. The left hand is\nextended over the forehead of the Hind, which runs by her side, the\nright arm reaches backward over the shoulder to draw an arrow from the\nquiver.\n\n THE POETS OF MYTHOLOGY\n\nHomer, from whose poems of the \u201cIliad\u201d and \u201cOdyssey\u201d we have taken the\nchief part of our chapters of the Trojan war and the return of the\nGrecians, is almost as mythical a personage as the heroes he celebrates.\nThe traditionary story is that he was a wandering minstrel, blind and\nold, who travelled from place to place singing his lays to the music of\nhis harp, in the courts of princes or the cottages of peasants, and\ndependent upon the voluntary offerings of his hearers for support. Byron\ncalls him \u201cThe blind old man of Scio\u2019s rocky isle,\u201d and a well-known\nepigram, alluding to the uncertainty of the fact of his birthplace,\nsays:\n\n \u201cSeven wealthy towns contend for Homer dead,\n Through which the living Homer begged his bread.\u201d\n\nThese seven were Smyrna, Scio, Rhodes, Colophon, Salamis, Argos, and\nAthens.\n\nModern scholars have doubted whether the Homeric poems are the work of\nany single mind. This arises from the difficulty of believing that poems\nof such length could have been committed to writing at so early an age\nas that usually assigned to these, an age earlier than the date of any\nremaining inscriptions or coins, and when no materials capable of\ncontaining such long productions were yet introduced into use. On the\nother hand it is asked how poems of such length could have been handed\ndown from age to age by means of the memory alone. This is answered by\nthe statement that there was a professional body of men, called\nRhapsodists, who recited the poems of others, and whose business it was\nto commit to memory and rehearse for pay the national and patriotic\nlegends.\n\nThe prevailing opinion of the learned, at this time, seems to be that\nthe framework and much of the structure of the poems belong to Homer,\nbut that there are numerous interpolations and additions by other hands.\n\nThe date assigned to Homer, on the authority of Herodotus, is 850 B.C.\n\n VIRGIL\n\nVirgil, called also by his surname, Maro, from whose poem of the \u201c\u00c6neid\u201d\nwe have taken the story of \u00c6neas, was one of the great poets who made\nthe reign of the Roman emperor Augustus so celebrated, under the name of\nthe Augustan age. Virgil was born in Mantua in the year 70 B.C. His\ngreat poem is ranked next to those of Homer, in the highest class of\npoetical composition, the Epic. Virgil is far inferior to Homer in\noriginality and invention, but superior to him in correctness and\nelegance. To critics of English lineage Milton alone of modern poets\nseems worthy to be classed with these illustrious ancients. His poem of\n\u201cParadise Lost,\u201d from which we have borrowed so many illustrations, is\nin many respects equal, in some superior, to either of the great works\nof antiquity. The following epigram of Dryden characterizes the three\npoets with as much truth as it is usual to find in such pointed\ncriticism:\n\n \u201cON MILTON\n\n \u201cThree poets in three different ages born,\n Greece, Italy, and England did adorn.\n The first in loftiness of soul surpassed,\n The next in majesty, in both the last.\n The force of nature could no further go;\n To make a third she joined the other two.\u201d\n\nFrom Cowper\u2019s \u201cTable Talk\u201d:\n\n \u201cAges elapsed ere Homer\u2019s lamp appeared,\n And ages ere the Mantuan swan was heard.\n To carry nature lengths unknown before,\n To give a Milton birth, asked ages more.\n Thus genius rose and set at ordered times,\n And shot a dayspring into distant climes,\n Ennobling every region that he chose;\n He sunk in Greece, in Italy he rose,\n And, tedious years of Gothic darkness past,\n Emerged all splendor in our isle at last.\n Thus lovely Halcyons dive into the main,\n Then show far off their shining plumes again.\u201d\n\n OVID,\n\noften alluded to in poetry by his other name of Naso, was born in the\nyear 43 B.C. He was educated for public life and held some offices of\nconsiderable dignity, but poetry was his delight, and he early resolved\nto devote himself to it. He accordingly sought the society of the\ncontemporary poets, and was acquainted with Horace and saw Virgil,\nthough the latter died when Ovid was yet too young and undistinguished\nto have formed his acquaintance. Ovid spent an easy life at Rome in the\nenjoyment of a competent income. He was intimate with the family of\nAugustus, the emperor, and it is supposed that some serious offence\ngiven to some member of that family was the cause of an event which\nreversed the poet\u2019s happy circumstances and clouded all the latter\nportion of his life. At the age of fifty he was banished from Rome, and\nordered to betake himself to Tomi, on the borders of the Black Sea.\nHere, among the barbarous people and in a severe climate, the poet, who\nhad been accustomed to all the pleasures of a luxurious capital and the\nsociety of his most distinguished contemporaries, spent the last ten\nyears of his life, worn out with grief and anxiety. His only consolation\nin exile was to address his wife and absent friends, and his letters\nwere all poetical. Though these poems (the \u201cTrista\u201d and \u201cLetters from\nPontus\u201d) have no other topic than the poet\u2019s sorrows, his exquisite\ntaste and fruitful invention have redeemed them from the charge of being\ntedious, and they are read with pleasure and even with sympathy.\n\nThe two great works of Ovid are his \u201cMetamorphoses\u201d and his \u201cFasti.\u201d\nThey are both mythological poems, and from the former we have taken most\nof our stories of Grecian and Roman mythology. A late writer thus\ncharacterizes these poems:\n\n\u201cThe rich mythology of Greece furnished Ovid, as it may still furnish\nthe poet, the painter, and the sculptor, with materials for his art.\nWith exquisite taste, simplicity, and pathos he has narrated the\nfabulous traditions of early ages, and given to them that appearance of\nreality which only a master hand could impart. His pictures of nature\nare striking and true; he selects with care that which is appropriate;\nhe rejects the superfluous; and when he has completed his work, it is\nneither defective nor redundant. The \u2018Metamorphoses\u2019 are read with\npleasure by youth, and are re-read in more advanced age with still\ngreater delight. The poet ventured to predict that his poem would\nsurvive him, and be read wherever the Roman name was known.\u201d\n\nThe prediction above alluded to is contained in the closing lines of the\n\u201cMetamorphoses,\u201d of which we give a literal translation below:\n\n \u201cAnd now I close my work, which not the ire\n Of Jove, nor tooth of time, nor sword, nor fire\n Shall bring to nought. Come when it will that day\n Which o\u2019er the body, not the mind, has sway,\n And snatch the remnant of my life away,\n My better part above the stars shall soar,\n And my renown endure forevermore.\n Where\u2019er the Roman arms and arts shall spread,\n There by the people shall my book be read;\n And, if aught true in poet\u2019s visions be,\n My name and fame have immortality.\u201d\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XXXVI\n\n MODERN MONSTERS\u2014THE PH\u0152NIX\u2014BASILISK\u2014UNICORN\u2014SALAMANDER\n\n MODERN MONSTERS\n\nTHERE is a set of imaginary beings which seem to have been the\nsuccessors of the \u201cGorgons, Hydras, and Chimeras dire\u201d of the old\nsuperstitions, and, having no connection with the false gods of\nPaganism, to have continued to enjoy an existence in the popular belief\nafter Paganism was superseded by Christianity. They are mentioned\nperhaps by the classical writers, but their chief popularity and\ncurrency seem to have been in more modern times. We seek our accounts of\nthem not so much in the poetry of the ancients as in the old natural\nhistory books and narrations of travellers. The accounts which we are\nabout to give are taken chiefly from the Penny Cyclopedia.\n\n THE PH\u0152NIX\n\nOvid tells the story of the Ph\u0153nix as follows: \u201cMost beings spring from\nother individuals; but there is a certain kind which reproduces itself.\nThe Assyrians call it the Ph\u0153nix. It does not live on fruit or flowers,\nbut on frankincense and odoriferous gums. When it has lived five hundred\nyears, it builds itself a nest in the branches of an oak, or on the top\nof a palm tree. In this it collects cinnamon, and spikenard, and myrrh,\nand of these materials builds a pile on which it deposits itself, and\ndying, breathes out its last breath amidst odors. From the body of the\nparent bird, a young Ph\u0153nix issues forth, destined to live as long a\nlife as its predecessor. When this has grown up and gained sufficient\nstrength, it lifts its nest from the tree (its own cradle and its\nparent\u2019s sepulchre), and carries it to the city of Heliopolis in Egypt,\nand deposits it in the temple of the Sun.\u201d\n\nSuch is the account given by a poet. Now let us see that of a\nphilosophic historian. Tacitus says, \u201cIn the consulship of Paulus Fabius\n(A.D. 34) the miraculous bird known to the world by the name of the\nPh\u0153nix, after disappearing for a series of ages, revisited Egypt. It was\nattended in its flight by a group of various birds, all attracted by the\nnovelty, and gazing with wonder at so beautiful an appearance.\u201d He then\ngives an account of the bird, not varying materially from the preceding,\nbut adding some details. \u201cThe first care of the young bird as soon as\nfledged, and able to trust to his wings, is to perform the obsequies of\nhis father. But this duty is not undertaken rashly. He collects a\nquantity of myrrh, and to try his strength makes frequent excursions\nwith a load on his back. When he has gained sufficient confidence in his\nown vigor, he takes up the body of his father and flies with it to the\naltar of the Sun, where he leaves it to be consumed in flames of\nfragrance.\u201d Other writers add a few particulars. The myrrh is compacted\nin the form of an egg, in which the dead Ph\u0153nix is enclosed. From the\nmouldering flesh of the dead bird a worm springs, and this worm, when\ngrown large, is transformed into a bird. Herodotus _describes_ the bird,\nthough he says, \u201cI have not seen it myself, except in a picture. Part of\nhis plumage is gold-colored, and part crimson; and he is for the most\npart very much like an eagle in outline and bulk.\u201d\n\nThe first writer who disclaimed a belief in the existence of the Ph\u0153nix\nwas Sir Thomas Browne, in his \u201cVulgar Errors,\u201d published in 1646. He was\nreplied to a few years later by Alexander Ross, who says, in answer to\nthe objection of the Ph\u0153nix so seldom making his appearance, \u201cHis\ninstinct teaches him to keep out of the way of the tyrant of the\ncreation, _man_, for if he were to be got at, some wealthy glutton would\nsurely devour him, though there were no more in the world.\u201d\n\n\n\nDryden in one of his early poems has this allusion to the Ph\u0153nix:\n\n \u201cSo when the new-born Ph\u0153nix first is seen,\n Her feathered subjects all adore their queen,\n And while she makes her progress through the East,\n From every grove her numerous train\u2019s increased;\n Each poet of the air her glory sings,\n And round him the pleased audience clap their wings.\u201d\n\nMilton, in \u201cParadise Lost,\u201d Book V., compares the angel Raphael\ndescending to earth to a Ph\u0153nix:\n\n \u201c. . . Down thither, prone in flight\n He speeds, and through the vast ethereal sky\n Sails between worlds and worlds, with steady wing,\n Now on the polar winds, then with quick fan\n Winnows the buxom air; till within soar\n Of towering eagles, to all the fowls he seems\n A Ph\u0153nix, gazed by all; as that sole bird\n When, to enshrine his relics in the sun\u2019s\n Bright temple, to Egyptian Thebes he flies.\u201d\n\n THE COCKATRICE, OR BASILISK\n\nThis animal was called the king of the serpents. In confirmation of his\nroyalty, he was said to be endowed with a crest, or comb upon the head,\nconstituting a crown. He was supposed to be produced from the egg of a\ncock hatched under toads or serpents. There were several species of this\nanimal. One species burned up whatever they approached; a second were a\nkind of wandering Medusa\u2019s heads, and their look caused an instant\nhorror which was immediately followed by death. In Shakspeare\u2019s play of\n\u201cRichard the Third,\u201d Lady Anne, in answer to Richard\u2019s compliment on her\neyes, says, \u201cWould they were basilisk\u2019s, to strike thee dead!\u201d\n\nThe basilisks were called kings of serpents because all other serpents\nand snakes, behaving like good subjects, and wisely not wishing to be\nburned up or struck dead, fled the moment they heard the distant hiss of\ntheir king, although they might be in full feed upon the most delicious\nprey, leaving the sole enjoyment of the banquet to the royal monster.\n\nThe Roman naturalist Pliny thus describes him: \u201cHe does not impel his\nbody, like other serpents, by a multiplied flexion, but advances lofty\nand upright. He kills the shrubs, not only by contact, but by breathing\non them, and splits the rocks, such power of evil is there in him.\u201d It\nwas formerly believed that if killed by a spear from on horseback the\npower of the poison conducted through the weapon killed not only the\nrider, but the horse also. To this Lucan alludes in these lines:\n\n \u201cWhat though the Moor the basilisk hath slain,\n And pinned him lifeless to the sandy plain,\n Up through the spear the subtle venom flies,\n The hand imbibes it, and the victor dies.\u201d\n\nSuch a prodigy was not likely to be passed over in the legends of the\nsaints. Accordingly we find it recorded that a certain holy man, going\nto a fountain in the desert, suddenly beheld a basilisk. He immediately\nraised his eyes to heaven, and with a pious appeal to the Deity laid the\nmonster dead at his feet.\n\nThese wonderful powers of the basilisk are attested by a host of learned\npersons, such as Galen, Avicenna, Scaliger, and others. Occasionally one\nwould demur to some part of the tale while he admitted the rest.\nJonston, a learned physician, sagely remarks, \u201cI would scarcely believe\nthat it kills with its look, for who could have seen it and lived to\ntell the story?\u201d The worthy sage was not aware that those who went to\nhunt the basilisk of this sort took with them a mirror, which reflected\nback the deadly glare upon its author, and by a kind of poetical justice\nslew the basilisk with his own weapon.\n\nBut what was to attack this terrible and unapproachable monster? There\nis an old saying that \u201ceverything has its enemy\u201d\u2014and the cockatrice\nquailed before the weasel. The basilisk might look daggers, the weasel\ncared not, but advanced boldly to the conflict. When bitten, the weasel\nretired for a moment to eat some rue, which was the only plant the\nbasilisks could not wither, returned with renewed strength and soundness\nto the charge, and never left the enemy till he was stretched dead on\nthe plain. The monster, too, as if conscious of the irregular way in\nwhich he came into the world, was supposed to have a great antipathy to\na cock; and well he might, for as soon as he heard the cock crow he\nexpired.\n\nThe basilisk was of some use after death. Thus we read that its carcass\nwas suspended in the temple of Apollo, and in private houses, as a\nsovereign remedy against spiders, and that it was also hung up in the\ntemple of Diana, for which reason no swallow ever dared enter the sacred\nplace.\n\nThe reader will, we apprehend, by this time have had enough of\nabsurdities, but still we can imagine his anxiety to know what a\ncockatrice was like. The following is from Aldrovandus, a celebrated\nnaturalist of the sixteenth century, whose work on natural history, in\nthirteen folio volumes, contains with much that is valuable a large\nproportion of fables and inutilities. In particular he is so ample on\nthe subject of the cock and the bull that from his practice, all\nrambling, gossiping tales of doubtful credibility are called _cock and\nbull stories_. Aldrovandus, however, deserves our respect and esteem as\nthe founder of a botanic garden, and as a pioneer in the now prevalent\ncustom of making scientific collections for purposes of investigation\nand research.\n\nShelley, in his \u201cOde to Naples,\u201d full of the enthusiasm excited by the\nintelligence of the proclamation of a Constitutional Government at\nNaples, in 1820, thus uses an allusion to the basilisk:\n\n \u201cWhat though Cimmerian anarchs dare blaspheme\n Freedom and thee? a new Act\u00e6on\u2019s error\n Shall theirs have been,\u2014devoured by their own hounds!\n Be thou like the imperial basilisk,\n Killing thy foe with unapparent wounds!\n Gaze on oppression, till at that dread risk,\n Aghast she pass from the earth\u2019s disk.\n Fear not, but gaze,\u2014for freemen mightier grow,\n And slaves more feeble, gazing on their foe.\u201d\n\n THE UNICORN\n\nPliny, the Roman naturalist, out of whose account of the unicorn most of\nthe modern unicorns have been described and figured, records it as \u201ca\nvery ferocious beast, similar in the rest of its body to a horse, with\nthe head of a deer, the feet of an elephant, the tail of a boar, a deep,\nbellowing voice, and a single black horn, two cubits in length, standing\nout in the middle of its forehead.\u201d He adds that \u201cit cannot be taken\nalive;\u201d and some such excuse may have been necessary in those days for\nnot producing the living animal upon the arena of the amphitheatre.\n\nThe unicorn seems to have been a sad puzzle to the hunters, who hardly\nknew how to come at so valuable a piece of game. Some described the horn\nas movable at the will of the animal, a kind of small sword, in short,\nwith which no hunter who was not exceedingly cunning in fence could have\na chance. Others maintained that all the animal\u2019s strength lay in its\nhorn, and that when hard pressed in pursuit, it would throw itself from\nthe pinnacle of the highest rocks horn foremost, so as to pitch upon it,\nand then quietly march off not a whit the worse for its fall.\n\nBut it seems they found out how to circumvent the poor unicorn at last.\nThey discovered that it was a great lover of purity and innocence, so\nthey took the field with a young _virgin_, who was placed in the\nunsuspecting admirer\u2019s way. When the unicorn spied her, he approached\nwith all reverence, couched beside her, and laying his head in her lap,\nfell asleep. The treacherous virgin then gave a signal, and the hunters\nmade in and captured the simple beast.\n\nModern zo\u00f6logists, disgusted as they well may be with such fables as\nthese, disbelieve generally the existence of the unicorn. Yet there are\nanimals bearing on their heads a bony protuberance more or less like a\nhorn, which may have given rise to the story. The rhinoceros horn, as it\nis called, is such a protuberance, though it does not exceed a few\ninches in height, and is far from agreeing with the descriptions of the\nhorn of the unicorn. The nearest approach to a horn in the middle of the\nforehead is exhibited in the bony protuberance on the forehead of the\ngiraffe; but this also is short and blunt, and is not the only horn of\nthe animal, but a third horn, standing in front of the two others. In\nfine, though it would be presumptuous to deny the existence of a\none-horned quadruped other than the rhinoceros, it may be safely stated\nthat the insertion of a long and solid horn in the living forehead of a\nhorse-like or deer-like animal is as near an impossibility as anything\ncan be.\n\n THE SALAMANDER\n\nThe following is from the \u201cLife of Benvenuto Cellini,\u201d an Italian artist\nof the sixteenth century, written by himself: \u201cWhen I was about five\nyears of age, my father, happening to be in a little room in which they\nhad been washing, and where there was a good fire of oak burning, looked\ninto the flames and saw a little animal resembling a lizard, which could\nlive in the hottest part of that element. Instantly perceiving what it\nwas, he called for my sister and me, and after he had shown us the\ncreature, he gave me a box on the ear. I fell a-crying, while he,\nsoothing me with caresses, spoke these words: \u2018My dear child, I do not\ngive you that blow for any fault you have committed, but that you may\nrecollect that the little creature you see in the fire is a salamander;\nsuch a one as never was beheld before to my knowledge.\u2019 So saying he\nembraced me, and gave me some money.\u201d\n\nIt seems unreasonable to doubt a story of which Signor Cellini was both\nan eye and ear witness. Add to which the authority of numerous sage\nphilosophers, at the head of whom are Aristotle and Pliny, affirms this\npower of the salamander. According to them, the animal not only resists\nfire, but extinguishes it, and when he sees the flame charges it as an\nenemy which he well knows how to vanquish.\n\nThat the skin of an animal which could resist the action of fire should\nbe considered proof against that element is not to be wondered at. We\naccordingly find that a cloth made of the skin of salamanders (for there\nreally is such an animal, a kind of lizard) was incombustible, and very\nvaluable for wrapping up such articles as were too precious to be\nintrusted to any other envelopes. These fire-proof cloths were actually\nproduced, said to be made of salamander\u2019s wool, though the knowing ones\ndetected that the substance of which they were composed was asbestos, a\nmineral, which is in fine filaments capable of being woven into a\nflexible cloth.\n\nThe foundation of the above fables is supposed to be the fact that the\nsalamander really does secrete from the pores of his body a milky juice,\nwhich when he is irritated is produced in considerable quantity, and\nwould doubtless, for a few moments, defend the body from fire. Then it\nis a hibernating animal, and in winter retires to some hollow tree or\nother cavity, where it coils itself up and remains in a torpid state\ntill the spring again calls it forth. It may therefore sometimes be\ncarried with the fuel to the fire, and wake up only time enough to put\nforth all its faculties for its defence. Its viscous juice would do good\nservice, and all who profess to have seen it, acknowledge that it got\nout of the fire as fast as its legs could carry it; indeed, too fast for\nthem ever to make prize of one, except in one instance, and in that one\nthe animal\u2019s feet and some parts of its body were badly burned.\n\n\n\nDr. Young, in the \u201cNight Thoughts,\u201d with more quaintness than good\ntaste, compares the sceptic who can remain unmoved in the contemplation\nof the starry heavens to a salamander unwarmed in the fire:\n\n \u201cAn undevout astronomer is mad!\n . . . . . . .\n \u201cO, what a genius must inform the skies!\n And is Lorenzo\u2019s salamander-heart\n Cold and untouched amid these sacred fires?\u201d\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XXXVII\n\n EASTERN MYTHOLOGY\u2014ZOROASTER\u2014HINDU MYTHOLOGY\u2014CASTES\u2014BUDDHA\u2014GRAND LAMA\n\n ZOROASTER\n\nOUR knowledge of the religion of the ancient Persians is principally\nderived from the Zendavesta, or sacred books of that people. Zoroaster\nwas the founder of their religion, or rather the reformer of the\nreligion which preceded him. The time when he lived is doubtful, but it\nis certain that his system became the dominant religion of Western Asia\nfrom the time of Cyrus (550 B.C.) to the conquest of Persia by Alexander\nthe Great. Under the Macedonian monarchy the doctrines of Zoroaster\nappear to have been considerably corrupted by the introduction of\nforeign opinions, but they afterwards recovered their ascendency.\n\nZoroaster taught the existence of a supreme being, who created two other\nmighty beings and imparted to them as much of his own nature as seemed\ngood to him. Of these, Ormuzd (called by the Greeks Oromasdes) remained\nfaithful to his creator, and was regarded as the source of all good,\nwhile Ahriman (Arimanes) rebelled, and became the author of all evil\nupon the earth. Ormuzd created man and supplied him with all the\nmaterials of happiness; but Ahriman marred this happiness by introducing\nevil into the world, and creating savage beasts and poisonous reptiles\nand plants. In consequence of this, evil and good are now mingled\ntogether in every part of the world, and the followers of good and\nevil\u2014the adherents of Ormuzd and Ahriman\u2014carry on incessant war. But\nthis state of things will not last forever. The time will come when the\nadherents of Ormuzd shall everywhere be victorious, and Ahriman and his\nfollowers be consigned to darkness forever.\n\nThe religious rites of the ancient Persians were exceedingly simple.\nThey used neither temples, altars, nor statues, and performed their\nsacrifices on the tops of mountains. They adored fire, light, and the\nsun as emblems of Ormuzd, the source of all light and purity, but did\nnot regard them as independent deities. The religious rites and\nceremonies were regulated by the priests, who were called Magi. The\nlearning of the Magi was connected with astrology and enchantment, in\nwhich they were so celebrated that their name was applied to all orders\nof magicians and enchanters.\n\nWordsworth thus alludes to the worship of the Persians:\n\n \u201c. . . the Persian,\u2014zealous to reject\n Altar and Image, and the inclusive walls\n And roofs of temples built by human hands,\u2014\n The loftiest heights ascending, from their tops,\n With myrtle-wreathed Tiara on his brows,\n Presented sacrifice to Moon and Stars,\n And to the Winds and mother Elements,\n And the whole circle of the Heavens, for him\n A sensitive existence and a God.\u201d\n \u2014_Excursion_, Book IV.\n\nIn \u201cChilde Harold\u201d Byron speaks thus of the Persian worship:\n\n \u201cNot vainly did the early Persian make\n His altar the high places and the peak\n Of earth-o\u2019er-gazing mountains, and thus take\n A fit and unwalled temple, there to seek\n The Spirit, in whose honor shrines are weak,\n Upreared of human hands. Come and compare\n Columns and idol-dwellings, Goth or Greek,\n With Nature\u2019s realms of worship, earth and air,\n Nor fix on fond abodes to circumscribe thy prayer.\u201d\n III., 91.\n\nThe religion of Zoroaster continued to flourish even after the\nintroduction of Christianity, and in the third century was the dominant\nfaith of the East, till the rise of the Mahometan power and the conquest\nof Persia by the Arabs in the seventh century, who compelled the greater\nnumber of the Persians to renounce their ancient faith. Those who\nrefused to abandon the religion of their ancestors fled to the deserts\nof Kerman and to Hindustan, where they still exist under the name of\nParsees, a name derived from Pars, the ancient name of Persia. The Arabs\ncall them Guebers, from an Arabic word signifying unbelievers. At Bombay\nthe Parsees are at this day a very active, intelligent, and wealthy\nclass. For purity of life, honesty, and conciliatory manners, they are\nfavorably distinguished. They have numerous temples to Fire, which they\nadore as the symbol of the divinity.\n\nThe Persian religion makes the subject of the finest tale in Moore\u2019s\n\u201cLalla Rookh,\u201d the \u201cFire Worshippers.\u201d The Gueber chief says,\n\n \u201cYes! I am of that impious race,\n Those slaves of Fire, that morn and even\n Hail their creator\u2019s dwelling-place\n Among the living lights of heaven;\n Yes! I am of that outcast crew\n To Iran and to vengeance true,\n Who curse the hour your Arabs came\n To desecrate our shrines of flame,\n And swear before God\u2019s burning eye,\n To break our country\u2019s chains or die.\u201d\n\n HINDU MYTHOLOGY\n\nThe religion of the Hindus is professedly founded on the Vedas. To these\nbooks of their scripture they attach the greatest sanctity, and state\nthat Brahma himself composed them at the creation. But the present\narrangement of the Vedas is attributed to the sage Vyasa, about five\nthousand years ago.\n\nThe Vedas undoubtedly teach the belief of one supreme God. The name of\nthis deity is Brahma. His attributes are represented by the three\npersonified powers of _creation_, _preservation_, and _destruction_,\nwhich under the respective names of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva form the\n_Trimurti_ or triad of principal Hindu gods. Of the inferior gods the\nmost important are: 1. Indra, the god of heaven, of thunder, lightning,\nstorm, and rain; 2. Agni, the god of fire; 3. Yama, the god of the\ninfernal regions; 4. Surya, the god of the sun.\n\nBrahma is the creator of the universe, and the source from which all the\nindividual deities have sprung, and into which all will ultimately be\nabsorbed. \u201cAs milk changes to curd, and water to ice, so is Brahma\nvariously transformed and diversified, without aid of exterior means of\nany sort.\u201d The human soul, according to the Vedas, is a portion of the\nsupreme ruler, as a spark is of the fire.\n\n VISHNU\n\nVishnu occupies the second place in the triad of the Hindus, and is the\npersonification of the preserving principle. To protect the world in\nvarious epochs of danger, Vishnu descended to the earth in different\nincarnations, or bodily forms, which descents are called Avatars. They\nare very numerous, but ten are more particularly specified. The first\nAvatar was as Matsya, the Fish, under which form Vishnu preserved Manu,\nthe ancestor of the human race, during a universal deluge. The second\nAvatar was in the form of a Tortoise, which form he assumed to support\nthe earth when the gods were churning the sea for the beverage of\nimmortality, Amrita.\n\nWe may omit the other Avatars, which were of the same general character,\nthat is, interpositions to protect the right or to punish wrong-doers,\nand come to the ninth, which is the most celebrated of the Avatars of\nVishnu, in which he appeared in the human form of Krishna, an invincible\nwarrior, who by his exploits relieved the earth from the tyrants who\noppressed it.\n\nBuddha is by the followers of the Brahmanical religion regarded as a\ndelusive incarnation of Vishnu, assumed by him in order to induce the\nAsuras, opponents of the gods, to abandon the sacred ordinances of the\nVedas, by which means they lost their strength and supremacy.\n\nKalki is the name of the _tenth_ Avatar, in which Vishnu will appear at\nthe end of the present age of the world to destroy all vice and\nwickedness, and to restore mankind to virtue and purity.\n\n SIVA\n\nSiva is the third person of the Hindu triad. He is the personification\nof the destroying principle. Though the third name, he is, in respect to\nthe number of his worshippers and the extension of his worship, before\neither of the others. In the Puranas (the scriptures of the modern Hindu\nreligion) no allusion is made to the original power of this god as a\ndestroyer; that power not being to be called into exercise till after\nthe expiration of twelve millions of years, or when the universe will\ncome to an end; and Mahadeva (another name for Siva) is rather the\nrepresentative of regeneration than of destruction.\n\n\n\nThe worshippers of Vishnu and Siva form two sects, each of which\nproclaims the superiority of its favorite deity, denying the claims of\nthe other, and Brahma, the creator, having finished his work, seems to\nbe regarded as no longer active, and has now only one temple in India,\nwhile Mahadeva and Vishnu have many. The worshippers of Vishnu are\ngenerally distinguished by a greater tenderness for life, and consequent\nabstinence from animal food, and a worship less cruel than that of the\nfollowers of Siva.\n\n JUGGERNAUT\n\nWhether the worshippers of Juggernaut are to be reckoned among the\nfollowers of Vishnu or Siva, our authorities differ. The temple stands\nnear the shore, about three hundred miles south-west of Calcutta. The\nidol is a carved block of wood, with a hideous face, painted black, and\na distended blood-red mouth. On festival days the throne of the image is\nplaced on a tower sixty feet high, moving on wheels. Six long ropes are\nattached to the tower, by which the people draw it along. The priests\nand their attendants stand round the throne on the tower, and\noccasionally turn to the worshippers with songs and gestures. While the\ntower moves along numbers of the devout worshippers throw themselves on\nthe ground, in order to be crushed by the wheels, and the multitude\nshout in approbation of the act, as a pleasing sacrifice to the idol.\nEvery year, particularly at two great festivals in March and July,\npilgrims flock in crowds to the temple. Not less than seventy or eighty\nthousand people are said to visit the place on these occasions, when all\ncastes eat together.\n\n CASTES\n\nThe division of the Hindus into classes or castes, with fixed\noccupations, existed from the earliest times. It is supposed by some to\nhave been founded upon conquest, the first three castes being composed\nof a foreign race, who subdued the natives of the country and reduced\nthem to an inferior caste. Others trace it to the fondness of\nperpetuating, by descent from father to son, certain offices or\noccupations.\n\nThe Hindu tradition gives the following account of the origin of the\nvarious castes: At the creation Brahma resolved to give the earth\ninhabitants who should be direct emanations from his own body.\nAccordingly from his mouth came forth the eldest born, Brahma (the\npriest), to whom he confided the four Vedas; from his right arm issued\nShatriya (the warrior), and from his left, the warrior\u2019s wife. His\nthighs produced Vaissyas, male and female (agriculturists and traders),\nand lastly from his feet sprang Sudras (mechanics and laborers).\n\nThe four sons of Brahma, so significantly brought into the world, became\nthe fathers of the human race, and heads of their respective castes.\nThey were commanded to regard the four Vedas as containing all the rules\nof their faith, and all that was necessary to guide them in their\nreligious ceremonies. They were also commanded to take rank in the order\nof their birth, the Brahmans uppermost, as having sprung from the head\nof Brahma.\n\nA strong line of demarcation is drawn between the first three castes and\nthe Sudras. The former are allowed to receive instruction from the\nVedas, which is not permitted to the Sudras. The Brahmans possess the\nprivilege of teaching the Vedas, and were in former times in exclusive\npossession of all knowledge. Though the sovereign of the country was\nchosen from the Shatriya class, also called Rajputs, the Brahmans\npossessed the real power, and were the royal counsellors, the judges and\nmagistrates of the country; their persons and property were inviolable;\nand though they committed the greatest crimes, they could only be\nbanished from the kingdom. They were to be treated by sovereigns with\nthe greatest respect, for \u201ca Brahman, whether learned or ignorant, is a\npowerful divinity.\u201d\n\nWhen the Brahman arrives at years of maturity it becomes his duty to\nmarry. He ought to be supported by the contributions of the rich, and\nnot to be obliged to gain his subsistence by any laborious or productive\noccupation. But as all the Brahmans could not be maintained by the\nworking classes of the community, it was found necessary to allow them\nto engage in productive employments.\n\nWe need say little of the two intermediate classes, whose rank and\nprivileges may be readily inferred from their occupations. The Sudras or\nfourth class are bound to servile attendance on the higher classes,\nespecially the Brahmans, but they may follow mechanical occupations and\npractical arts, as painting and writing, or become traders or\nhusbandmen. Consequently they sometimes grow rich, and it will also\nsometimes happen that Brahmans become poor. That fact works its usual\nconsequence, and rich Sudras sometimes employ poor Brahmans in menial\noccupations.\n\nThere is another class lower even than the Sudras, for it is not one of\nthe original pure classes, but springs from an unauthorized union of\nindividuals of different castes. These are the Pariahs, who are employed\nin the lowest services and treated with the utmost severity. They are\ncompelled to do what no one else can do without pollution. They are not\nonly considered unclean themselves, but they render unclean everything\nthey touch. They are deprived of all civil rights, and stigmatized by\nparticular laws regulating their mode of life, their houses, and their\nfurniture. They are not allowed to visit the pagodas or temples of the\nother castes, but have their own pagodas and religious exercises. They\nare not suffered to enter the houses of the other castes; if it is done\nincautiously or from necessity, the place must be purified by religious\nceremonies. They must not appear at public markets, and are confined to\nthe use of particular wells, which they are obliged to surround with\nbones of animals, to warn others against using them. They dwell in\nmiserable hovels, distant from cities and villages, and are under no\nrestrictions in regard to food, which last is not a privilege, but a\nmark of ignominy, as if they were so degraded that nothing could pollute\nthem. The three higher castes are prohibited entirely the use of flesh.\nThe fourth is allowed to use all kinds except beef, but only the lowest\ncaste is allowed every kind of food without restriction.\n\n BUDDHA\n\nBuddha, whom the Vedas represent as a delusive incarnation of Vishnu, is\nsaid by his followers to have been a mortal sage, whose name was\nGautama, called also by the complimentary epithets of Sakyasinha, the\nLion, and Buddha, the Sage.\n\nBy a comparison of the various epochs assigned to his birth, it is\ninferred that he lived about one thousand years before Christ.\n\nHe was the son of a king; and when in conformity to the usage of the\ncountry he was, a few days after his birth, presented before the altar\nof a deity, the image is said to have inclined its head as a presage of\nthe future greatness of the new-born prophet. The child soon developed\nfaculties of the first order, and became equally distinguished by the\nuncommon beauty of his person. No sooner had he grown to years of\nmaturity than he began to reflect deeply on the depravity and misery of\nmankind, and he conceived the idea of retiring from society and devoting\nhimself to meditation. His father in vain opposed this design. Buddha\nescaped the vigilance of his guards, and having found a secure retreat,\nlived for six years undisturbed in his devout contemplations. At the\nexpiration of that period he came forward at Benares as a religious\nteacher. At first some who heard him doubted of the soundness of his\nmind; but his doctrines soon gained credit, and were propagated so\nrapidly that Buddha himself lived to see them spread all over India. He\ndied at the age of eighty years.\n\nThe Buddhists reject entirely the authority of the Vedas, and the\nreligious observances prescribed in them and kept by the Hindus. They\nalso reject the distinction of castes, and prohibit all bloody\nsacrifices, and allow animal food. Their priests are chosen from all\nclasses; they are expected to procure their maintenance by perambulation\nand begging, and among other things it is their duty to endeavor to turn\nto some use things thrown aside as useless by others, and to discover\nthe medicinal power of plants. But in Ceylon three orders of priests are\nrecognized; those of the highest order are usually men of high birth and\nlearning, and are supported at the principal temples, most of which have\nbeen richly endowed by the former monarchs of the country.\n\nFor several centuries after the appearance of Buddha, his sect seems to\nhave been tolerated by the Brahmans, and Buddhism appears to have\npenetrated the peninsula of Hindustan in every direction, and to have\nbeen carried to Ceylon, and to the eastern peninsula. But afterwards it\nhad to endure in India a long-continued persecution, which ultimately\nhad the effect of entirely abolishing it in the country where it had\noriginated, but to scatter it widely over adjacent countries. Buddhism\nappears to have been introduced into China about the year 65 of our era.\nFrom China it was subsequently extended to Corea, Japan, and Java.\n\n THE GRAND LAMA\n\nIt is a doctrine alike of the Brahminical Hindus and of the Buddhist\nsect that the confinement of the human soul, an emanation of the divine\nspirit, in a human body, is a state of misery, and the consequence of\nfrailties and sins committed during former existences. But they hold\nthat some few individuals have appeared on this earth from time to time,\nnot under the necessity of terrestrial existence, but who voluntarily\ndescended to the earth to promote the welfare of mankind. These\nindividuals have gradually assumed the character of reappearances of\nBuddha himself, in which capacity the line is continued till the present\nday, in the several Lamas of Thibet, China, and other countries where\nBuddhism prevails. In consequence of the victories of Gengis Khan and\nhis successors, the Lama residing in Thibet was raised to the dignity of\nchief pontiff of the sect. A separate province was assigned to him as\nhis own territory, and besides his spiritual dignity he became to a\nlimited extent a temporal monarch. He is styled the Dalai Lama.\n\nThe first Christian missionaries who proceeded to Thibet were surprised\nto find there in the heart of Asia a pontifical court and several other\necclesiastical institutions resembling those of the Roman Catholic\nchurch. They found convents for priests and nuns; also processions and\nforms of religious worship, attended with much pomp and splendor; and\nmany were induced by these similarities to consider Lamaism as a sort of\ndegenerated Christianity. It is not improbable that the Lamas derived\nsome of these practices from the Nestorian Christians, who were settled\nin Tartary when Buddhism was introduced into Thibet.\n\n PRESTER JOHN\n\nAn early account, communicated probably by travelling merchants, of a\nLama or spiritual chief among the Tartars, seems to have occasioned in\nEurope the report of a Presbyter or Prester John, a Christian pontiff\nresident in Upper Asia. The Pope sent a mission in search of him, as did\nalso Louis IX. of France, some years later, but both missions were\nunsuccessful, though the small communities of Nestorian Christians,\nwhich they did find, served to keep up the belief in Europe that such a\npersonage did exist somewhere in the East. At last in the fifteenth\ncentury, a Portuguese traveller, Pedro Covilham, happening to hear that\nthere was a Christian prince in the country of the Abessines\n(Abyssinia), not far from the Red Sea, concluded that this must be the\ntrue Prester John. He accordingly went thither, and penetrated to the\ncourt of the king, whom he calls Negus. Milton alludes to him in\n\u201cParadise Lost,\u201d Book XI., where, describing Adam\u2019s vision of his\ndescendants in their various nations and cities, scattered over the face\nof the earth, he says,\u2014\n\n \u201c. . . Nor did his eyes not ken\n Th\u2019 empire of Negus, to his utmost port,\n Ercoco, and the less maritime kings,\n Mombaza and Quiloa and Melind.\u201d\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XXXVIII\n\n NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY\u2014VALHALLA\u2014THE VALKYRIOR\n\n NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY\n\nTHE stories which have engaged our attention thus far relate to the\nmythology of southern regions. But there is another branch of ancient\nsuperstitions which ought not to be entirely overlooked, especially as\nit belongs to the nations from which we, through our English ancestors,\nderive our origin. It is that of the northern nations, called\nScandinavians, who inhabited the countries now known as Sweden, Denmark,\nNorway, and Iceland. These mythological records are contained in two\ncollections called the Eddas, of which the oldest is in poetry and dates\nback to the year 1056, the more modern or prose Edda being of the date\nof 1640.\n\nAccording to the Eddas there was once no heaven above nor earth beneath,\nbut only a bottomless deep, and a world of mist in which flowed a\nfountain. Twelve rivers issued from this fountain, and when they had\nflowed far from their source, they froze into ice, and one layer\naccumulating over another, the great deep was filled up.\n\nSouthward from the world of mist was the world of light. From this\nflowed a warm wind upon the ice and melted it. The vapors rose in the\nair and formed clouds, from which sprang Ymir, the Frost giant and his\nprogeny, and the cow Audhumbla, whose milk afforded nourishment and food\nto the giant. The cow got nourishment by licking the hoar frost and salt\nfrom the ice. While she was one day licking the salt stones there\nappeared at first the hair of a man, on the second day the whole head,\nand on the third the entire form endowed with beauty, agility, and\npower. This new being was a god, from whom and his wife, a daughter of\nthe giant race, sprang the three brothers Odin, Vili, and Ve. They slew\nthe giant Ymir, and out of his body formed the earth, of his blood the\nseas, of his bones the mountains, of his hair the trees, of his skull\nthe heavens, and of his brain clouds, charged with hail and snow. Of\nYmir\u2019s eyebrows the gods formed Midgard (mid earth), destined to become\nthe abode of man.\n\nOdin then regulated the periods of day and night and the seasons by\nplacing in the heavens the sun and moon and appointing to them their\nrespective courses. As soon as the sun began to shed its rays upon the\nearth, it caused the vegetable world to bud and sprout. Shortly after\nthe gods had created the world they walked by the side of the sea,\npleased with their new work, but found that it was still incomplete, for\nit was without human beings. They therefore took an ash tree and made a\nman out of it, and they made a woman out of an elder, and called the man\nAske and the woman Embla. Odin then gave them life and soul, Vili reason\nand motion, and Ve bestowed upon them the senses, expressive features,\nand speech. Midgard was then given them as their residence, and they\nbecame the progenitors of the human race.\n\nThe mighty ash tree Ygdrasill was supposed to support the whole\nuniverse. It sprang from the body of Ymir, and had three immense roots,\nextending one into Asgard (the dwelling of the gods), the other into\nJotunheim (the abode of the giants), and the third to Niffleheim (the\nregions of darkness and cold). By the side of each of these roots is a\nspring, from which it is watered. The root that extends into Asgard is\ncarefully tended by the three Norns, goddesses, who are regarded as the\ndispensers of fate. They are Urdur (the past), Verdandi (the present),\nSkuld (the future). The spring at the Jotunheim side is Ymir\u2019s well, in\nwhich wisdom and wit lie hidden, but that of Niffleheim feeds the adder\nNidhogge (darkness), which perpetually gnaws at the root. Four harts run\nacross the branches of the tree and bite the buds; they represent the\nfour winds. Under the tree lies Ymir, and when he tries to shake off its\nweight the earth quakes.\n\nAsgard is the name of the abode of the gods, access to which is only\ngained by crossing the bridge Bifrost (the rainbow). Asgard consists of\ngolden and silver palaces, the dwellings of the gods, but the most\nbeautiful of these is Valhalla, the residence of Odin. When seated on\nhis throne he overlooks all heaven and earth. Upon his shoulders are the\nravens Hugin and Munin, who fly every day over the whole world, and on\ntheir return report to him all they have seen and heard. At his feet lie\nhis two wolves, Geri and Freki, to whom Odin gives all the meat that is\nset before him, for he himself stands in no need of food. Mead is for\nhim both food and drink. He invented the Runic characters, and it is the\nbusiness of the Norns to engrave the runes of fate upon a metal shield.\nFrom Odin\u2019s name, spelt Woden, as it sometimes is, came Wednesday, the\nname of the fourth day of the week.\n\nOdin is frequently called Alfadur (All-father), but this name is\nsometimes used in a way that shows that the Scandinavians had an idea of\na deity superior to Odin, uncreated and eternal.\n\n OF THE JOYS OF VALHALLA\n\nValhalla is the great hall of Odin, wherein he feasts with his chosen\nheroes, all those who have fallen bravely in battle, for all who die a\npeaceful death are excluded. The flesh of the boar Schrimnir is served\nup to them, and is abundant for all. For although this boar is cooked\nevery morning, he becomes whole again every night. For drink the heroes\nare supplied abundantly with mead from the she-goat Heidrum. When the\nheroes are not feasting they amuse themselves with fighting. Every day\nthey ride out into the court or field and fight until they cut each\nother in pieces. This is their pastime; but when meal time comes they\nrecover from their wounds and return to feast in Valhalla.\n\n THE VALKYRIE\n\nThe Valkyrie are warlike virgins, mounted upon horses and armed with\nhelmets and spears. Odin, who is desirous to collect a great many heroes\nin Valhalla to be able to meet the giants in a day when the final\ncontest must come, sends them down to every battlefield to make choice\nof those who shall be slain. The Valkyrie are his messengers, and their\nname means \u201cChoosers of the slain.\u201d When they ride forth on their\nerrand, their armor sheds a strange flickering light, which flashes up\nover the northern skies, making what men call the \u201cAurora Borealis,\u201d or\n\u201cNorthern Lights.\u201d[37]\n\n OF THOR AND THE OTHER GODS\n\nThor, the thunderer, Odin\u2019s eldest son, is the strongest of gods and\nmen, and possesses three very precious things. The first is a hammer,\nwhich both the Frost and the Mountain giants know to their cost, when\nthey see it hurled against them in the air, for it has split many a\nskull of their fathers and kindred. When thrown, it returns to his hand\nof its own accord. The second rare thing he possesses is called the belt\nof strength. When he girds it about him his divine might is doubled. The\nthird, also very precious, is his iron gloves, which he puts on whenever\nhe would use his mallet efficiently. From Thor\u2019s name is derived our\nword Thursday.\n\nFrey is one of the most celebrated of the gods. He presides over rain\nand sunshine and all the fruits of the earth. His sister Freya is the\nmost propitious of the goddesses. She loves music, spring, and flowers,\nand is particularly fond of the Elves (fairies). She is very fond of\nlove ditties, and all lovers would do well to invoke her.\n\nBragi is the god of poetry, and his song records the deeds of warriors.\nHis wife, Iduna, keeps in a box the apples which the gods, when they\nfeel old age approaching, have only to taste of to become young again.\n\nHeimdall is the watchman of the gods, and is therefore placed on the\nborders of heaven to prevent the giants from forcing their way over the\nbridge Bifrost (the rainbow). He requires less sleep than a bird, and\nsees by night as well as by day a hundred miles around him. So acute is\nhis ear that no sound escapes him, for he can even hear the grass grow\nand the wool on a sheep\u2019s back.\n\n OF LOKI AND HIS PROGENY\n\nThere is another deity who is described as the calumniator of the gods\nand the contriver of all fraud and mischief. His name is Loki. He is\nhandsome and well made, but of a very fickle mood and most evil\ndisposition. He is of the giant race, but forced himself into the\ncompany of the gods, and seems to take pleasure in bringing them into\ndifficulties, and in extricating them out of the danger by his cunning,\nwit, and skill. Loki has three children. The first is the wolf Fenris,\nthe second the Midgard serpent, the third Hela (Death). The gods were\nnot ignorant that these monsters were growing up, and that they would\none day bring much evil upon gods and men. So Odin deemed it advisable\nto send one to bring them to him. When they came he threw the serpent\ninto that deep ocean by which the earth is surrounded. But the monster\nhad grown to such an enormous size that holding his tail in his mouth he\nencircles the whole earth. Hela he cast into Niffleheim, and gave her\npower over nine worlds or regions, into which she distributes those who\nare sent to her; that is, all who die of sickness or old age. Her hall\nis called Elvidner. Hunger is her table, Starvation her knife, Delay her\nman, Slowness her maid, Precipice her threshold, Care her bed, and\nBurning Anguish forms the hangings of the apartments. She may easily be\nrecognized, for her body is half flesh color and half blue, and she has\na dreadfully stern and forbidding countenance.\n\nThe wolf Fenris gave the gods a great deal of trouble before they\nsucceeded in chaining him. He broke the strongest fetters as if they\nwere made of cobwebs. Finally the gods sent a messenger to the mountain\nspirits, who made for them the chain called Gleipnir. It is fashioned of\nsix things, viz., the noise made by the footfall of a cat, the beards of\nwomen, the roots of stones, the breath of fishes, the nerves\n(sensibilities) of bears, and the spittle of birds. When finished it was\nas smooth and soft as a silken string. But when the gods asked the wolf\nto suffer himself to be bound with this apparently slight ribbon, he\nsuspected their design, fearing that it was made by enchantment. He\ntherefore only consented to be bound with it upon condition that one of\nthe gods put his hand in his (Fenris\u2019s) mouth as a pledge that the band\nwas to be removed again. Tyr (the god of battles) alone had courage\nenough to do this. But when the wolf found that he could not break his\nfetters, and that the gods would not release him, he bit off Tyr\u2019s hand,\nand he has ever since remained one-handed.\n\n HOW THOR PAID THE MOUNTAIN GIANT HIS WAGES\n\nOnce on a time, when the gods were constructing their abodes and had\nalready finished Midgard and Valhalla, a certain artificer came and\noffered to build them a residence so well fortified that they should be\nperfectly safe from the incursions of the Frost giants and the giants of\nthe mountains. But he demanded for his reward the goddess Freya,\ntogether with the sun and moon. The gods yielded to his terms, provided\nhe would finish the whole work himself without any one\u2019s assistance, and\nall within the space of one winter. But if anything remained unfinished\non the first day of summer he should forfeit the recompense agreed on.\nOn being told these terms the artificer stipulated that he should be\nallowed the use of his horse Svadilfari, and this by the advice of Loki\nwas granted to him. He accordingly set to work on the first day of\nwinter, and during the night let his horse draw stone for the building.\nThe enormous size of the stones struck the gods with astonishment, and\nthey saw clearly that the horse did one-half more of the toilsome work\nthan his master. Their bargain, however, had been concluded, and\nconfirmed by solemn oaths, for without these precautions a giant would\nnot have thought himself safe among the gods, especially when Thor\nshould return from an expedition he had then undertaken against the evil\ndemons.\n\nAs the winter drew to a close, the building was far advanced, and the\nbulwarks were sufficiently high and massive to render the place\nimpregnable. In short, when it wanted but three days to summer, the only\npart that remained to be finished was the gateway. Then sat the gods on\ntheir seats of justice and entered into consultation, inquiring of one\nanother who among them could have advised to give Freya away, or to\nplunge the heavens in darkness by permitting the giant to carry away the\nsun and the moon.\n\nThey all agreed that no one but Loki, the author of so many evil deeds,\ncould have given such bad counsel, and that he should be put to a cruel\ndeath if he did not contrive some way to prevent the artificer from\ncompleting his task and obtaining the stipulated recompense. They\nproceeded to lay hands on Loki, who in his fright promised upon oath\nthat, let it cost him what it would, he would so manage matters that the\nman should lose his reward. That very night when the man went with\nSvadilfari for building stone, a mare suddenly ran out of a forest and\nbegan to neigh. The horse thereat broke loose and ran after the mare\ninto the forest, which obliged the man also to run after his horse, and\nthus between one and another the whole night was lost, so that at dawn\nthe work had not made the usual progress. The man, seeing that he must\nfail of completing his task, resumed his own gigantic stature, and the\ngods now clearly perceived that it was in reality a mountain giant who\nhad come amongst them. Feeling no longer bound by their oaths, they\ncalled on Thor, who immediately ran to their assistance, and lifting up\nhis mallet, paid the workman his wages, not with the sun and moon, and\nnot even by sending him back to Jotunheim, for with the first blow he\nshattered the giant\u2019s skull to pieces and hurled him headlong into\nNiffleheim.\n\n THE RECOVERY OF THE HAMMER\n\nOnce upon a time it happened that Thor\u2019s hammer fell into the possession\nof the giant Thrym, who buried it eight fathoms deep under the rocks of\nJotunheim. Thor sent Loki to negotiate with Thrym, but he could only\nprevail so far as to get the giant\u2019s promise to restore the weapon if\nFreya would consent to be his bride. Loki returned and reported the\nresult of his mission, but the goddess of love was quite horrified at\nthe idea of bestowing her charms on the king of the Frost giants. In\nthis emergency Loki persuaded Thor to dress himself in Freya\u2019s clothes\nand accompany him to Jotunheim. Thrym received his veiled bride with due\ncourtesy, but was greatly surprised at seeing her eat for her supper\neight salmons and a full grown ox, besides other delicacies, washing the\nwhole down with three tuns of mead. Loki, however, assured him that she\nhad not tasted anything for eight long nights, so great was her desire\nto see her lover, the renowned ruler of Jotunheim. Thrym had at length\nthe curiosity to peep under his bride\u2019s veil, but started back in\naffright and demanded why Freya\u2019s eyeballs glistened with fire. Loki\nrepeated the same excuse and the giant was satisfied. He ordered the\nhammer to be brought in and laid on the maiden\u2019s lap. Thereupon Thor\nthrew off his disguise, grasped his redoubted weapon, and slaughtered\nThrym and all his followers.\n\nFrey also possessed a wonderful weapon, a sword which would of itself\nspread a field with carnage whenever the owner desired it. Frey parted\nwith this sword, but was less fortunate than Thor and never recovered\nit. It happened in this way: Frey once mounted Odin\u2019s throne, from\nwhence one can see over the whole universe, and looking round saw far\noff in the giant\u2019s kingdom a beautiful maid, at the sight of whom he was\nstruck with sudden sadness, insomuch that from that moment he could\nneither sleep, nor drink, nor speak. At last Skirnir, his messenger,\ndrew his secret from him, and undertook to get him the maiden for his\nbride, if he would give him his sword as a reward. Frey consented and\ngave him the sword, and Skirnir set off on his journey and obtained the\nmaiden\u2019s promise that within nine nights she would come to a certain\nplace and there wed Frey. Skirnir having reported the success of his\nerrand, Frey exclaimed:\n\n \u201cLong is one night,\n Long are two nights,\n But how shall I hold out three?\n Shorter hath seemed\n A month to me oft\n Than of this longing time the half.\u201d\n\nSo Frey obtained Gerda, the most beautiful of all women, for his wife,\nbut he lost his sword.\n\n\n\nThis story, entitled \u201cSkirnir For,\u201d and the one immediately preceding\nit, \u201cThrym\u2019s Quida,\u201d will be found poetically told in Longfellow\u2019s\n\u201cPoets and Poetry of Europe.\u201d\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XXXIX\n\n THOR\u2019S VISIT TO JOTUNHEIM\n\n THOR\u2019S VISIT TO JOTUNHEIM, THE GIANT\u2019S COUNTRY\n\nONE day the god Thor, with his servant Thialfi, and accompanied by Loki,\nset out on a journey to the giant\u2019s country. Thialfi was of all men the\nswiftest of foot. He bore Thor\u2019s wallet, containing their provisions.\nWhen night came on they found themselves in an immense forest, and\nsearched on all sides for a place where they might pass the night, and\nat last came to a very large hall, with an entrance that took the whole\nbreadth of one end of the building. Here they lay down to sleep, but\ntowards midnight were alarmed by an earthquake which shook the whole\nedifice. Thor, rising up, called on his companions to seek with him a\nplace of safety. On the right they found an adjoining chamber, into\nwhich the others entered, but Thor remained at the doorway with his\nmallet in his hand, prepared to defend himself, whatever might happen. A\nterrible groaning was heard during the night, and at dawn of day Thor\nwent out and found lying near him a huge giant, who slept and snored in\nthe way that had alarmed them so. It is said that for once Thor was\nafraid to use his mallet, and as the giant soon waked up, Thor contented\nhimself with simply asking his name.\n\n\u201cMy name is Skrymir,\u201d said the giant, \u201cbut I need not ask thy name, for\nI know that thou art the god Thor. But what has become of my glove?\u201d\nThor then perceived that what they had taken overnight for a hall was\nthe giant\u2019s glove, and the chamber where his two companions had sought\nrefuge was the thumb. Skrymir then proposed that they should travel in\ncompany, and Thor consenting, they sat down to eat their breakfast, and\nwhen they had done, Skrymir packed all the provisions into one wallet,\nthrew it over his shoulder, and strode on before them, taking such\ntremendous strides that they were hard put to it to keep up with him. So\nthey travelled the whole day, and at dusk Skrymir chose a place for them\nto pass the night in under a large oak tree. Skrymir then told them he\nwould lie down to sleep. \u201cBut take ye the wallet,\u201d he added, \u201cand\nprepare your supper.\u201d\n\nSkrymir soon fell asleep and began to snore strongly; but when Thor\ntried to open the wallet, he found the giant had tied it up so tight he\ncould not untie a single knot. At last Thor became wroth, and grasping\nhis mallet with both hands he struck a furious blow on the giant\u2019s head.\nSkrymir, awakening, merely asked whether a leaf had not fallen on his\nhead, and whether they had supped and were ready to go to sleep. Thor\nanswered that they were just going to sleep, and so saying went and laid\nhimself down under another tree. But sleep came not that night to Thor,\nand when Skrymir snored again so loud that the forest re\u00ebchoed with the\nnoise, he arose, and grasping his mallet launched it with such force at\nthe giant\u2019s skull that it made a deep dint in it. Skrymir, awakening,\ncried out, \u201cWhat\u2019s the matter? Are there any birds perched on this tree?\nI felt some moss from the branches fall on my head. How fares it with\nthee, Thor?\u201d But Thor went away hastily, saying that he had just then\nawoke, and that as it was only midnight, there was still time for sleep.\nHe, however, resolved that if he had an opportunity of striking a third\nblow, it should settle all matters between them. A little before\ndaybreak he perceived that Skrymir was again fast asleep, and again\ngrasping his mallet, he dashed it with such violence that it forced its\nway into the giant\u2019s skull up to the handle. But Skrymir sat up, and\nstroking his cheek said, \u201cAn acorn fell on my head. What! Art thou\nawake, Thor? Methinks it is time for us to get up and dress ourselves;\nbut you have not now a long way before you to the city called Utgard. I\nhave heard you whispering to one another that I am not a man of small\ndimensions; but if you come to Utgard you will see there many men much\ntaller than I. Wherefore, I advise you, when you come there, not to make\ntoo much of yourselves, for the followers of Utgard-Loki will not brook\nthe boasting of such little fellows as you are. You must take the road\nthat leads eastward, mine lies northward, so we must part here.\u201d\n\nHereupon he threw his wallet over his shoulders and turned away from\nthem into the forest, and Thor had no wish to stop him or to ask for any\nmore of his company.\n\nThor and his companions proceeded on their way, and towards noon\ndescried a city standing in the middle of a plain. It was so lofty that\nthey were obliged to bend their necks quite back on their shoulders in\norder to see to the top of it. On arriving they entered the city, and\nseeing a large palace before them with the door wide open, they went in,\nand found a number of men of prodigious stature, sitting on benches in\nthe hall. Going further, they came before the king, Utgard-Loki, whom\nthey saluted with great respect. The king, regarding them with a\nscornful smile, said, \u201cIf I do not mistake me, that stripling yonder\nmust be the god Thor.\u201d Then addressing himself to Thor, he said,\n\u201cPerhaps thou mayst be more than thou appearest to be. What are the\nfeats that thou and thy fellows deem yourselves skilled in, for no one\nis permitted to remain here who does not, in some feat or other, excel\nall other men?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe feat that I know,\u201d said Loki, \u201cis to eat quicker than any one else,\nand in this I am ready to give a proof against any one here who may\nchoose to compete with me.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat will indeed be a feat,\u201d said Utgard-Loki, \u201cif thou performest what\nthou promisest, and it shall be tried forthwith.\u201d\n\nHe then ordered one of his men who was sitting at the farther end of the\nbench, and whose name was Logi, to come forward and try his skill with\nLoki. A trough filled with meat having been set on the hall floor, Loki\nplaced himself at one end, and Logi at the other, and each of them began\nto eat as fast as he could, until they met in the middle of the trough.\nBut it was found that Loki had only eaten the flesh, while his adversary\nhad devoured both flesh and bone, and the trough to boot. All the\ncompany therefore adjudged that Loki was vanquished.\n\nUtgard-Loki then asked what feat the young man who accompanied Thor\ncould perform. Thialfi answered that he would run a race with any one\nwho might be matched against him. The king observed that skill in\nrunning was something to boast of, but if the youth would win the match\nhe must display great agility. He then arose and went with all who were\npresent to a plain where there was good ground for running on, and\ncalling a young man named Hugi, bade him run a match with Thialfi. In\nthe first course Hugi so much outstripped his competitor that he turned\nback and met him not far from the starting place. Then they ran a second\nand a third time, but Thialfi met with no better success.\n\nUtgard-Loki then asked Thor in what feats he would choose to give proofs\nof that prowess for which he was so famous. Thor answered that he would\ntry a drinking-match with any one. Utgard-Loki bade his cup-bearer bring\nthe large horn which his followers were obliged to empty when they had\ntrespassed in any way against the law of the feast. The cupbearer having\npresented it to Thor, Utgard-Loki said, \u201cWhoever is a good drinker will\nempty that horn at a single draught, though most men make two of it, but\nthe most puny drinker can do it in three.\u201d\n\nThor looked at the horn, which seemed of no extraordinary size though\nsomewhat long; however, as he was very thirsty, he set it to his lips,\nand without drawing breath, pulled as long and as deeply as he could,\nthat he might not be obliged to make a second draught of it; but when he\nset the horn down and looked in, he could scarcely perceive that the\nliquor was diminished.\n\nAfter taking breath, Thor went to it again with all his might, but when\nhe took the horn from his mouth, it seemed to him that he had drunk\nrather less than before, although the horn could now be carried without\nspilling.\n\n\u201cHow now, Thor?\u201d said Utgard-Loki; \u201cthou must not spare thyself; if thou\nmeanest to drain the horn at the third draught thou must pull deeply;\nand I must needs say that thou wilt not be called so mighty a man here\nas thou art at home if thou showest no greater prowess in other feats\nthan methinks will be shown in this.\u201d\n\nThor, full of wrath, again set the horn to his lips, and did his best to\nempty it; but on looking in found the liquor was only a little lower, so\nhe resolved to make no further attempt, but gave back the horn to the\ncupbearer.\n\n\u201cI now see plainly,\u201d said Utgard-Loki, \u201cthat thou art not quite so stout\nas we thought thee: but wilt thou try any other feat, though methinks\nthou art not likely to bear any prize away with thee hence.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat new trial hast thou to propose?\u201d said Thor.\n\n\u201cWe have a very trifling game here,\u201d answered Utgard-Loki, \u201cin which we\nexercise none but children. It consists in merely lifting my cat from\nthe ground; nor should I have dared to mention such a feat to the great\nThor if I had not already observed that thou art by no means what we\ntook thee for.\u201d\n\nAs he finished speaking, a large gray cat sprang on the hall floor. Thor\nput his hand under the cat\u2019s belly and did his utmost to raise him from\nthe floor, but the cat, bending his back, had, notwithstanding all\nThor\u2019s efforts, only one of his feet lifted up, seeing which Thor made\nno further attempt.\n\n\u201cThis trial has turned out,\u201d said Utgard-Loki, \u201cjust as I imagined it\nwould. The cat is large, but Thor is little in comparison to our men.\u201d\n\n\u201cLittle as ye call me,\u201d answered Thor, \u201clet me see who among you will\ncome hither now I am in wrath and wrestle with me.\u201d\n\n\u201cI see no one here,\u201d said Utgard-Loki, looking at the men sitting on the\nbenches, \u201cwho would not think it beneath him to wrestle with thee; let\nsomebody, however, call hither that old crone, my nurse Elli, and let\nThor wrestle with her if he will. She has thrown to the ground many a\nman not less strong than this Thor is.\u201d\n\nA toothless old woman then entered the hall, and was told by Utgard-Loki\nto take hold of Thor. The tale is shortly told. The more Thor tightened\nhis hold on the crone the firmer she stood. At length after a very\nviolent struggle Thor began to lose his footing, and was finally brought\ndown upon one knee. Utgard-Loki then told them to desist, adding that\nThor had now no occasion to ask any one else in the hall to wrestle with\nhim, and it was also getting late; so he showed Thor and his companions\nto their seats, and they passed the night there in good cheer.\n\nThe next morning, at break of day, Thor and his companions dressed\nthemselves and prepared for their departure. Utgard-Loki ordered a table\nto be set for them, on which there was no lack of victuals or drink.\nAfter the repast Utgard-Loki led them to the gate of the city, and on\nparting asked Thor how he thought his journey had turned out, and\nwhether he had met with any men stronger than himself. Thor told him\nthat he could not deny but that he had brought great shame on himself.\n\u201cAnd what grieves me most,\u201d he added, \u201cis that ye will call me a person\nof little worth.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay,\u201d said Utgard-Loki, \u201cit behooves me to tell thee the truth, now\nthou art out of the city, which so long as I live and have my way thou\nshalt never enter again. And, by my troth, had I known beforehand that\nthou hadst so much strength in thee, and wouldst have brought me so near\nto a great mishap, I would not have suffered thee to enter this time.\nKnow then that I have all along deceived thee by my illusions; first in\nthe forest, where I tied up the wallet with iron wire so that thou\ncouldst not untie it. After this thou gavest me three blows with thy\nmallet; the first, though the least, would have ended my days had it\nfallen on me, but I slipped aside and thy blows fell on the mountain,\nwhere thou wilt find three glens, one of them remarkably deep. These are\nthe dints made by thy mallet. I have made use of similar illusions in\nthe contests you have had with my followers. In the first, Loki, like\nhunger itself, devoured all that was set before him, but Loki was in\nreality nothing else than Fire, and therefore consumed not only the\nmeat, but the trough which held it. Hugi, with whom Thialfi contended in\nrunning, was Thought, and it was impossible for Thialfi to keep pace\nwith that. When thou in thy turn didst attempt to empty the horn, thou\ndidst perform, by my troth, a deed so marvellous that had I not seen it\nmyself I should never have believed it. For one end of that horn reached\nthe sea, which thou wast not aware of, but when thou comest to the shore\nthou wilt perceive how much the sea has sunk by thy draughts. Thou didst\nperform a feat no less wonderful by lifting up the cat, and to tell thee\nthe truth, when we saw that one of his paws was off the floor, we were\nall of us terror-stricken, for what thou tookest for a cat was in\nreality the Midgard serpent that encompasseth the earth, and he was so\nstretched by thee that he was barely long enough to enclose it between\nhis head and tail. Thy wrestling with Elli was also a most astonishing\nfeat, for there was never yet a man, nor ever will be, whom Old Age, for\nsuch in fact was Elli, will not sooner or later lay low. But now, as we\nare going to part, let me tell thee that it will be better for both of\nus if thou never come near me again, for shouldst thou do so, I shall\nagain defend myself by other illusions, so that thou wilt only lose thy\nlabor and get no fame from the contest with me.\u201d\n\nOn hearing these words Thor in a rage laid hold of his mallet and would\nhave launched it at him, but Utgard-Loki had disappeared, and when Thor\nwould have returned to the city to destroy it, he found nothing around\nhim but a verdant plain.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XL\n\n THE DEATH OF BALDUR\u2014THE ELVES\u2014RUNIC LETTERS\u2014ICELAND\u2014TEUTONIC\n MYTHOLOGY\u2014NIBELUNGEN LIED\n\n THE DEATH OF BALDUR\n\nBALDUR the Good, having been tormented with terrible dreams indicating\nthat his life was in peril, told them to the assembled gods, who\nresolved to conjure all things to avert from him the threatened danger.\nThen Frigga, the wife of Odin, exacted an oath from fire and water, from\niron and all other metals, from stones, trees, diseases, beasts, birds,\npoisons, and creeping things, that none of them would do any harm to\nBaldur. Odin, not satisfied with all this, and feeling alarmed for the\nfate of his son, determined to consult the prophetess Angerbode, a\ngiantess, mother of Fenris, Hela, and the Midgard serpent. She was dead,\nand Odin was forced to seek her in Hela\u2019s dominions. This Descent of\nOdin forms the subject of Gray\u2019s fine ode beginning,\u2014\n\n \u201cUprose the king of men with speed\n And saddled straight his coal-black steed.\u201d\n\nBut the other gods, feeling that what Frigga had done was quite\nsufficient, amused themselves with using Baldur as a mark, some hurling\ndarts at him, some stones, while others hewed at him with their swords\nand battle-axes; for do what they would, none of them could harm him.\nAnd this became a favorite pastime with them and was regarded as an\nhonor shown to Baldur. But when Loki beheld the scene he was sorely\nvexed that Baldur was not hurt. Assuming, therefore, the shape of a\nwoman, he went to Fensalir, the mansion of Frigga. That goddess, when\nshe saw the pretended woman, inquired of her if she knew what the gods\nwere doing at their meetings. She replied that they were throwing darts\nand stones at Baldur, without being able to hurt him. \u201cAy,\u201d said Frigga,\n\u201cneither stones, nor sticks, nor anything else can hurt Baldur, for I\nhave exacted an oath from all of them.\u201d \u201cWhat,\u201d exclaimed the woman,\n\u201chave all things sworn to spare Baldur?\u201d \u201cAll things,\u201d replied Frigga,\n\u201cexcept one little shrub that grows on the eastern side of Valhalla, and\nis called Mistletoe, and which I thought too young and feeble to crave\nan oath from.\u201d\n\nAs soon as Loki heard this he went away, and resuming his natural shape,\ncut off the mistletoe, and repaired to the place where the gods were\nassembled. There he found Hodur standing apart, without partaking of the\nsports, on account of his blindness, and going up to him, said, \u201cWhy\ndost thou not also throw something at Baldur?\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause I am blind,\u201d answered Hodur, \u201cand see not where Baldur is, and\nhave, moreover, nothing to throw.\u201d\n\n\u201cCome, then,\u201d said Loki, \u201cdo like the rest, and show honor to Baldur by\nthrowing this twig at him, and I will direct thy arm towards the place\nwhere he stands.\u201d\n\nHodur then took the mistletoe, and under the guidance of Loki, darted it\nat Baldur, who, pierced through and through, fell down lifeless. Surely\nnever was there witnessed, either among gods or men, a more atrocious\ndeed than this. When Baldur fell, the gods were struck speechless with\nhorror, and then they looked at each other, and all were of one mind to\nlay hands on him who had done the deed, but they were obliged to delay\ntheir vengeance out of respect for the sacred place where they were\nassembled. They gave vent to their grief by loud lamentations. When the\ngods came to themselves, Frigga asked who among them wished to gain all\nher love and good will. \u201cFor this,\u201d said she, \u201cshall he have who will\nride to Hel and offer Hela a ransom if she will let Baldur return to\nAsgard.\u201d Whereupon Hermod, surnamed the Nimble, the son of Odin, offered\nto undertake the journey. Odin\u2019s horse, Sleipnir, which has eight legs\nand can outrun the wind, was then led forth, on which Hermod mounted and\ngalloped away on his mission. For the space of nine days and as many\nnights he rode through deep glens so dark that he could not discern\nanything, until he arrived at the river Gyoll, which he passed over on a\nbridge covered with glittering gold. The maiden who kept the bridge\nasked him his name and lineage, telling him that the day before five\nbands of dead persons had ridden over the bridge, and did not shake it\nas much as he alone. \u201cBut,\u201d she added, \u201cthou hast not death\u2019s hue on\nthee; why then ridest thou here on the way to Hel?\u201d\n\n\u201cI ride to Hel,\u201d answered Hermod, \u201cto seek Baldur. Hast thou perchance\nseen him pass this way?\u201d\n\nShe replied, \u201cBaldur hath ridden over Gyoll\u2019s bridge, and yonder lieth\nthe way he took to the abodes of death.\u201d\n\nHermod pursued his journey until he came to the barred gates of Hel.\nHere he alighted, girthed his saddle tighter, and remounting clapped\nboth spurs to his horse, who cleared the gate by a tremendous leap\nwithout touching it. Hermod then rode on to the palace, where he found\nhis brother Baldur occupying the most distinguished seat in the hall,\nand passed the night in his company. The next morning he besought Hela\nto let Baldur ride home with him, assuring her that nothing but\nlamentations were to be heard among the gods. Hela answered that it\nshould now be tried whether Baldur was so beloved as he was said to be.\n\u201cIf, therefore,\u201d she added, \u201call things in the world, both living and\nlifeless, weep for him, then shall he return to life; but if any one\nthing speak against him or refuse to weep, he shall be kept in Hel.\u201d\n\nHermod then rode back to Asgard and gave an account of all he had heard\nand witnessed.\n\nThe gods upon this despatched messengers throughout the world to beg\neverything to weep in order that Baldur might be delivered from Hel. All\nthings very willingly complied with this request, both men and every\nother living being, as well as earths, and stones, and trees, and\nmetals, just as we have all seen these things weep when they are brought\nfrom a cold place into a hot one. As the messengers were returning, they\nfound an old hag named Thaukt sitting in a cavern, and begged her to\nweep Baldur out of Hel. But she answered,\n\n \u201cThaukt will wail\n With dry tears\n Baldur\u2019s bale-fire.\n Let Hela keep her own.\u201d\n\nIt was strongly suspected that this hag was no other than Loki himself,\nwho never ceased to work evil among gods and men. So Baldur was\nprevented from coming back to Asgard.[38]\n\n THE FUNERAL OF BALDUR\n\nThe gods took up the dead body and bore it to the seashore where stood\nBaldur\u2019s ship \u201cHringham,\u201d which passed for the largest in the world.\nBaldur\u2019s dead body was put on the funeral pile, on board the ship, and\nhis wife Nanna was so struck with grief at the sight that she broke her\nheart, and her body was burned on the same pile as her husband\u2019s. There\nwas a vast concourse of various kinds of people at Baldur\u2019s obsequies.\nFirst came Odin accompanied by Frigga, the Valkyrie, and his ravens;\nthen Frey in his car drawn by Gullinbursti, the boar; Heimdall rode his\nhorse Gulltopp, and Freya drove in her chariot drawn by cats. There were\nalso a great many Frost giants and giants of the mountain present.\nBaldur\u2019s horse was led to the pile fully caparisoned and consumed in the\nsame flames with his master.\n\nBut Loki did not escape his deserved punishment. When he saw how angry\nthe gods were, he fled to the mountain, and there built himself a hut\nwith four doors, so that he could see every approaching danger. He\ninvented a net to catch the fishes, such as fishermen have used since\nhis time. But Odin found out his hidingplace and the gods assembled to\ntake him. He, seeing this, changed himself into a salmon, and lay hid\namong the stones of the brook. But the gods took his net and dragged the\nbrook, and Loki, finding he must be caught, tried to leap over the net;\nbut Thor caught him by the tail and compressed it, so that salmons ever\nsince have had that part remarkably fine and thin. They bound him with\nchains and suspended a serpent over his head, whose venom falls upon his\nface drop by drop. His wife Siguna sits by his side and catches the\ndrops as they fall, in a cup; but when she carries it away to empty it,\nthe venom falls upon Loki, which makes him howl with horror, and twist\nhis body about so violently that the whole earth shakes, and this\nproduces what men call earthquakes.\n\n THE ELVES\n\nThe Edda mentions another class of beings, inferior to the gods, but\nstill possessed of great power; these were called Elves. The white\nspirits, or Elves of Light, were exceedingly fair, more brilliant than\nthe sun, and clad in garments of a delicate and transparent texture.\nThey loved the light, were kindly disposed to mankind, and generally\nappeared as fair and lovely children. Their country was called Alfheim,\nand was the domain of Freyr, the god of the sun, in whose light they\nwere always sporting.\n\nThe Black or Night Elves were a different kind of creatures. Ugly,\nlong-nosed dwarfs, of a dirty brown color, they appeared only at night,\nfor they avoided the sun as their most deadly enemy, because whenever\nhis beams fell upon any of them they changed them immediately into\nstones. Their language was the echo of solitudes, and their\ndwelling-places subterranean caves and clefts. They were supposed to\nhave come into existence as maggots produced by the decaying flesh of\nYmir\u2019s body, and were afterwards endowed by the gods with a human form\nand great understanding. They were particularly distinguished for a\nknowledge of the mysterious powers of nature, and for the runes which\nthey carved and explained. They were the most skilful artificers of all\ncreated beings, and worked in metals and in wood. Among their most noted\nworks were Thor\u2019s hammer, and the ship \u201cSkidbladnir,\u201d which they gave to\nFreyr, and which was so large that it could contain all the deities with\ntheir war and household implements, but so skillfully was it wrought\nthat when folded together it could be put into a side pocket.\n\n RAGNAROK, THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS\n\nIt was a firm belief of the northern nations that a time would come when\nall the visible creation, the gods of Valhalla and Niffleheim, the\ninhabitants of Jotunheim, Alfheim, and Midgard, together with their\nhabitations, would be destroyed. The fearful day of destruction will\nnot, however, be without its forerunners. First will come a triple\nwinter, during which snow will fall from the four corners of the\nheavens, the frost be very severe, the wind piercing, the weather\ntempestuous, and the sun impart no gladness. Three such winters will\npass away without being tempered by a single summer. Three other similar\nwinters will then follow, during which war and discord will spread over\nthe universe. The earth itself will be frightened and begin to tremble,\nthe sea leave its basin, the heavens tear asunder, and men perish in\ngreat numbers, and the eagles of the air feast upon their still\nquivering bodies. The wolf Fenris will now break his bands, the Midgard\nserpent rise out of her bed in the sea, and Loki, released from his\nbonds, will join the enemies of the gods. Amidst the general devastation\nthe sons of Muspelheim will rush forth under their leader Surtur, before\nand behind whom are flames and burning fire. Onward they ride over\nBifrost, the rainbow bridge, which breaks under the horses\u2019 hoofs. But\nthey, disregarding its fall, direct their course to the battlefield\ncalled Vigrid. Thither also repair the wolf Fenris, the Midgard serpent,\nLoki with all the followers of Hela, and the Frost giants.\n\nHeimdall now stands up and sounds the Giallar horn to assemble the gods\nand heroes for the contest. The gods advance, led on by Odin, who\nengages the wolf Fenris, but falls a victim to the monster, who is,\nhowever, slain by Vidar, Odin\u2019s son. Thor gains great renown by killing\nthe Midgard serpent, but recoils and falls dead, suffocated with the\nvenom which the dying monster vomits over him. Loki and Heimdall meet\nand fight till they are both slain. The gods and their enemies having\nfallen in battle, Surtur, who has killed Freyr, darts fire and flames\nover the world, and the whole universe is burned up. The sun becomes\ndim, the earth sinks into the ocean, the stars fall from heaven, and\ntime is no more.\n\nAfter this Alfadur (the Almighty) will cause a new heaven and a new\nearth to arise out of the sea. The new earth filled with abundant\nsupplies will spontaneously produce its fruits without labor or care.\nWickedness and misery will no more be known, but the gods and men will\nlive happily together.\n\n RUNIC LETTERS\n\nOne cannot travel far in Denmark, Norway, or Sweden without meeting with\ngreat stones of different forms, engraven with characters called Runic,\nwhich appear at first sight very different from all we know. The letters\nconsist almost invariably of straight lines, in the shape of little\nsticks either singly or put together. Such sticks were in early times\nused by the northern nations for the purpose of ascertaining future\nevents. The sticks were shaken up, and from the figures that they formed\na kind of divination was derived.\n\nThe Runic characters were of various kinds. They were chiefly used for\nmagical purposes. The noxious, or, as they called them, the _bitter_\nrunes, were employed to bring various evils on their enemies; the\nfavorable averted misfortune. Some were medicinal, others employed to\nwin love, etc. In later times they were frequently used for\ninscriptions, of which more than a thousand have been found. The\nlanguage is a dialect of the Gothic, called Norse, still in use in\nIceland. The inscriptions may therefore be read with certainty, but\nhitherto very few have been found which throw the least light on\nhistory. They are mostly epitaphs on tombstones.\n\n\n\nGray\u2019s ode on the \u201cDescent of Odin\u201d contains an allusion to the use of\nRunic letters for incantation:\n\n \u201cFacing to the northern clime,\n Thrice he traced the Runic rhyme;\n Thrice pronounced, in accents dread,\n The thrilling verse that wakes the dead,\n Till from out the hollow ground\n Slowly breathed a sullen sound.\u201d\n\n THE SKALDS\n\nThe Skalds were the bards and poets of the nation, a very important\nclass of men in all communities in an early stage of civilization. They\nare the depositaries of whatever historic lore there is, and it is their\noffice to mingle something of intellectual gratification with the rude\nfeasts of the warriors, by rehearsing, with such accompaniments of\npoetry and music as their skill can afford, the exploits of their heroes\nliving or dead. The compositions of the Skalds were called Sagas, many\nof which have come down to us, and contain valuable materials of\nhistory, and a faithful picture of the state of society at the time to\nwhich they relate.\n\n ICELAND\n\nThe Eddas and Sagas have come to us from Iceland. The following extract\nfrom Carlyle\u2019s lectures on \u201cHeroes and Hero Worship\u201d gives an animated\naccount of the region where the strange stories we have been reading had\ntheir origin. Let the reader contrast it for a moment with Greece, the\nparent of classical mythology:\n\n\u201cIn that strange island, Iceland,\u2014burst up, the geologists say, by fire\nfrom the bottom of the sea, a wild land of barrenness and lava,\nswallowed many months of every year in black tempests, yet with a wild,\ngleaming beauty in summer time, towering up there stern and grim in the\nNorth Ocean, with its snow yokuls [mountains], roaring geysers [boiling\nsprings], sulphur pools, and horrid volcanic chasms, like the waste,\nchaotic battlefield of Frost and Fire,\u2014where, of all places, we least\nlooked for literature or written memorials,\u2014the record of these things\nwas written down. On the seaboard of this wild land is a rim of grassy\ncountry, where cattle can subsist, and men by means of them and of what\nthe sea yields; and it seems they were poetic men these, men who had\ndeep thoughts in them and uttered musically their thoughts. Much would\nbe lost had Iceland not been burst up from the sea, not been discovered\nby the Northmen!\u201d\n\n TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY\n\nIn the mythology of Germany proper, the name of Odin appears as Wotan;\nFreya and Frigga are regarded as one and the same divinity, and the gods\nare in general represented as less warlike in character than those in\nthe Scandinavian myths. As a whole, however, Teutonic mythology runs\nalong almost identical lines with that of the northern nations. The most\nnotable divergence is due to modifications of the legends by reason of\nthe difference in climatic conditions. The more advanced social\ncondition of the Germans is also apparent in their mythology.\n\n THE NIBELUNGEN LIED\n\nOne of the oldest myths of the Teutonic race is found in the great\nnational epic of the Nibelungen Lied, which dates back to the\nprehistoric era when Wotan, Frigga, Thor, Loki, and the other gods and\ngoddesses were worshipped in the German forests. The epic is divided\ninto two parts, the first of which tells how Siegfried, the youngest of\nthe kings of the Netherlands, went to Worms, to ask in marriage the hand\nof Kriemhild, sister of G\u00fcnther, King of Burgundy. While he was staying\nwith G\u00fcnther, Siegfried helped the Burgundian king to secure as his wife\nBrunhild, queen of Issland. The latter had announced publicly that he\nonly should be her husband who could beat her in hurling a spear,\nthrowing a huge stone, and in leaping. Siegfried, who possessed a cloak\nof invisibility, aided G\u00fcnther in these three contests, and Brunhild\nbecame his wife. In return for these services, G\u00fcnther gave Siegfried\nhis sister Kriemhild in marriage.\n\nAfter some time had elapsed, Siegfried and Kriemhild went to visit\nG\u00fcnther, when the two women fell into a dispute about the relative\nmerits of their husbands. Kriemhild, to exalt Siegfried, boasted that it\nwas to the latter that G\u00fcnther owed his victories and his wife.\nBrunhild, in great anger, employed Hagan, liegeman of G\u00fcnther, to murder\nSiegfried. In the epic Hagan is described as follows:\n\n \u201cWell-grown and well-compacted was that redoubted guest;\n Long were his legs and sinewy, and deep and broad his chest;\n His hair, that once was sable, with gray was dashed of late;\n Most terrible his visage, and lordly was his gait.\u201d\n \u2014_Nibelungen Lied_, stanza 1789.\n\nThis Achilles of German romance stabbed Siegfried between the shoulders,\nas the unfortunate King of the Netherlands was stooping to drink from a\nbrook during a hunting expedition.\n\nThe second part of the epic relates how, thirteen years later, Kriemhild\nmarried Etzel, King of the Huns. After a time, she invited the King of\nBurgundy, with Hagan and many others, to the court of her husband. A\nfearful quarrel was stirred up in the banquet hall, which ended in the\nslaughter of all the Burgundians but G\u00fcnther and Hagan. These two were\ntaken prisoners and given to Kriemhild, who with her own hand cut off\nthe heads of both. For this bloody act of vengeance Kriemhild was\nherself slain by Hildebrand, a magician and champion, who in German\nmythology holds a place to an extent corresponding to that of Nestor in\nthe Greek mythology.\n\n THE NIBELUNGEN HOARD\n\nThis was a mythical mass of gold and precious stones which Siegfried\nobtained from the Nibelungs, the people of the north whom he had\nconquered and whose country he had made tributary to his own kingdom of\nthe Netherlands. Upon his marriage, Siegfried gave the treasure to\nKriemhild as her wedding portion. After the murder of Siegfried, Hagan\nseized it and buried it secretly beneath the Rhine at Lochham, intending\nto recover it at a future period. The hoard was lost forever when Hagan\nwas killed by Kriemhild. Its wonders are thus set forth in the poem:\n\n \u201c\u2019Twas as much as twelve huge wagons in four whole nights and days\n Could carry from the mountain down to the salt sea bay;\n Though to and fro each wagon thrice journeyed every day.\n\n \u201cIt was made up of nothing but precious stones and gold;\n Were all the world bought from it, and down the value told,\n Not a mark the less would there be left than erst there was, I ween.\u201d\n \u2014_Nibelungen Lied_, XIX.\n\nWhoever possessed the Nibelungen hoard were termed Nibelungers. Thus at\none time certain people of Norway were so called. When Siegfried held\nthe treasure he received the title \u201cKing of the Nibelungers.\u201d\n\n WAGNER\u2019S NIBELUNGEN RING\n\nThough Richard Wagner\u2019s music-drama of the Nibelungen Ring bears some\nresemblance to the ancient German epic, it is a wholly independent\ncomposition and was derived from various old songs and sagas, which the\ndramatist wove into one great harmonious story. The principal source was\nthe Volsunga Saga, while lesser parts were taken from the Elder Edda and\nthe Younger Edda, and others from the Nibelungen Lied, the Ecklenlied,\nand other Teutonic folklore.\n\nIn the drama there are at first only four distinct races,\u2014the gods, the\ngiants, the dwarfs, and the nymphs. Later, by a special creation, there\ncome the valkyrie and the heroes. The gods are the noblest and highest\nrace, and dwell first in the mountain meadows, later in the palace of\nValhalla on the heights. The giants are a great and strong race, but\nlack wisdom; they hate what is noble, and are enemies of the gods; they\ndwell in caves near the earth\u2019s surface. The dwarfs, or _nibelungs_, are\nblack uncouth pigmies, hating the good, hating the gods; they are crafty\nand cunning, and dwell in the bowels of the earth. The nymphs are pure,\ninnocent creatures of the water. The valkyrie are daughters of the gods,\nbut mingled with a mortal strain; they gather dead heroes from the\nbattle-fields and carry them to Valhalla. The heroes are children of the\ngods, but also mingled with a mortal strain; they are destined to become\nat last the highest race of all, and to succeed the gods in the\ngovernment of the world.\n\nThe principal gods are Wotan, Loki, Donner, and Froh. The chief giants\nare Fafner and Fasolt, brothers. The chief dwarfs are Alberich and Mime,\nbrothers, and later Hagan, son of Alberich. The chief nymphs are the\nRhine-daughters, Flosshilda, Woglinda, and Wellgunda. There are nine\nValkyrie, of whom Brunhild is the leading one.\n\nWagner\u2019s story of the Ring may be summarized as follows:\n\nA hoard of gold exists in the depths of the Rhine, guarded by the\ninnocent Rhine-maidens. Alberich, the dwarf, forswears love to gain this\ngold. He makes it into a magic ring. It gives him all power, and he\ngathers by it a vast amount of treasures.\n\nMeanwhile Wotan, chief of the gods, has engaged the giants to build for\nhim a noble castle, Valhalla, from whence to rule the world, promising\nin payment Freya, goddess of youth and love. But the gods find they\ncannot spare Freya, as they are dependent on her for their immortal\nyouth. Loki, called upon to provide a substitute, tells of Alberich\u2019s\nmagic ring and other treasure. Wotan goes with Loki, and they steal the\nring and the golden hoard from Alberich, who curses the ring and lays\nthe curse on all who shall henceforth possess it. The gods give the ring\nand the treasure to the giants as a substitute for Freya. The curse at\nonce begins. One giant, Fafner, kills his brother to get all, and\ntransforms himself into a dragon to guard his wealth. The gods enter\nValhalla over the rainbow bridge. This ends the first part of the drama,\ncalled the Rhine-Gold.\n\nThe second part, the Valkyrie, relates how Wotan still covets the ring.\nHe cannot take it himself, for he has given his word to the giants. He\nstands or falls by his word. So he devises an artifice to get the ring.\nHe will get a hero-race to work for him and recover the ring and the\ntreasures. Siegmund and Sieglinda are twin children of this new race.\nSieglinda is carried off as a child and is forced into marriage with\nHunding. Siegmund comes, and unknowingly breaks the law of marriage, but\nwins Nothung, the great sword, and a bride. Brunhild, chief of the\nValkyrie, is commissioned by Wotan at the instance of Fricka, goddess of\nmarriage, to slay him for his sin. She disobeys and tries to save him,\nbut Hunding, helped by Wotan, slays him. Sieglinda, however, about to\nbear the free hero, to be called Siegfried, is saved by Brunhild, and\nhid in the forest. Brunhild herself is punished by being made a mortal\nwoman. She is left sleeping on the mountains with a wall of fire around\nher which only a hero can penetrate.\n\nThe drama continues with the story of Siegfried, which opens with a\nscene in the smithy between Mime the dwarf and Siegfried. Mime is\nwelding a sword, and Siegfried scorns him. Mime tells him something of\nhis mother, Sieglinda, and shows him the broken pieces of his father\u2019s\nsword. Wotan comes and tells Mime that only one who has no fear can\nremake the sword. Now Siegfried knows no fear and soon remakes the sword\nNothung. Wotan and Alberich come to where the dragon Fafner is guarding\nthe ring. They both long for it, but neither can take it. Soon Mime\ncomes bringing Siegfried with the mighty sword. Fafner comes out, but\nSiegfried slays him. Happening to touch his lips with the dragon\u2019s\nblood, he understands the language of the birds. They tell him of the\nring. He goes and gets it. Siegfried now has possession of the ring, but\nit is to bring him nothing of happiness, only evil. It is to curse love\nand finally bring death. The birds also tell him of Mime\u2019s treachery. He\nslays Mime. He longs for some one to love. The birds tell him of the\nslumbering Brunnhilda, whom he finds and marries.\n\nThe Dusk of the Gods portrays at the opening the three norns or fates\nweaving and measuring the thread of destiny. It is the beginning of the\nend. The perfect pair, Siegfried and Brunhild, appear in all the glory\nof their life, splendid ideals of manhood and womanhood. But Siegfried\ngoes out into the world to achieve deeds of prowess. He gives her the\nNibelungen ring to keep as a pledge of his love till his return.\nMeanwhile Alberich also has begotten a son, Hagan, to achieve for him\nthe possession of the ring. He is partly of the Gibichung race, and\nworks through G\u00fcnther and Gutrune, half-brother and half-sister to him.\nThey beguile Siegfried to them, give him a magic draught which makes him\nforget Brunhild and fall in love with Gutrune. Under this same spell, he\noffers to bring Brunhild for wife to G\u00fcnther. Now is Valhalla full of\nsorrow and despair. The gods fear the end. Wotan murmurs, \u201cO that she\nwould give back the ring to the Rhine.\u201d But Brunhild will not give it\nup,\u2014it is now her pledge of love. Siegfried comes, takes the ring, and\nBrunhild is now brought to the Rhine castle of the Gibichungs, but\nSiegfried under the spell does not love her. She is to be wedded to\nG\u00fcnther. She rises in wrath and denounces Siegfried. But at a hunting\nbanquet Siegfried is given another magic draught, remembers all, and is\nslain by Hagan by a blow in the back, as he calls on Brunhild\u2019s name in\nlove. Then comes the end. The body of Siegfried is burned on a funeral\npyre, a grand funeral march is heard, and Brunhild rides into the flames\nand sacrifices herself for love\u2019s sake; the ring goes back to the\nRhine-daughters; and the old world\u2014of the gods of Valhalla, of passion\nand sin\u2014is burnt up with flames, for the gods have broken moral law,\nand coveted power rather than love, gold rather than truth, and\ntherefore must perish. They pass, and a new era, the reign of love and\ntruth, has begun.\n\nThose who wish to study the differences in the legends of the Nibelungen\nLied and the Nibelungen Ring, and the way in which Wagner used this\nancient material, are referred to Professor W. C. Sawyer\u2019s book on\n\u201cTeutonic Legends in the Nibelungen Lied and the Nibelungen Ring,\u201d where\nthe matter is treated in full detail. For a very thorough and clear\nanalysis of the Ring as Wagner gives it, with a study of the musical\nmotifs, probably nothing is better for general readers than the volume\n\u201cThe Epic of Sounds,\u201d by Freda Winworth. The more scholarly work of\nProfessor Lavignac is indispensable for the student of Wagner\u2019s dramas.\nThere is much illuminating comment on the sources and materials in\n\u201cLegends of the Wagner Drama\u201d by J. L. Weston.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XLI\n\n THE DRUIDS\u2014IONA\n\n DRUIDS\n\nTHE Druids were the priests or ministers of religion among the ancient\nCeltic nations in Gaul, Britain, and Germany. Our information respecting\nthem is borrowed from notices in the Greek and Roman writers, compared\nwith the remains of Welsh and Gaelic poetry still extant.\n\nThe Druids combined the functions of the priest, the magistrate, the\nscholar, and the physician. They stood to the people of the Celtic\ntribes in a relation closely analogous to that in which the Brahmans of\nIndia, the Magi of Persia, and the priests of the Egyptians stood to the\npeople respectively by whom they were revered.\n\nThe Druids taught the existence of one god, to whom they gave a name\n\u201cBe\u2019 al,\u201d which Celtic antiquaries tell us means \u201cthe life of\neverything,\u201d or \u201cthe source of all beings,\u201d and which seems to have\naffinity with the Ph\u0153nician Baal. What renders this affinity more\nstriking is that the Druids as well as the Ph\u0153nicians identified this,\ntheir supreme deity, with the _Sun_. Fire was regarded as a symbol of\nthe divinity. The Latin writers assert that the Druids also worshipped\nnumerous inferior gods.\n\nThey used no images to represent the object of their worship, nor did\nthey meet in temples or buildings of any kind for the performance of\ntheir sacred rites. A circle of stones (each stone generally of vast\nsize), enclosing an area of from twenty feet to thirty yards in\ndiameter, constituted their sacred place. The most celebrated of these\nnow remaining is Stonehenge, on Salisbury Plain, England.\n\nThese sacred circles were generally situated near some stream, or under\nthe shadow of a grove or widespreading oak. In the centre of the circle\nstood the Cromlech or altar, which was a large stone, placed in the\nmanner of a table upon other stones set up on end. The Druids had also\ntheir high places, which were large stones or piles of stones on the\nsummits of hills. These were called Cairns, and were used in the worship\nof the deity under the symbol of the sun.\n\nThat the Druids offered sacrifices to their deity there can be no doubt.\nBut there is some uncertainty as to what they offered, and of the\nceremonies connected with their religious services we know almost\nnothing. The classical (Roman) writers affirm that they offered on great\noccasions human sacrifices; as for success in war or for relief from\ndangerous diseases. C\u00e6sar has given a detailed account of the manner in\nwhich this was done. \u201cThey have images of immense size, the limbs of\nwhich are framed with twisted twigs and filled with living persons.\nThese being set on fire, those within are encompassed by the flames.\u201d\nMany attempts have been made by Celtic writers to shake the testimony of\nthe Roman historians to this fact, but without success.\n\nThe Druids observed two festivals in each year. The former took place in\nthe beginning of May, and was called Beltane or \u201cfire of God.\u201d On this\noccasion a large fire was kindled on some elevated spot, in honor of the\nsun, whose returning beneficence they thus welcomed after the gloom and\ndesolation of winter. Of this custom a trace remains in the name given\nto Whitsunday in parts of Scotland to this day. Sir Walter Scott uses\nthe word in the \u201cBoat Song\u201d in the \u201cLady of the Lake\u201d:\n\n \u201cOurs is no sapling, chance sown by the fountain,\n Blooming at Beltane in winter to fade;\u201d etc.\n\nThe other great festival of the Druids was called \u201cSamh\u2019in,\u201d or \u201cfire of\npeace,\u201d and was held on Hallow-eve (first of November), which still\nretains this designation in the Highlands of Scotland. On this occasion\nthe Druids assembled in solemn conclave, in the most central part of the\ndistrict, to discharge the judicial functions of their order. All\nquestions, whether public or private, all crimes against person or\nproperty, were at this time brought before them for adjudication. With\nthese judicial acts were combined certain superstitious usages,\nespecially the kindling of the sacred fire, from which all the fires in\nthe district, which had been beforehand scrupulously extinguished, might\nbe relighted. This usage of kindling fires on Hallow-eve lingered in the\nBritish islands long after the establishment of Christianity.\n\nBesides these two great annual festivals, the Druids were in the habit\nof observing the full moon, and especially the sixth day of the moon. On\nthe latter they sought the Mistletoe, which grew on their favorite oaks,\nand to which, as well as to the oak itself, they ascribed a peculiar\nvirtue and sacredness. The discovery of it was an occasion of rejoicing\nand solemn worship. \u201cThey call it,\u201d says Pliny, \u201cby a word in their\nlanguage, which means \u2018heal-all,\u2019 and having made solemn preparation for\nfeasting and sacrifice under the tree, they drive thither two milk-white\nbulls, whose horns are then for the first time bound. The priest then,\nrobed in white, ascends the tree, and cuts off the mistletoe with a\ngolden sickle. It is caught in a white mantle, after which they proceed\nto slay the victims, at the same time praying that God would render his\ngift prosperous to those to whom he had given it.\u201d They drink the water\nin which it has been infused, and think it a remedy for all diseases.\nThe mistletoe is a parasitic plant, and is not always nor often found on\nthe oak, so that when it is found it is the more precious.\n\nThe Druids were the teachers of morality as well as of religion. Of\ntheir ethical teaching a valuable specimen is preserved in the Triads of\nthe Welsh Bards, and from this we may gather that their views of moral\nrectitude were on the whole just, and that they held and inculcated many\nvery noble and valuable principles of conduct. They were also the men of\nscience and learning of their age and people. Whether they were\nacquainted with letters or not has been disputed, though the probability\nis strong that they were, to some extent. But it is certain that they\ncommitted nothing of their doctrine, their history, or their poetry to\nwriting. Their teaching was oral, and their literature (if such a word\nmay be used in such a case) was preserved solely by tradition. But the\nRoman writers admit that \u201cthey paid much attention to the order and laws\nof nature, and investigated and taught to the youth under their charge\nmany things concerning the stars and their motions, the size of the\nworld and the lands, and concerning the might and power of the immortal\ngods.\u201d\n\nTheir history consisted in traditional tales, in which the heroic deeds\nof their forefathers were celebrated. These were apparently in verse,\nand thus constituted part of the poetry as well as the history of the\nDruids. In the poems of Ossian we have, if not the actual productions of\nDruidical times, what may be considered faithful representations of the\nsongs of the Bards.\n\nThe Bards were an essential part of the Druidical hierarchy. One author,\nPennant, says, \u201cThe Bards were supposed to be endowed with powers equal\nto inspiration. They were the oral historians of all past transactions,\npublic and private. They were also accomplished genealogists,\u201d etc.\n\nPennant gives a minute account of the Eisteddfods or sessions of the\nBards and minstrels, which were held in Wales for many centuries, long\nafter the Druidical priesthood in its other departments became extinct.\nAt these meetings none but Bards of merit were suffered to rehearse\ntheir pieces, and minstrels of skill to perform. Judges were appointed\nto decide on their respective abilities, and suitable degrees were\nconferred. In the earlier period the judges were appointed by the Welsh\nprinces, and after the conquest of Wales, by commission from the kings\nof England. Yet the tradition is that Edward I., in revenge for the\ninfluence of the Bards in animating the resistance of the people to his\nsway, persecuted them with great cruelty. This tradition has furnished\nthe poet Gray with the subject of his celebrated ode, the \u201cBard.\u201d\n\nThere are still occasional meetings of the lovers of Welsh poetry and\nmusic, held under the ancient name. Among Mrs. Hemans\u2019 poems is one\nwritten for an Eisteddfod, or meeting of Welsh Bards, held in London,\nMay 22, 1822. It begins with a description of the ancient meeting, of\nwhich the following lines are a part:\n\n \u201c. . . midst the eternal cliffs, whose strength defied\n The crested Roman in his hour of pride;\n And where the Druid\u2019s ancient cromlech frowned,\n And the oaks breathed mysterious murmurs round,\n There thronged the inspired of yore! on plain or height,\n In the sun\u2019s face, beneath the eye of light,\n And baring unto heaven each noble head,\n Stood in the circle, where none else might tread.\u201d\n\nThe Druidical system was at its height at the time of the Roman invasion\nunder Julius C\u00e6sar. Against the Druids, as their chief enemies, these\nconquerors of the world directed their unsparing fury. The Druids,\nharassed at all points on the mainland, retreated to Anglesey and Iona,\nwhere for a season they found shelter and continued their now dishonored\nrites.\n\nThe Druids retained their predominance in Iona and over the adjacent\nislands and mainland until they were supplanted and their superstitions\noverturned by the arrival of St. Columba, the apostle of the Highlands,\nby whom the inhabitants of that district were first led to profess\nChristianity.\n\n IONA\n\nOne of the smallest of the British Isles, situated near a rugged and\nbarren coast, surrounded by dangerous seas, and possessing no sources of\ninternal wealth, Iona has obtained an imperishable place in history as\nthe seat of civilization and religion at a time when the darkness of\nheathenism hung over almost the whole of Northern Europe. Iona or\nIcolmkill is situated at the extremity of the island of Mull, from which\nit is separated by a strait of half a mile in breadth, its distance from\nthe mainland of Scotland being thirty-six miles.\n\nColumba was a native of Ireland, and connected by birth with the princes\nof the land. Ireland was at that time a land of gospel light, while the\nwestern and northern parts of Scotland were still immersed in the\ndarkness of heathenism. Columba with twelve friends landed on the island\nof Iona in the year of our Lord 563, having made the passage in a wicker\nboat covered with hides. The Druids who occupied the island endeavored\nto prevent his settling there, and the savage nations on the adjoining\nshores incommoded him with their hostility, and on several occasions\nendangered his life by their attacks. Yet by his perseverance and zeal\nhe surmounted all opposition, procured from the king a gift of the\nisland, and established there a monastery of which he was the abbot. He\nwas unwearied in his labors to disseminate a knowledge of the Scriptures\nthroughout the Highlands and islands of Scotland, and such was the\nreverence paid him that though not a bishop, but merely a presbyter and\nmonk, the entire province with its bishops was subject to him and his\nsuccessors. The Pictish monarch was so impressed with a sense of his\nwisdom and worth that he held him in the highest honor, and the\nneighboring chiefs and princes sought his counsel and availed themselves\nof his judgment in settling their disputes.\n\nWhen Columba landed on Iona he was attended by twelve followers whom he\nhad formed into a religious body of which he was the head. To these, as\noccasion required, others were from time to time added, so that the\noriginal number was always kept up. Their institution was called a\nmonastery and the superior an abbot, but the system had little in common\nwith the monastic institutions of later times. The name by which those\nwho submitted to the rule were known was that of Culdees, probably from\nthe Latin \u201ccultores Dei\u201d\u2014worshippers of God. They were a body of\nreligious persons associated together for the purpose of aiding each\nother in the common work of preaching the gospel and teaching youth, as\nwell as maintaining in themselves the fervor of devotion by united\nexercises of worship. On entering the order certain vows were taken by\nthe members, but they were not those which were usually imposed by\nmonastic orders, for of these, which are three,\u2014celibacy, poverty, and\nobedience.\u2014the Culdees were bound to none except the third. To poverty\nthey did not bind themselves; on the contrary they seem to have labored\ndiligently to procure for themselves and those dependent on them the\ncomforts of life. Marriage also was allowed them, and most of them seem\nto have entered into that state. True, their wives were not permitted to\nreside with them at the institution, but they had a residence assigned\nto them in an adjacent locality. Near Iona there is an island which\nstill bears the name of \u201cEilen nam ban,\u201d women\u2019s island, where their\nhusbands seem to have resided with them, except when duty required their\npresence in the school or the sanctuary.\n\n\n\nCampbell, in his poem of \u201cReullura,\u201d alludes to the married monks of\nIona:\n\n \u201c. . . The pure Culdees\n Were Albyn\u2019s earliest priests of God,\n Ere yet an island of her seas\n By foot of Saxon monk was trod,\n Long ere her churchmen by bigotry\n Were barred from holy wedlock\u2019s tie.\n \u2019Twas then that Aodh, famed afar,\n In Iona preached the word with power,\n And Reullura, beauty\u2019s star,\n Was the partner of his bower.\u201d\n\nIn one of his \u201cIrish Melodies,\u201d Moore gives the legend of St. Senanus\nand the lady who sought shelter on the island, but was repulsed:\n\n \u201cO, haste and leave this sacred isle,\n Unholy bark, ere morning smile;\n For on thy deck, though dark it be,\n A female form I see;\n And I have sworn this sainted sod\n Shall ne\u2019er by woman\u2019s foot be trod.\u201d\n\nIn these respects and in others the Culdees departed from the\nestablished rules of the Romish church, and consequently were deemed\nheretical. The consequence was that as the power of the latter advanced\nthat of the Culdees was enfeebled. It was not, however, till the\nthirteenth century that the communities of the Culdees were suppressed\nand the members dispersed. They still continued to labor as individuals,\nand resisted the inroads of Papal usurpation as they best might till the\nlight of the Reformation dawned on the world.\n\nIona, from its position in the western seas, was exposed to the assaults\nof the Norwegian and Danish rovers by whom those seas were infested, and\nby them it was repeatedly pillaged, its dwellings burned, and its\npeaceful inhabitants put to the sword. These unfavorable circumstances\nled to its gradual decline, which was expedited by the subversion of the\nCuldees throughout Scotland. Under the reign of Popery the island became\nthe seat of a nunnery, the ruins of which are still seen. At the\nReformation, the nuns were allowed to remain, living in community, when\nthe abbey was dismantled.\n\nIona is now chiefly resorted to by travellers on account of the numerous\necclesiastical and sepulchral remains which are found upon it. The\nprincipal of these are the Cathedral or Abbey Church and the Chapel of\nthe Nunnery. Besides these remains of ecclesiastical antiquity, there\nare some of an earlier date, and pointing to the existence on the island\nof forms of worship and belief different from those of Christianity.\nThese are the circular Cairns which are found in various parts, and\nwhich seem to have been of Druidical origin. It is in reference to all\nthese remains of ancient religion that Johnson exclaims, \u201cThat man is\nlittle to be envied whose patriotism would not gain force upon the\nplains of Marathon, or whose piety would not grow warmer amid the ruins\nof Iona.\u201d\n\n\n\nIn the \u201cLord of the Isles\u201d Scott beautifully contrasts the church on\nIona with the cave of Staffa, opposite:\n\n \u201cNature herself, it seemed, would raise\n A minister to her Maker\u2019s praise!\n Not for a meaner use ascend\n Her columns, or her arches bend;\n Nor of a theme less solemn tells\n That mighty surge that ebbs and swells,\n And still between each awful pause,\n From the high vault an answer draws,\n In varied tone, prolonged and high,\n That mocks the organ\u2019s melody;\n Nor doth its entrance front in vain\n To old Iona\u2019s holy fane,\n That Nature\u2019s voice might seem to say,\n Well hast thou done, frail child of clay!\n Thy humble powers that stately shrine\n Tasked high and hard\u2014but witness mine!\u201d\n\n\n\n\n KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS\n\n\n CHAPTER I\n\n INTRODUCTION\n\nON the decline of the Roman power, about five centuries after Christ,\nthe countries of Northern Europe were left almost destitute of a\nnational government. Numerous chiefs, more or less powerful, held local\nsway, as far as each could enforce his dominion, and occasionally those\nchiefs would unite for a common object; but, in ordinary times, they\nwere much more likely to be found in hostility to one another. In such a\nstate of things the rights of the humbler classes of society were at the\nmercy of every assailant; and it is plain that, without some check upon\nthe lawless power of the chiefs, society must have relapsed into\nbarbarism. Such checks were found, first, in the rivalry of the chiefs\nthemselves, whose mutual jealousy made them restraints upon one another;\nsecondly, in the influence of the Church, which, by every motive, pure\nor selfish, was pledged to interpose for the protection of the weak; and\nlastly, in the generosity and sense of right which, however crushed\nunder the weight of passion and selfishness, dwell naturally in the\nheart of man. From this last source sprang Chivalry, which framed an\nideal of the heroic character, combining invincible strength and valor,\njustice, modesty, loyalty to superiors, courtesy to equals, compassion\nto weakness, and devotedness to the Church; an ideal which, if never met\nwith in real life, was acknowledged by all as the highest model for\nemulation.\n\nThe word \u201cChivalry\u201d is derived from the French \u201c_cheval_,\u201d a horse. The\nword \u201cknight,\u201d which originally meant boy or servant, was particularly\napplied to a young man after he was admitted to the privilege of bearing\narms. This privilege was conferred on youths of family and fortune only,\nfor the mass of the people were not furnished with arms. The knight then\nwas a mounted warrior, a man of rank, or in the service and maintenance\nof some man of rank, generally possessing some independent means of\nsupport, but often relying mainly on the gratitude of those whom he\nserved for the supply of his wants, and often, no doubt, resorting to\nthe means which power confers on its possessor.\n\nIn time of war the knight was, with his followers, in the camp of his\nsovereign, or commanding in the field, or holding some castle for him.\nIn time of peace he was often in attendance at his sovereign\u2019s court,\ngracing with his presence the banquets and tournaments with which\nprinces cheered their leisure. Or he was traversing the country in quest\nof adventure, professedly bent on redressing wrongs and enforcing\nrights, sometimes in fulfilment of some vow of religion or of love.\nThese wandering knights were called knights-errant; they were welcome\nguests in the castles of the nobility, for their presence enlivened the\ndulness of those secluded abodes, and they were received with honor at\nthe abbeys, which often owed the best part of their revenues to the\npatronage of the knights; but if no castle or abbey or hermitage were at\nhand their hardy habits made it not intolerable to them to lie down,\nsupperless, at the foot of some wayside cross, and pass the night.\n\nIt is evident that the justice administered by such an instrumentality\nmust have been of the rudest description. The force whose legitimate\npurpose was to redress wrongs might easily be perverted to inflict them.\nAccordingly, we find in the romances, which, however fabulous in facts,\nare true as pictures of manners, that a knightly castle was often a\nterror to the surrounding country; that is, dungeons were full of\noppressed knights and ladies, waiting for some champion to appear to set\nthem free, or to be ransomed with money; that hosts of idle retainers\nwere ever at hand to enforce their lord\u2019s behests, regardless of law and\njustice; and that the rights of the unarmed multitude were of no\naccount. This contrariety of fact and theory in regard to chivalry will\naccount for the opposite impressions which exist in men\u2019s minds\nrespecting it. While it has been the theme of the most fervid eulogium\non the one part, it has been as eagerly denounced on the other. On a\ncool estimate, we cannot but see reason to congratulate ourselves that\nit has given way in modern times to the reign of law, and that the civil\nmagistrate, if less picturesque, has taken the place of the mailed\nchampion.\n\n THE TRAINING OF A KNIGHT\n\nThe preparatory education of candidates for knighthood was long and\narduous. At seven years of age the noble children were usually removed\nfrom their father\u2019s house to the court or castle of their future patron,\nand placed under the care of a governor, who taught them the first\narticles of religion, and respect and reverence for their lords and\nsuperiors, and initiated them in the ceremonies of a court. They were\ncalled _pages_, _valets_, or _varlets_, and their office was to carve,\nto wait at table, and to perform other menial services, which were not\nthen considered humiliating. In their leisure hours they learned to\ndance and play on the harp, were instructed in the mysteries of _woods_\nand _rivers_, that is, in hunting, falconry, and fishing, and in\nwrestling, tilting with spears, and performing other military exercises\non horseback. At fourteen the page became an esquire, and began a course\nof severer and more laborious exercises. To vault on a horse in heavy\narmor; to run, to scale walls, and spring over ditches, under the same\nencumbrance; to wrestle, to wield the battle-axe for a length of time,\nwithout raising the visor or taking breath; to perform with grace all\nthe evolutions of horsemanship,\u2014were necessary preliminaries to the\nreception of knighthood, which was usually conferred at twenty-one years\nof age, when the young man\u2019s education was supposed to be completed. In\nthe meantime, the esquires were no less assiduously engaged in acquiring\nall those refinements of civility which formed what was in that age\ncalled _courtesy_. The same castle in which they received their\neducation was usually thronged with young persons of the other sex, and\nthe page was encouraged, at a very early age, to select some lady of the\ncourt as the mistress of his heart, to whom he was taught to refer all\nhis sentiments, words, and actions. The service of his mistress was the\nglory and occupation of a knight, and her smiles, bestowed at once by\naffection and gratitude, were held out as the recompense of his\nwell-directed valor. Religion united its influence with those of loyalty\nand love, and the order of knighthood, endowed with all the sanctity and\nreligious awe that attended the priesthood, became an object of ambition\nto the greatest sovereigns.\n\nThe ceremonies of initiation were peculiarly solemn. After undergoing a\nsevere fast, and spending whole nights in prayer, the candidate\nconfessed, and received the sacrament. He then clothed himself in\nsnow-white garments, and repaired to the church, or the hall, where the\nceremony was to take place, bearing a knightly sword suspended from his\nneck, which the officiating priest took and blessed, and then returned\nto him. The candidate then, with folded arms, knelt before the presiding\nknight, who, after some questions about his motives and purposes in\nrequesting admission, administered to him the oaths, and granted his\nrequest. Some of the knights present, sometimes even ladies and damsels,\nhanded to him in succession the spurs, the coat of mail, the hauberk,\nthe armlet and gauntlet, and lastly he girded on the sword. He then\nknelt again before the president, who, rising from his seat, gave him\nthe \u201caccolade,\u201d which consisted of three strokes, with the flat of a\nsword, on the shoulder or neck of the candidate, accompanied by the\nwords: \u201cIn the name of God, of St. Michael, and St. George, I make thee\na knight; be valiant, courteous, and loyal!\u201d Then he received his\nhelmet, his shield, and spear; and thus the investiture ended.\n\n FREEMEN, VILLAINS, SERFS, AND CLERKS\n\nThe other classes of which society was composed were, first, _freemen_,\nowners of small portions of land independent, though they sometimes\nvoluntarily became the vassals of their more opulent neighbors, whose\npower was necessary for their protection. The other two classes, which\nwere much the most numerous, were either serfs or villains, both of\nwhich were slaves.\n\nThe _serfs_ were in the lowest state of slavery. All the fruits of their\nlabor belonged to the master whose land they tilled, and by whom they\nwere fed and clothed.\n\nThe _villains_ were less degraded. Their situation seems to have\nresembled that of the Russian peasants at this day. Like the serfs, they\nwere attached to the soil, and were transferred with it by purchase; but\nthey paid only a fixed rent to the landlord, and had a right to dispose\nof any surplus that might arise from their industry.\n\nThe term \u201cclerk\u201d was of very extensive import. It comprehended,\noriginally, such persons only as belonged to the clergy, or clerical\norder, among whom, however, might be found a multitude of married\npersons, artisans or others. But in process of time a much wider rule\nwas established; every one that could read being accounted a _clerk_ or\n_clericus_, and allowed the \u201cbenefit of clergy,\u201d that is, exemption from\ncapital and some other forms of punishment, in case of crime.\n\n TOURNAMENTS\n\nThe splendid pageant of a tournament between knights, its gaudy\naccessories and trappings, and its chivalrous regulations, originated in\nFrance. Tournaments were repeatedly condemned by the Church, probably on\naccount of the quarrels they led to, and the often fatal results. The\n\u201cjoust,\u201d or \u201cjust,\u201d was different from the tournament. In these, knights\nfought with their lances, and their object was to unhorse their\nantagonists; while the tournaments were intended for a display of skill\nand address in evolutions, and with various weapons, and greater\ncourtesy was observed in the regulations. By these it was forbidden to\nwound the horse, or to use the point of the sword, or to strike a knight\nafter he had raised his vizor, or unlaced his helmet. The ladies\nencouraged their knights in these exercises; they bestowed prizes, and\nthe conqueror\u2019s feats were the theme of romance and song. The stands\noverlooking the ground, of course, were varied in the shapes of towers,\nterraces, galleries, and pensile gardens, magnificently decorated with\ntapestry, pavilions, and banners. Every combatant proclaimed the name of\nthe lady whose _servant d\u2019amour_ he was. He was wont to look up to the\nstand, and strengthen his courage by the sight of the bright eyes that\nwere raining their influence on him from above. The knights also carried\n_favors_, consisting of scarfs, veils, sleeves, bracelets, clasps,\u2014in\nshort, some piece of female habiliment,\u2014attached to their helmets,\nshields, or armor. If, during the combat, any of these appendages were\ndropped or lost the fair donor would at times send her knight new ones,\nespecially if pleased with his exertions.\n\n MAIL ARMOR\n\nMail armor, of which the hauberk is a species, and which derived its\nname from _maille_, a French word for _mesh_, was of two kinds, _plate_\nor _scale_ mail, and _chain_ mail. It was originally used for the\nprotection of the body only, reaching no lower than the knees. It was\nshaped like a carter\u2019s frock, and bound round the waist by a girdle.\nGloves and hose of mail were afterwards added, and a hood, which, when\nnecessary, was drawn over the head, leaving the face alone uncovered. To\nprotect the skin from the impression of the iron network of the chain\nmail, a quilted lining was employed, which, however, was insufficient,\nand the bath was used to efface the marks of the armor.\n\nThe hauberk was a complete covering of double chain mail. Some hauberks\nopened before, like a modern coat; others were closed like a shirt.\n\nThe chain mail of which they were composed was formed by a number of\niron links, each link having others inserted into it, the whole\nexhibiting a kind of network, of which (in some instances at least) the\nmeshes were circular, with each link separately riveted.\n\nThe hauberk was proof against the most violent blow of a sword; but the\npoint of a lance might pass through the meshes, or drive the iron into\nthe flesh. To guard against this, a thick and well-stuffed doublet was\nworn underneath, under which was commonly added an iron breastplate.\nHence the expression \u201cto pierce both plate and mail,\u201d so common in the\nearlier poets.\n\nMail armor continued in general use till about the year 1300, when it\nwas gradually supplanted by plate armor, or suits consisting of pieces\nor plates of solid iron, adapted to the different parts of the body.\n\nShields were generally made of wood, covered with leather, or some\nsimilar substance. To secure them, in some sort, from being cut through\nby the sword, they were surrounded with a hoop of metal.\n\n HELMETS\n\nThe helmet was composed of two parts: the _headpiece_, which was\nstrengthened within by several circles of iron, and the _visor_, which,\nas the name implies, was a sort of grating to see through, so contrived\nas, by sliding in a groove, or turning on a pivot, to be raised or\nlowered at pleasure. Some helmets had a further improvement called a\n_bever_, from the Italian _bevere_, to drink. The _ventayle_, or\n\u201cair-passage,\u201d is another name for this.\n\nTo secure the helmet from the possibility of falling, or of being struck\noff, it was tied by several laces to the meshes of the hauberk;\nconsequently, when a knight was overthrown it was necessary to undo\nthese laces before he could be put to death; though this was sometimes\neffected by lifting up the skirt of the hauberk, and stabbing him in the\nbelly. The instrument of death was a small dagger, worn on the right\nside.\n\n ROMANCES\n\nIn ages when there were no books, when noblemen and princes themselves\ncould not read, history or tradition was monopolized by the\nstory-tellers. They inherited, generation after generation, the wondrous\ntales of their predecessors, which they retailed to the public with such\nadditions of their own as their acquired information supplied them with.\nAnachronisms became of course very common, and errors of geography, of\nlocality, of manners, equally so. Spurious genealogies were invented, in\nwhich Arthur and his knights, and Charlemagne and his paladins, were\nmade to derive their descent from \u00c6neas, Hector, or some other of the\nTrojan heroes.\n\nWith regard to the derivation of the word \u201cRomance,\u201d we trace it to the\nfact that the dialects which were formed in Western Europe, from the\nadmixture of Latin with the native languages, took the name of _Langue\nRomaine_. The French language was divided into two dialects. The river\nLoire was their common boundary. In the provinces to the south of that\nriver the affirmative, _yes_, was expressed by the word _oc_; in the\nnorth it was called _oil_ (_oui_); and hence Dante has named the\nsouthern language _langue d\u2019oc_, and the northern _langue d\u2019oil_. The\nlatter, which was carried into England by the Normans, and is the origin\nof the present French, may be called the French Romane; and the former\nthe Proven\u00e7al, or Provencial Romane, because it was spoken by the people\nof Provence and Languedoc, southern provinces of France.\n\nThese dialects were soon distinguished by very opposite characters. A\nsoft and enervating climate, a spirit of commerce encouraged by an easy\ncommunication with other maritime nations, the influx of wealth, and a\nmore settled government, may have tended to polish and soften the\ndiction of the Provencials, whose poets, under the name of Troubadours,\nwere the masters of the Italians, and particularly of Petrarch. Their\nfavorite pieces were _Sirventes_ (satirical pieces), love-songs, and\n_T\u00e9nsons_, which last were a sort of dialogue in verse between two\npoets, who questioned each other on some refined points of loves\u2019\ncasuistry. It seems the Provencials were so completely absorbed in these\ndelicate questions as to neglect and despise the composition of fabulous\nhistories of adventure and knighthood, which they left in a great\nmeasure to the poets of the northern part of the kingdom, called\nTrouveurs.\n\nAt a time when chivalry excited universal admiration, and when all the\nefforts of that chivalry were directed against the enemies of religion,\nit was natural that literature should receive the same impulse, and that\nhistory and fable should be ransacked to furnish examples of courage and\npiety that might excite increased emulation. Arthur and Charlemagne were\nthe two heroes selected for this purpose. Arthur\u2019s pretensions were that\nhe was a brave, though not always a successful warrior; he had withstood\nwith great resolution the arms of the infidels, that is to say of the\nSaxons, and his memory was held in the highest estimation by his\ncountrymen, the Britons, who carried with them into Wales, and into the\nkindred country of Armorica, or Brittany, the memory of his exploits,\nwhich their national vanity insensibly exaggerated, till the little\nprince of the Silures (South Wales) was magnified into the conqueror of\nEngland, of Gaul, and of the greater part of Europe. His genealogy was\ngradually carried up to an imaginary Brutus, and to the period of the\nTrojan war, and a sort of chronicle was composed in the Welsh, or\nArmorican language, which, under the pompous title of the \u201cHistory of\nthe Kings of Britain,\u201d was translated into Latin by Geoffrey of\nMonmouth, about the year 1150. The Welsh critics consider the material\nof the work to have been an older history, written by St. Talian, Bishop\nof St. Asaph, in the seventh century.\n\nAs to Charlemagne, though his real merits were sufficient to secure his\nimmortality, it was impossible that his _holy wars_ against the Saracens\nshould not become a favorite topic for fiction. Accordingly, the\nfabulous history of these wars was written, probably towards the close\nof the eleventh century, by a monk, who, thinking it would add dignity\nto his work to embellish it with a contemporary name, boldly ascribed it\nto Turpin, who was Archbishop of Rheims about the year 773.\n\nThese fabulous chronicles were for a while imprisoned in languages of\nlocal only or of professional access. Both Turpin and Geoffrey might\nindeed be read by ecclesiastics, the sole Latin scholars of those times,\nand Geoffrey\u2019s British original would contribute to the gratification of\nWelshmen; but neither could become extensively popular till translated\ninto some language of general and familiar use. The Anglo-Saxon was at\nthat time used only by a conquered and enslaved nation; the Spanish and\nItalian languages were not yet formed; the Norman French alone was\nspoken and understood by the nobility in the greater part of Europe, and\ntherefore was a proper vehicle for the new mode of composition.\n\nThat language was fashionable in England before the Conquest, and\nbecame, after that event, the only language used at the court of London.\nAs the various conquests of the Normans, and the enthusiastic valor of\nthat extraordinary people, had familiarized the minds of men with the\nmost marvellous events, their poets eagerly seized the fabulous legends\nof Arthur and Charlemagne, translated them into the language of the day,\nand soon produced a variety of imitations. The adventures attributed to\nthese monarchs, and to their distinguished warriors, together with those\nof many other traditionary or imaginary heroes, composed by degrees that\nformidable body of marvellous histories which, from the dialect in which\nthe most ancient of them were written, were called \u201cRomances.\u201d\n\n METRICAL ROMANCES\n\nThe earliest form in which romances appear is that of a rude kind of\nverse. In this form it is supposed they were sung or recited at the\nfeasts of princes and knights in their baronial halls. The following\nspecimen of the language and style of Robert de Beauvais, who flourished\nin 1257, is from Sir Walter Scott\u2019s \u201cIntroduction to the Romance of Sir\nTristrem\u201d:\n\n \u201cNe voil pas emmi dire,\n Ici diverse la matyere,\n Entre ceus qui solent cunter,\n E de le cunte Tristran parler.\u201d\n\n \u201cI will not say too much about it,\n So diverse is the matter,\n Among those who are in the habit of telling\n And relating the story of Tristran.\u201d\n\nThis is a specimen of the language which was in use among the nobility\nof England, in the ages immediately after the Norman conquest. The\nfollowing is a specimen of the English that existed at the same time,\namong the common people. Robert de Brunne, speaking of his Latin and\nFrench authorities, says:\n\n \u201cAls thai haf wryten and sayd\n Haf I alle in myn Inglis layd,\n In symple speche as I couthe,\n That is lightest in manne\u2019s mouthe.\n Alle for the luf of symple men,\n That strange Inglis cannot ken.\u201d\n\nThe \u201cstrange Inglis\u201d being the language of the previous specimen.\n\nIt was not till toward the end of the thirteenth century that the\n_prose_ romances began to appear. These works generally began with\ndisowning and discrediting the sources from which in reality they drew\ntheir sole information. As every romance was supposed to be a real\nhistory, the compilers of those in prose would have forfeited all credit\nif they had announced themselves as mere copyists of the minstrels. On\nthe contrary, they usually state that, as the popular poems upon the\nmatter in question contain many \u201clesings,\u201d they had been induced to\ntranslate the real and true history of such or such a knight from the\noriginal Latin or Greek, or from the ancient British or Armorican\nauthorities, which authorities existed only in their own assertion.\n\nA specimen of the style of the prose romances may be found in the\nfollowing extract from one of the most celebrated and latest of them,\nthe \u201cMorte d\u2019Arthur\u201d of Sir Thomas Mallory, of the date of 1485. From\nthis work much of the contents of this volume has been drawn, with as\nclose an adherence to the original style as was thought consistent with\nour plan of adapting our narrative to the taste of modern readers.\n\n\u201cIt is notoyrly knowen thorugh the vnyuersal world that there been ix\nworthy and the best that ever were. That is to wete thre paynyms, three\nJewes, and three crysten men. As for the paynyms, they were tofore the\nIncarnacyon of Cryst whiche were named, the fyrst Hector of Troye; the\nsecond Alysaunder the grete, and the thyrd Julyus Cezar, Emperour of\nRome, of whome thystoryes ben wel kno and had. And as for the thre Jewes\nwhyche also were tofore thyncarnacyon of our Lord, of whome the fyrst\nwas Duc Josue, whyche brought the chyldren of Israhel into the londe of\nbeheste; the second Dauyd, kyng of Jherusalem, and the thyrd Judas\nMachabeus; of these thre the byble reherceth al theyr noble hystoryes\nand actes. And sythe the sayd Incarnacyon haue ben the noble crysten men\nstalled and admytted thorugh the vnyuersal world to the nombre of the ix\nbeste and worthy, of whome was fyrst the noble Arthur, whose noble actes\nI purpose to wryte in this person book here folowyng. The second was\nCharlemayn, or Charles the grete, of whome thystorye is had in many\nplaces both in frensshe and englysshe, and the thyrd and last was\nGodefray of boloyn.\u201d\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER II\n\n THE MYTHICAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND\n\nTHE illustrious poet, Milton, in his \u201cHistory of England,\u201d is the author\nwhom we chiefly follow in this chapter.\n\nAccording to the earliest accounts, Albion, a giant, and son of Neptune,\na contemporary of Hercules, ruled over the island, to which he gave his\nname. Presuming to oppose the progress of Hercules in his western march,\nhe was slain by him.\n\nAnother story is that Histion, the son of Japhet, the son of Noah, had\nfour sons, Francus, Romanus, Alemannus, and Britto, from whom descended\nthe French, Roman, German, and British people.\n\nRejecting these and other like stories, Milton gives more regard to the\nstory of Brutus, the Trojan, which, he says, is supported by \u201cdescents\nof ancestry long continued, laws and exploits not plainly seeming to be\nborrowed or devised, which on the common belief have wrought no small\nimpression; defended by many, denied utterly by few.\u201d The principal\nauthority is Geoffrey of Monmouth, whose history, written in the twelfth\ncentury, purports to be a translation of a history of Britain brought\nover from the opposite shore of France, which, under the name of\nBrittany, was chiefly peopled by natives of Britain who, from time to\ntime, emigrated thither, driven from their own country by the inroads of\nthe Picts and Scots. According to this authority, Brutus was the son of\nSilvius, and he of Ascanius, the son of \u00c6neas, whose flight from Troy\nand settlement in Italy are narrated in \u201cStories of Gods and Heroes.\u201d\n\nBrutus, at the age of fifteen, attending his father to the chase,\nunfortunately killed him with an arrow. Banished therefor by his\nkindred, he sought refuge in that part of Greece where Helenus, with a\nband of Trojan exiles, had become established. But Helenus was now dead\nand the descendants of the Trojans were oppressed by Pandrasus, the king\nof the country. Brutus, being kindly received among them, so throve in\nvirtue and in arms as to win the regard of all the eminent of the land\nabove all others of his age. In consequence of this the Trojans not only\nbegan to hope, but secretly to persuade him to lead them the way to\nliberty. To encourage them, they had the promise of help from Assaracus,\na noble Greek youth, whose mother was a Trojan. He had suffered wrong at\nthe hands of the king, and for that reason the more willingly cast in\nhis lot with the Trojan exiles.\n\nChoosing a fit opportunity, Brutus with his countrymen withdrew to the\nwoods and hills, as the safest place from which to expostulate, and sent\nthis message to Pandrasus: \u201cThat the Trojans, holding it unworthy of\ntheir ancestors to serve in a foreign land, had retreated to the woods,\nchoosing rather a savage life than a slavish one. If that displeased\nhim, then, with his leave, they would depart to some other country.\u201d\nPandrasus, not expecting so bold a message from the sons of captives,\nwent in pursuit of them, with such forces as he could gather, and met\nthem on the banks of the Achelous, where Brutus got the advantage, and\ntook the king captive. The result was, that the terms demanded by the\nTrojans were granted; the king gave his daughter Imogen in marriage to\nBrutus, and furnished shipping, money, and fit provision for them all to\ndepart from the land.\n\nThe marriage being solemnized, and shipping from all parts got together,\nthe Trojans, in a fleet of no less than three hundred and twenty sail,\nbetook themselves to the sea. On the third day they arrived at a certain\nisland, which they found destitute of inhabitants, though there were\nappearances of former habitation, and among the ruins a temple of Diana.\nBrutus, here performing sacrifice at the shrine of the goddess, invoked\nan oracle for his guidance, in these lines:\n\n \u201cGoddess of shades, and huntress, who at will\n Walk\u2019st on the rolling sphere, and through the deep;\n On thy third realm, the earth, look now, and tell\n What land, what seat of rest, thou bidd\u2019st me seek;\n What certain seat where I may worship thee\n For aye, with temples vowed and virgin choirs.\u201d\n\nTo whom, sleeping before the altar, Diana in a vision thus answered:\n\n \u201cBrutus! far to the west, in the ocean wide,\n Beyond the realm of Gaul, a land there lies,\n Seagirt it lies, where giants dwelt of old;\n Now, void, it fits thy people: thither bend\n Thy course; there shalt thou find a lasting seat;\n There to thy sons another Troy shall rise,\n And kings be born of thee, whose dreaded might\n Shall awe the world, and conquer nations bold.\u201d\n\nBrutus, guided now, as he thought, by divine direction, sped his course\ntowards the west, and, arriving at a place on the Tyrrhene sea, found\nthere the descendants of certain Trojans who, with Antenor, came into\nItaly, of whom Corineus was the chief. These joined company, and the\nships pursued their way till they arrived at the mouth of the river\nLoire, in France, where the expedition landed, with a view to a\nsettlement, but were so rudely assaulted by the inhabitants that they\nput to sea again, and arrived at a part of the coast of Britain, now\ncalled Devonshire, where Brutus felt convinced that he had found the\npromised end of his voyage, landed his colony, and took possession.\n\nThe island, not yet Britain, but Albion, was in a manner desert and\ninhospitable, occupied only by a remnant of the giant race whose\nexcessive force and tyranny had destroyed the others. The Trojans\nencountered these and extirpated them, Corineus, in particular,\nsignalizing himself by his exploits against them; from whom Cornwall\ntakes its name, for that region fell to his lot, and there the hugest\ngiants dwelt, lurking in rocks and caves, till Corineus rid the land of\nthem.\n\nBrutus built his capital city, and called it Trojanova (New Troy),\nchanged in time to Trinovantus, now London;[39] and, having governed the\nisle twenty-four years, died, leaving three sons, Locrine, Albanact and\nCamber. Locrine had the middle part, Camber the west, called Cambria\nfrom him, and Albanact Albania, now Scotland. Locrine was married to\nGuendolen, the daughter of Corineus, but having seen a fair maid named\nEstrildis, who had been brought captive from Germany, he became\nenamoured of her, and had by her a daughter, whose name was Sabra. This\nmatter was kept secret while Corineus lived, but after his death Locrine\ndivorced Guendolen, and made Estrildis his queen. Guendolen, all in\nrage, departed to Cornwall, where Madan, her son, lived, who had been\nbrought up by Corineus, his grandfather. Gathering an army of her\nfather\u2019s friends and subjects, she gave battle to her husband\u2019s forces\nand Locrine was slain. Guendolen caused her rival, Estrildis, with her\ndaughter Sabra, to be thrown into the river, from which cause the river\nthenceforth bore the maiden\u2019s name, which by length of time is now\nchanged into Sabrina or Severn. Milton alludes to this in his address to\nthe rivers,\u2014\n\n \u201cSevern swift, guilty of maiden\u2019s death\u201d;\u2014\n\nand in his \u201cComus\u201d tells the story with a slight variation, thus:\n\n \u201cThere is a gentle nymph not far from hence,\n That with moist curb sways the smooth Severn stream;\n Sabrina is her name, a virgin pure:\n Whilom she was the daughter of Locrine,\n That had the sceptre from his father, Brute,\n She, guiltless damsel, flying the mad pursuit\n Of her enrag\u00e9d step-dame, Guendolen,\n Commended her fair innocence to the flood,\n That stayed her flight with his cross-flowing course\n The water-nymphs that in the bottom played,\n Held up their pearl\u00e9d wrists and took her in,\n Bearing her straight to aged Nereus\u2019 hall,\n Who, piteous of her woes, reared her lank head,\n And gave her to his daughters to imbathe\n In nectared lavers strewed with asphodel,\n And through the porch and inlet of each sense\n Dropped in ambrosial oils till she revived,\n And underwent a quick, immortal change,\n Made goddess of the river,\u201d etc.\n\nIf our readers ask when all this took place, we must answer, in the\nfirst place, that mythology is not careful of dates; and next, that, as\nBrutus was the great-grandson of \u00c6neas, it must have been not far from a\ncentury subsequent to the Trojan war, or about eleven hundred years\nbefore the invasion of the island by Julius C\u00e6sar. This long interval is\nfilled with the names of princes whose chief occupation was in warring\nwith one another. Some few, whose names remain connected with places, or\nembalmed in literature, we will mention.\n\n BLADUD\n\nBladud built the city of Bath, and dedicated the medicinal waters to\nMinerva. He was a man of great invention, and practised the arts of\nmagic, till, having made him wings to fly, he fell down upon the temple\nof Apollo, in Trinovant, and so died, after twenty years\u2019 reign.\n\n LEIR\n\nLeir, who next reigned, built Leicester, and called it after his name.\nHe had no male issue, but only three daughters. When grown old he\ndetermined to divide his kingdom among his daughters, and bestow them in\nmarriage. But first, to try which of them loved him best, he determined\nto ask them solemnly in order, and judge of the warmth of their\naffection by their answers. Goneril, the eldest, knowing well her\nfather\u2019s weakness, made answer that she loved him \u201cabove her soul.\u201d\n\u201cSince thou so honorest my declining age,\u201d said the old man, \u201cto thee\nand to thy husband I give the third part of my realm.\u201d Such good success\nfor a few words soon uttered was ample instruction to Regan, the second\ndaughter, what to say. She therefore to the same question replied that\n\u201cshe loved him more than all the world beside;\u201d and so received an equal\nreward with her sister. But Cordeilla, the youngest, and hitherto the\nbest beloved, though having before her eyes the reward of a little easy\nsoothing, and the loss likely to attend plain-dealing, yet was not moved\nfrom the solid purpose of a sincere and virtuous answer, and replied:\n\u201cFather, my love towards you is as my duty bids. They who pretend beyond\nthis flatter.\u201d When the old man, sorry to hear this, and wishing her to\nrecall these words, persisted in asking, she still restrained her\nexpressions so as to say rather less than more than the truth. Then\nLeir, all in a passion, burst forth: \u201cSince thou hast not reverenced thy\naged father like thy sisters, think not to have any part in my kingdom\nor what else I have;\u201d\u2014and without delay, giving in marriage his other\ndaughters, Goneril to the Duke of Albany, and Regan to the Duke of\nCornwall, he divides his kingdom between them, and goes to reside with\nhis eldest daughter, attended only by a hundred knights. But in a short\ntime his attendants, being complained of as too numerous and disorderly,\nare reduced to thirty. Resenting that affront, the old king betakes him\nto his second daughter; but she, instead of soothing his wounded pride,\ntakes part with her sister, and refuses to admit a retinue of more than\nfive. Then back he returns to the other, who now will not receive him\nwith more than one attendant. Then the remembrance of Cordeilla comes to\nhis thoughts, and he takes his journey into France to seek her, with\nlittle hope of kind consideration from one whom he had so injured, but\nto pay her the last recompense he can render,\u2014confession of his\ninjustice. When Cordeilla is informed of his approach, and of his sad\ncondition, she pours forth true filial tears. And, not willing that her\nown or others\u2019 eyes should see him in that forlorn condition, she sends\none of her trusted servants to meet him, and convey him privately to\nsome comfortable abode, and to furnish him with such state as befitted\nhis dignity. After which Cordeilla, with the king her husband, went in\nstate to meet him, and, after an honorable reception, the king permitted\nhis wife, Cordeilla, to go with an army and set her father again upon\nhis throne. They prospered, subdued the wicked sisters and their\nconsorts, and Leir obtained the crown and held it three years. Cordeilla\nsucceeded him and reigned five years; but the sons of her sisters, after\nthat, rebelled against her, and she lost both her crown and life.\n\nShakspeare has chosen this story as the subject of his tragedy of \u201cKing\nLear,\u201d varying its details in some respects. The madness of Leir, and\nthe ill success of Cordeilla\u2019s attempt to reinstate her father, are the\nprincipal variations, and those in the names will also be noticed. Our\nnarrative is drawn from Milton\u2019s \u201cHistory;\u201d and thus the reader will\nperceive that the story of Leir has had the distinguished honor of being\ntold by the two acknowledged chiefs of British literature.\n\n FERREX AND PORREX\n\nFerrex and Porrex were brothers, who held the kingdom after Leir. They\nquarrelled about the supremacy, and Porrex expelled his brother, who,\nobtaining aid from Suard, king of the Franks, returned and made war upon\nPorrex. Ferrex was slain in battle and his forces dispersed. When their\nmother came to hear of her son\u2019s death, who was her favorite, she fell\ninto a great rage, and conceived a mortal hatred against the survivor.\nShe took, therefore, her opportunity when he was asleep, fell upon him,\nand, with the assistance of her women, tore him in pieces. This horrid\nstory would not be worth relating, were it not for the fact that it has\nfurnished the plot for the first tragedy which was written in the\nEnglish language. It was entitled \u201cGorboduc,\u201d but in the second edition\n\u201cFerrex and Porrex,\u201d and was the production of Thomas Sackville,\nafterwards Earl of Dorset, and Thomas Norton, a barrister. Its date was\n1561.\n\n DUNWALLO MOLMUTIUS\n\nThis is the next name of note. Molmutius established the Molmutine laws,\nwhich bestowed the privilege of sanctuary on temples, cities, and the\nroads leading to them, and gave the same protection to ploughs,\nextending a religious sanction to the labors of the field. Shakspeare\nalludes to him in \u201cCymbeline,\u201d Act III., Scene 1:\n\n \u201c. . . Molmutius made our laws;\n Who was the first of Britain which did put\n His brows within a golden crown, and called\n Himself a king.\u201d\n\n BRENNUS AND BELINUS,\n\nthe sons of Molmutius, succeeded him. They quarrelled, and Brennus was\ndriven out of the island, and took refuge in Gaul, where he met with\nsuch favor from the king of the Allobroges that he gave him his daughter\nin marriage, and made him his partner on the throne. Brennus is the name\nwhich the Roman historians give to the famous leader of the Gauls who\ntook Rome in the time of Camillus. Geoffrey of Monmouth claims the glory\nof the conquest for the British prince, after he had become king of the\nAllobroges.\n\n ELIDURE\n\nAfter Belinus and Brennus there reigned several kings of little note,\nand then came Elidure. Arthgallo, his brother, being king, gave great\noffence to his powerful nobles, who rose against him, deposed him, and\nadvanced Elidure to the throne. Arthgallo fled, and endeavored to find\nassistance in the neighboring kingdoms to reinstate him, but found none.\nElidure reigned prosperously and wisely. After five years\u2019 possession of\nthe kingdom, one day, when hunting, he met in the forest his brother,\nArthgallo, who had been deposed. After long wandering, unable longer to\nbear the poverty to which he was reduced, he had returned to Britain,\nwith only ten followers, designing to repair to those who had formerly\nbeen his friends. Elidure, at the sight of his brother in distress,\nforgetting all animosities, ran to him, and embraced him. He took\nArthgallo home with him, and concealed him in the palace. After this he\nfeigned himself sick, and, calling his nobles about him, induced them,\npartly by persuasion, partly by force, to consent to his abdicating the\nkingdom, and reinstating his brother on the throne. The agreement being\nratified, Elidure took the crown from his own head, and put it on his\nbrother\u2019s head. Arthgallo after this reigned ten years, well and wisely,\nexercising strict justice towards all men.\n\nHe died, and left the kingdom to his sons, who reigned with various\nfortunes, but were not long-lived, and left no offspring, so that\nElidure was again advanced to the throne, and finished the course of his\nlife in just and virtuous actions, receiving the name of _the pious_,\nfrom the love and admiration of his subjects.\n\nWordsworth has taken the story of Artegal and Elidure for the subject of\na poem, which is No. 2 of \u201cPoems founded on the Affections.\u201d\n\n LUD\n\nAfter Elidure, the Chronicle names many kings, but none of special note,\ntill we come to Lud, who greatly enlarged Trinovant, his capital, and\nsurrounded it with a wall. He changed its name, bestowing upon it his\nown, so that henceforth it was called Lud\u2019s town, afterwards London. Lud\nwas buried by the gate of the city called after him Ludgate. He had two\nsons, but they were not old enough at the time of their father\u2019s death\nto sustain the cares of government, and therefore their uncle,\nCaswallaun, or Cassibellaunus, succeeded to the kingdom. He was a brave\nand magnificent prince, so that his fame reached to distant countries.\n\n CASSIBELLAUNUS\n\nAbout this time it happened (as is found in the Roman histories) that\nJulius C\u00e6sar, having subdued Gaul, came to the shore opposite Britain.\nAnd having resolved to add this island also to his conquests, he\nprepared ships and transported his army across the sea, to the mouth of\nthe River Thames. Here he was met by Cassibellaun with all his forces,\nand a battle ensued, in which Nennius, the brother of Cassibellaun,\nengaged in single combat with C\u00e6sar. After several furious blows given\nand received, the sword of C\u00e6sar stuck so fast in the shield of Nennius\nthat it could not be pulled out, and the combatants being separated by\nthe intervention of the troops Nennius remained possessed of this\ntrophy. At last, after the greater part of the day was spent, the\nBritons poured in so fast that C\u00e6sar was forced to retire to his camp\nand fleet. And finding it useless to continue the war any longer at that\ntime, he returned to Gaul.\n\nShakspeare alludes to Cassibellaunus, in \u201cCymbeline\u201d:\n\n \u201cThe famed Cassibelan, who was once at point\n (O giglot fortune!) to master C\u00e6sar\u2019s sword,\n Made Lud\u2019s town with rejoicing fires bright,\n And Britons strut with courage.\u201d\n\n KYMBELINUS, OR CYMBELINE\n\nC\u00e6sar, on a second invasion of the island, was more fortunate, and\ncompelled the Britons to pay tribute. Cymbeline, the nephew of the king,\nwas delivered to the Romans as a hostage for the faithful fulfilment of\nthe treaty, and, being carried to Rome by C\u00e6sar, he was there brought up\nin the Roman arts and accomplishments. Being afterwards restored to his\ncountry, and placed on the throne, he was attached to the Romans, and\ncontinued through all his reign at peace with them. His sons, Guiderius\nand Arviragus, who made their appearance in Shakspeare\u2019s play of\n\u201cCymbeline,\u201d succeeded their father, and, refusing to pay tribute to the\nRomans, brought on another invasion. Guiderius was slain, but Arviragus\nafterward made terms with the Romans, and reigned prosperously many\nyears.\n\n ARMORICA\n\nThe next event of note is the conquest and colonization of Armorica, by\nMaximus, a Roman general, and Conan, lord of Miniadoc or Denbigh-land,\nin Wales. The name of the country was changed to Brittany, or Lesser\nBritain; and so completely was it possessed by the British colonists,\nthat the language became assimilated to that spoken in Wales, and it is\nsaid that to this day the peasantry of the two countries can understand\neach other when speaking their native language.\n\nThe Romans eventually succeeded in establishing themselves in the\nisland, and after the lapse of several generations they became blended\nwith the natives so that no distinction existed between the two races.\nWhen at length the Roman armies were withdrawn from Britain, their\ndeparture was a matter of regret to the inhabitants, as it left them\nwithout protection against the barbarous tribes, Scots, Picts, and\nNorwegians, who harassed the country incessantly. This was the state of\nthings when the era of King Arthur began.\n\nThe adventure of Albion, the giant, with Hercules is alluded to by\nSpenser, \u201cFaery Queene,\u201d Book IV., Canto xi:\n\n \u201cFor Albion the son of Neptune was;\n Who for the proof of his great puissance,\n Out of his Albion did on dry foot pass\n Into old Gaul that now is cleped France,\n To fight with Hercules, that did advance\n To vanquish all the world with matchless might:\n And there his mortal part by great mischance\n Was slain.\u201d\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER III\n\n MERLIN\n\nMERLIN was the son of no mortal father, but of an Incubus, one of a\nclass of beings not absolutely wicked, but far from good, who inhabit\nthe regions of the air. Merlin\u2019s mother was a virtuous young woman, who,\non the birth of her son, intrusted him to a priest, who hurried him to\nthe baptismal fount, and so saved him from sharing the lot of his\nfather, though he retained many marks of his unearthly origin.\n\nAt this time Vortigern reigned in Britain. He was a usurper, who had\ncaused the death of his sovereign, Moines, and driven the two brothers\nof the late king, whose names were Uther and Pendragon, into banishment.\nVortigern, who lived in constant fear of the return of the rightful\nheirs of the kingdom, began to erect a strong tower for defence. The\nedifice, when brought by the workmen to a certain height, three times\nfell to the ground, without any apparent cause. The king consulted his\nastrologers on this wonderful event, and learned from them that it would\nbe necessary to bathe the corner-stone of the foundation with the blood\nof a child born without a mortal father.\n\nIn search of such an infant, Vortigern sent his messengers all over the\nkingdom, and they by accident discovered Merlin, whose lineage seemed to\npoint him out as the individual wanted. They took him to the king; but\nMerlin, young as he was, explained to the king the absurdity of\nattempting to rescue the fabric by such means, for he told him the true\ncause of the instability of the tower was its being placed over the den\nof two immense dragons, whose combats shook the earth above them. The\nking ordered his workmen to dig beneath the tower, and when they had\ndone so they discovered two enormous serpents, the one white as milk,\nthe other red as fire. The multitude looked on with amazement, till the\nserpents, slowly rising from their den, and expanding their enormous\nfolds, began the combat, when every one fled in terror, except Merlin,\nwho stood by clapping his hands and cheering on the conflict. The red\ndragon was slain, and the white one, gliding through a cleft in the\nrock, disappeared.\n\nThese animals typified, as Merlin afterwards explained, the invasion of\nUther and Pendragon, the rightful princes, who soon after landed with a\ngreat army. Vortigern was defeated, and afterwards burned alive in the\ncastle he had taken such pains to construct. On the death of Vortigern,\nPendragon ascended the throne. Merlin became his chief adviser, and\noften assisted the king by his magical arts.\n\n \u201cMerlin, who knew the range of all their arts,\n Had built the King his havens, ships and halls.\u201d\n \u2014_Vivian._\n\nAmong other endowments, he had the power of transforming himself into\nany shape he pleased. At one time he appeared as a dwarf, at others as a\ndamsel, a page, or even a greyhound or a stag. This faculty he often\nemployed for the service of the king, and sometimes also for the\ndiversion of the court and the sovereign.\n\nMerlin continued to be a favorite counsellor through the reigns of\nPendragon, Uther, and Arthur, and at last disappeared from view, and was\nno more found among men, through the treachery of his mistress, Viviane,\nthe Fairy, which happened in this wise.\n\nMerlin, having become enamoured of the fair Viviane, the Lady of the\nLake, was weak enough to impart to her various important secrets of his\nart, being impelled by fatal destiny, of which he was at the same time\nfully aware. The lady, however, was not content with his devotion,\nunbounded as it seems to have been, but \u201ccast about,\u201d the Romance tells\nus, how she might \u201cdetain him for evermore,\u201d and one day addressed him\nin these terms: \u201cSir, I would that we should make a fair place and a\nsuitable, so contrived by art and by cunning that it might never be\nundone, and that you and I should be there in joy and solace.\u201d \u201cMy\nlady,\u201d said Merlin, \u201cI will do all this.\u201d \u201cSir,\u201d said she, \u201cI would not\nhave you do it, but you shall teach me, and I will do it, and then it\nwill be more to my mind.\u201d \u201cI grant you this,\u201d said Merlin. Then he began\nto devise, and the damsel put it all in writing. And when he had devised\nthe whole, then had the damsel full great joy, and showed him greater\nsemblance of love than she had ever before made, and they sojourned\ntogether a long while. At length it fell out that, as they were going\none day hand in hand through the forest of Br\u00e9c\u00e9liande, they found a\nbush of white-thorn, which was laden with flowers; and they seated\nthemselves under the shade of this white-thorn, upon the green grass,\nand Merlin laid his head upon the damsel\u2019s lap, and fell asleep. Then\nthe damsel rose, and made a ring with her wimple round the bush, and\nround Merlin, and began her enchantments, such as he himself had taught\nher; and nine times she made the ring, and nine times she made the\nenchantment, and then she went and sat down by him, and placed his head\nagain upon her lap.\n\n \u201cAnd a sleep\n Fell upon Merlin more like death, so deep\n Her finger on her lips; then Vivian rose,\n And from her brown-locked head the wimple throws,\n And takes it in her hand and waves it over\n The blossomed thorn tree and her sleeping lover.\n Nine times she waved the fluttering wimple round,\n And made a little plot of magic ground.\u201d\n \u2014_Matthew Arnold._\n\nAnd when he awoke, and looked round him, it seemed to him that he was\nenclosed in the strongest tower in the world, and laid upon a fair bed.\nThen said he to the dame: \u201cMy lady, you have deceived me, unless you\nabide with me, for no one hath power to unmake this tower but you\nalone.\u201d She then promised she would be often there, and in this she held\nher covenant with him. And Merlin never went out of that tower where his\nMistress Viviane had enclosed him; but she entered and went out again\nwhen she listed.\n\nAfter this event Merlin was never more known to hold converse with any\nmortal but Viviane, except on one occasion. Arthur, having for some time\nmissed him from his court, sent several of his knights in search of him,\nand, among the number, Sir Gawain, who met with a very unpleasant\nadventure while engaged in this quest. Happening to pass a damsel on his\nroad, and neglecting to salute her, she revenged herself for his\nincivility by transforming him into a hideous dwarf. He was bewailing\naloud his evil fortune as he went through the forest of Br\u00e9c\u00e9liande,\nwhen suddenly he heard the voice of one groaning on his right hand; and,\nlooking that way, he could see nothing save a kind of smoke, which\nseemed like air, and through which he could not pass. Merlin then\naddressed him from out the smoke, and told him by what misadventure he\nwas imprisoned there. \u201cAh, sir!\u201d he added, \u201cyou will never see me more,\nand that grieves me, but I cannot remedy it; I shall never more speak to\nyou, nor to any other person, save only my mistress. But do thou hasten\nto King Arthur, and charge him from me to undertake, without delay, the\nquest of the Sacred Graal. The knight is already born, and has received\nknighthood at his hands, who is destined to accomplish this quest.\u201d And\nafter this he comforted Gawain under his transformation, assuring him\nthat he should speedily be disenchanted; and he predicted to him that he\nshould find the king at Carduel, in Wales, on his return, and that all\nthe other knights who had been on like quest would arrive there the same\nday as himself. And all this came to pass as Merlin had said.\n\nMerlin is frequently introduced in the tales of chivalry, but it is\nchiefly on great occasions, and at a period subsequent to his death, or\nmagical disappearance. In the romantic poems of Italy, and in Spenser,\nMerlin is chiefly represented as a magical artist. Spenser represents\nhim as the artificer of the impenetrable shield and other armor of\nPrince Arthur (\u201cFaery Queene,\u201d Book I., Canto vii.), and of a mirror, in\nwhich a damsel viewed her lover\u2019s shade. The Fountain of Love, in the\n\u201cOrlando Innamorata,\u201d is described as his work; and in the poem of\n\u201cAriosto\u201d we are told of a hall adorned with prophetic paintings, which\ndemons had executed in a single night, under the direction of Merlin.\n\nThe following legend is from Spenser\u2019s \u201cFaery Queene,\u201d Book III., Canto\niii.:\n\n CAER-MERDIN, OR CAERMARTHEN (IN WALES), MERLIN\u2019S TOWER, AND THE\n IMPRISONED FIENDS.\n\n \u201cForthwith themselves disguising both, in straunge\n And base attire, that none might them bewray,\n To Maridunum, that is now by chaunge\n Of name Caer-Merdin called, they took their way:\n There the wise Merlin whylome wont (they say)\n To make his wonne, low underneath the ground\n In a deep delve, far from the view of day,\n That of no living wight he mote be found,\n Whenso he counselled with his sprights encompassed round.\n\n \u201cAnd if thou ever happen that same way\n To travel, go to see that dreadful place;\n It is a hideous hollow cave (they say)\n Under a rock that lies a little space\n From the swift Barry, tombling down apace\n Amongst the woody hills of Dynevor;\n But dare not thou, I charge, in any case,\n To enter into that same baleful bower,\n For fear the cruel fiends should thee unwares devour.\n\n \u201cBut standing high aloft, low lay thine ear,\n And there such ghastly noise of iron chains\n And brazen cauldrons thou shalt rumbling hear,\n Which thousand sprites with long enduring pains\n Do toss, that it will stun thy feeble brains;\n And oftentimes great groans, and grievous stounds,\n When too huge toil and labor them constrains;\n And oftentimes loud strokes and ringing sounds\n From under that deep rock most horribly rebounds.\n\n \u201cThe cause some say is this. A little while\n Before that Merlin died, he did intend\n A brazen wall in compas to compile\n About Caermerdin, and did it commend\n Unto these sprites to bring to perfect end;\n During which work the Lady of the Lake,\n Whom long he loved, for him in haste did send;\n Who, thereby forced his workmen to forsake,\n Them bound till his return their labor not to slack.\n\n \u201cIn the mean time, through that false lady\u2019s train,\n He was surprised, and buried under beare,[40]\n Ne ever to his work returned again;\n Nathless those fiends may not their work forbear,\n So greatly his command\u00ebment they fear;\n But there do toil and travail day and night,\n Until that brazen wall they up do rear.\n For Merlin had in magic more insight\n Than ever him before or after living wight.\u201d\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER IV\n\n ARTHUR\n\nWE shall begin our history of King Arthur by giving those particulars of\nhis life which appear to rest on historical evidence; and then proceed\nto record those legends concerning him which form the earliest portion\nof British literature.\n\nArthur was a prince of the tribe of Britons called Silures, whose\ncountry was South Wales, the son of Uther, named Pendragon, a title\ngiven to an elective sovereign, paramount over the many kings of\nBritain. He appears to have commenced his martial career about the year\n500, and was raised to the Pendragonship about ten years later. He is\nsaid to have gained twelve victories over the Saxons. The most important\nof them was that of Badon, by some supposed to be Bath, by others\nBerkshire. This was the last of his battles with the Saxons, and checked\ntheir progress so effectually, that Arthur experienced no more annoyance\nfrom them, and reigned in peace, until the revolt of his nephew Modred,\ntwenty years later, which led to the fatal battle of Camlan, in\nCornwall, in 542. Modred was slain, and Arthur, mortally wounded, was\nconveyed by sea to Glastonbury, where he died, and was buried. Tradition\npreserved the memory of the place of his interment within the abbey, as\nwe are told by Giraldus Cambrensis, who was present when the grave was\nopened by command of Henry II. about 1150, and saw the bones and sword\nof the monarch, and a leaden cross let into his tombstone, with the\ninscription in rude Roman letters, \u201cHere lies buried the famous King\nArthur, in the island Avalonia.\u201d This story has been elegantly versified\nby Warton. A popular traditional belief was long entertained among the\nBritons, that Arthur was not dead, but had been carried off to be healed\nof his wounds in Fairy-land, and that he would reappear to avenge his\ncountrymen and reinstate them in the sovereignty of Britain. In Warton\u2019s\n\u201cOde\u201d a bard relates to King Henry the traditional story of Arthur\u2019s\ndeath, and closes with these lines.\n\n \u201cYet in vain a paynim foe\n Armed with fate the mighty blow:\n For when he fell, the Elfin queen,\n All in secret and unseen,\n O\u2019er the fainting hero threw\n Her mantle of ambrosial blue,\n And bade her spirits bear him far,\n In Merlin\u2019s agate-axled car,\n To her green isle\u2019s enamelled steep,\n Far in the navel of the deep.\n O\u2019er his wounds she sprinkled dew\n From flowers that in Arabia grew.\n . . . . . . .\n There he reigns a mighty king,\n Thence to Britain shall return,\n If right prophetic rolls I learn,\n Borne on victory\u2019s spreading plume,\n His ancient sceptre to resume,\n His knightly table to restore,\n And brave the tournaments of yore.\u201d\n\nAfter this narration another bard came forward who recited a different\nstory:\n\n \u201cWhen Arthur bowed his haughty crest,\n No princess veiled in azure vest\n Snatched him, by Merlin\u2019s powerful spell,\n In groves of golden bliss to dwell;\n But when he fell, with winged speed,\n His champions, on a milk-white steed,\n From the battle\u2019s hurricane,\n Bore him to Joseph\u2019s towered fane,[41]\n In the fair vale of Avalon;\n There, with chanted orison\n And the long blaze of tapers clear,\n The stoled fathers met the bier;\n Through the dim aisles, in order dread\n Of martial woe, the chief they led,\n And deep entombed in holy ground,\n Before the altar\u2019s solemn bound.\u201d\n\nIt must not be concealed that the very existence of Arthur has been\ndenied by some. Milton says of him: \u201cAs to Arthur, more renowned in\nsongs and romances than in true stories, who he was, and whether ever\nany such reigned in Britain, hath been doubted heretofore, and may\nagain, with good reason.\u201d Modern critics, however, admit that there was\na prince of this name, and find proof of it in the frequent mention of\nhim in the writings of the Welsh bards. But the Arthur of romance,\naccording to Mr. Owen, a Welsh scholar and antiquarian, is a\nmythological person. \u201cArthur,\u201d he says, \u201cis the Great Bear, as the name\nliterally implies (Arctos, Arcturus), and perhaps this constellation,\nbeing so near the pole, and visibly describing a circle in a small\nspace, is the origin of the famous Round Table.\u201d\n\n KING ARTHUR\n\nConstans, king of Britain, had three sons, Moines, Ambrosius, otherwise\ncalled Uther, and Pendragon. Moines, soon after his accession to the\ncrown, was vanquished by the Saxons, in consequence of the treachery of\nhis seneschal, Vortigern, and growing unpopular, through misfortune, he\nwas killed by his subjects, and the traitor Vortigern chosen in his\nplace.\n\nVortigern was soon after defeated in a great battle by Uther and\nPendragon, the surviving brothers of Moines and Pendragon ascended the\nthrone.\n\nThis prince had great confidence in the wisdom of Merlin, and made him\nhis chief adviser. About this time a dreadful war arose between the\nSaxons and Britons. Merlin obliged the royal brothers to swear fidelity\nto each other, but predicted that one of them must fall in the first\nbattle. The Saxons were routed, and Pendragon, being slain, was\nsucceeded by Uther, who now assumed in addition to his own name the\nappellation of Pendragon.\n\nMerlin still continued a favorite counsellor. At the request of Uther he\ntransported by magic art enormous stones from Ireland, to form the\nsepulchre of Pendragon. These stones constitute the monument now called\nStonehenge, on Salisbury plain.\n\nMerlin next proceeded to Carlisle to prepare the Round Table, at which\nhe seated an assemblage of the great nobles of the country. The\ncompanions admitted to this high order were bound by oath to assist each\nother at the hazard of their own lives, to attempt singly the most\nperilous adventures, to lead, when necessary, a life of monastic\nsolitude, to fly to arms at the first summons, and never to retire from\nbattle till they had defeated the enemy, unless night intervened and\nseparated the combatants.\n\nSoon after this institution, the king invited all his barons to the\ncelebration of a great festival, which he proposed holding annually at\nCarlisle.\n\nAs the knights had obtained the sovereign\u2019s permission to bring their\nladies along with them, the beautiful Igerne accompanied her husband,\nGorlois, Duke of Tintadel, to one of these anniversaries. The king\nbecame deeply enamoured of the duchess, and disclosed his passion; but\nIgerne repelled his advances, and revealed his solicitations to her\nhusband. On hearing this, the duke instantly removed from court with\nIgerne, and without taking leave of Uther. The king complained to his\ncouncil of this want of duty, and they decided that the duke should be\nsummoned to court, and, if refractory, should be treated as a rebel. As\nhe refused to obey the citation, the king carried war into the estates\nof his vassal and besieged him in the strong castle of Tintadel. Merlin\ntransformed the king into the likeness of Gorlois, and enabled him to\nhave many stolen interviews with Igerne. At length the duke was killed\nin battle and the king espoused Igerne.\n\nFrom this union sprang Arthur, who succeeded his father, Uther, upon the\nthrone.\n\n ARTHUR CHOSEN KING\n\nArthur, though only fifteen years old at his father\u2019s death, was elected\nking, at a general meeting of the nobles. It was not done without\nopposition, for there were many ambitious competitors.\n\n \u201cFor while he linger\u2019d there\n A doubt that ever smoulder\u2019d in the hearts\n Of those great Lords and Barons of his realm\n Flash\u2019d forth and into war: for most of these\n Made head against him, crying, \u2018Who is he\n That he should rule us? who hath proven him\n King Uther\u2019s son? for lo! we look at him,\n And find nor face nor bearing, limbs nor voice,\n Are like to those of Uther whom we knew.\u201d\n \u2014_Coming of Arthur._\n\nBut Bishop Brice, a person of great sanctity, on Christmas eve addressed\nthe assembly, and represented that it would well become them, at that\nsolemn season, to put up their prayers for some token which should\nmanifest the intentions of Providence respecting their future sovereign.\nThis was done, and with such success, that the service was scarcely\nended when a miraculous stone was discovered before the church door, and\nin the stone was firmly fixed a sword, with the following words engraven\non its hilt:\n\n \u201cI am hight Escalibore,\n Unto a king fair tresore.\u201d\n\nBishop Brice, after exhorting the assembly to offer up their\nthanksgiving for this signal miracle, proposed a law, that whoever\nshould be able to draw out the sword from the stone, should be\nacknowledged as sovereign of the Britons; and his proposal was decreed\nby general acclamation. The tributary kings of Uther, and the most\nfamous knights, successively put their strength to the proof, but the\nmiraculous sword resisted all their efforts. It stood till Candlemas; it\nstood till Easter, and till Pentecost, when the best knights in the\nkingdom usually assembled for the annual tournament. Arthur, who was at\nthat time serving in the capacity of squire to his foster-brother, Sir\nKay, attended his master to the lists. Sir Kay fought with great valor\nand success, but had the misfortune to break his sword, and sent Arthur\nto his mother for a new one. Arthur hastened home, but did not find the\nlady; but having observed near the church a sword, sticking in a stone,\nhe galloped to the place, drew out the sword with great ease, and\ndelivered it to his master. Sir Kay would willingly have assumed to\nhimself the distinction conferred by the possession of the sword, but\nwhen, to confirm the doubters, the sword was replaced in the stone he\nwas utterly unable to withdraw it, and it would yield a second time to\nno hand but Arthur\u2019s. Thus decisively pointed out by Heaven as their\nking, Arthur was by general consent proclaimed as such, and an early day\nappointed for his solemn coronation.\n\nImmediately after his election to the crown, Arthur found himself\nopposed by eleven kings and one duke, who with a vast army were actually\nencamped in the forest of Rockingham. By Merlin\u2019s advice Arthur sent an\nembassy to Brittany, to solicit the aid of King Ban and King Bohort, two\nof the best knights in the world. They accepted the call, and with a\npowerful army crossed the sea, landing at Portsmouth, where they were\nreceived with great rejoicing. The rebel kings were still superior in\nnumbers; but Merlin, by a powerful enchantment, caused all their tents\nto fall down at once, and in the confusion Arthur with his allies fell\nupon them and totally routed them.\n\nAfter defeating the rebels, Arthur took the field against the Saxons. As\nthey were too strong for him unaided, he sent an embassy to Armorica,\nbeseeching the assistance of Hoel, who soon after brought over an army\nto his aid. The two kings joined their forces, and sought the enemy,\nwhom they met, and both sides prepared for a decisive engagement.\n\u201cArthur himself,\u201d as Geoffrey of Monmouth relates, \u201cdressed in a\nbreastplate worthy of so great a king, places on his head a golden\nhelmet engraved with the semblance of a dragon. Over his shoulders he\nthrows his shield called Priwen, on which a picture of the Holy Virgin\nconstantly recalled her to his memory. Girt with Caliburn, a most\nexcellent sword, and fabricated in the isle of Avalon, he graces his\nright hand with the lance named Ron. This was a long and broad spear,\nwell contrived for slaughter.\u201d After a severe conflict, Arthur, calling\non the name of the Virgin, rushes into the midst of his enemies, and\ndestroys multitudes of them with the formidable Caliburn, and puts the\nrest to flight. Hoel, being detained by sickness, took no part in this\nbattle.\n\nThis is called the victory of Mount Badon, and, however disguised by\nfable, it is regarded by historians as a real event.\n\nThe feats performed by Arthur at the battle of Badon Mount are thus\ncelebrated in Drayton\u2019s verse:\n\n \u201cThey sung how he himself at Badon bore, that day,\n When at the glorious goal his British sceptre lay;\n Two daies together how the battel stronglie stood;\n Pendragon\u2019s worthie son, who waded there in blood,\n Three hundred Saxons slew with his owne valiant hand.\u201d\n \u2014_Song IV._\n\n GUENEVER\n\nMerlin had planned for Arthur a marriage with the daughter of King\nLaodegan of Carmalide. By his advice Arthur paid a visit to the court of\nthat sovereign, attended only by Merlin and by thirty-nine knights whom\nthe magician had selected for that service. On their arrival they found\nLaodegan and his peers sitting in council, endeavoring, but with small\nprospect of success, to devise means of resisting the impending attack\nof Ryence, king of Ireland, who, with fifteen tributary kings and an\nalmost innumerable army, had nearly surrounded the city. Merlin, who\nacted as leader of the band of British knights, announced them as\nstrangers, who came to offer the king their services in his wars; but\nunder the express condition that they should be at liberty to conceal\ntheir names and quality until they should think proper to divulge them.\nThese terms were thought very strange, but were thankfully accepted, and\nthe strangers, after taking the usual oath to the king, retired to the\nlodging which Merlin had prepared for them.\n\nA few days after this, the enemy, regardless of a truce into which they\nhad entered with King Laodegan, suddenly issued from their camp and made\nan attempt to surprise the city. Cleodalis, the king\u2019s general,\nassembled the royal forces with all possible despatch. Arthur and his\ncompanions also flew to arms, and Merlin appeared at their head, bearing\na standard on which was emblazoned a terrific dragon. Merlin advanced to\nthe gate, and commanded the porter to open it, which the porter refused\nto do, without the king\u2019s order. Merlin thereupon took up the gate, with\nall its appurtenances of locks, bars, bolts, etc., and directed his\ntroops to pass through, after which he replaced it in perfect order. He\nthen set spurs to his horse and dashed, at the head of his little troop,\ninto a body of two thousand pagans. The disparity of numbers being so\nenormous, Merlin cast a spell upon the enemy, so as to prevent their\nseeing the small number of their assailants; notwithstanding which the\nBritish knights were hard pressed. But the people of the city, who saw\nfrom the walls this unequal contest, were ashamed of leaving the small\nbody of strangers to their fate, so they opened the gate and sallied\nforth. The numbers were now more nearly equal, and Merlin revoked his\nspell, so that the two armies encountered on fair terms. Where Arthur,\nBan, Bohort, and the rest fought the king\u2019s army had the advantage; but\nin another part of the field the king himself was surrounded and carried\noff by the enemy. The sad sight was seen by Guenever, the fair daughter\nof the king, who stood on the city wall and looked at the battle. She\nwas in dreadful distress, tore her hair, and swooned away.\n\nBut Merlin, aware of what passed in every part of the field, suddenly\ncollected his knights, led them out of the battle, intercepted the\npassage of the party who were carrying away the king, charged them with\nirresistible impetuosity, cut in pieces or dispersed the whole escort,\nand rescued the king. In the fight Arthur encountered Caulang, a giant\nfifteen feet high, and the fair Guenever, who had already began to feel\na strong interest in the handsome young stranger, trembled for the issue\nof the contest. But Arthur, dealing a dreadful blow on the shoulder of\nthe monster, cut through his neck so that his head hung over on one\nside, and in this condition his horse carried him about the field, to\nthe great horror and dismay of the Pagans. Guenever could not refrain\nfrom expressing aloud her wish that the gentle knight, who dealt with\ngiants so dexterously, were destined to become her husband, and the wish\nwas echoed by her attendants. The enemy soon turned their backs and fled\nwith precipitation, closely pursued by Laodegan and his allies.\n\nAfter the battle Arthur was disarmed and conducted to the bath by the\nprincess Guenever, while his friends were attended by the other ladies\nof the court. After the bath the knights were conducted to a magnificent\nentertainment, at which they were diligently served by the same fair\nattendants. Laodegan, more and more anxious to know the name and quality\nof his generous deliverers, and occasionally forming a secret wish that\nthe chief of his guests might be captivated by the charms of his\ndaughter, appeared silent and pensive, and was scarcely roused from his\nreverie by the banters of his courtiers. Arthur, having had an\nopportunity of explaining to Guenever his great esteem for her merit,\nwas in the joy of his heart, and was still further delighted by hearing\nfrom Merlin the late exploits of Gawain at London, by means of which his\nimmediate return to his dominions was rendered unnecessary, and he was\nleft at liberty to protract his stay at the court of Laodegan. Every day\ncontributed to increase the admiration of the whole court for the\ngallant strangers, and the passion of Guenever for their chief; and when\nat last Merlin announced to the king that the object of the visit of the\nparty was to procure a bride for their leader, Laodegan at once\npresented Guenever to Arthur, telling him that, whatever might be his\nrank, his merit was sufficient to entitle him to the possession of the\nheiress of Carmalide.\n\n \u201cAnd could he find a woman in her womanhood\n As great as he was in his manhood\u2014\n The twain together might change the world.\u201d\n \u2014_Guinevere._\n\nArthur accepted the lady with the utmost gratitude, and Merlin then\nproceeded to satisfy the king of the rank of his son-in-law; upon which\nLaodegan, with all his barons, hastened to do homage to their lawful\nsovereign, the successor of Uther Pendragon. The fair Guenever was then\nsolemnly betrothed to Arthur, and a magnificent festival was proclaimed,\nwhich lasted seven days. At the end of that time, the enemy appearing\nagain with renewed force, it became necessary to resume military\noperations.[42]\n\nWe must now relate what took place at and near London, while Arthur was\nabsent from his capital. At this very time a band of young heroes were\non their way to Arthur\u2019s court, for the purpose of receiving knighthood\nfrom him. They were Gawain and his three brothers, nephews of Arthur,\nsons of King Lot, and Galachin, another nephew, son of King Nanters.\nKing Lot had been one of the rebel chiefs whom Arthur had defeated, but\nhe now hoped by means of the young men to be reconciled to his\nbrother-in-law. He equipped his sons and his nephew with the utmost\nmagnificence, giving them a splendid retinue of young men, sons of earls\nand barons, all mounted on the best horses, with complete suits of\nchoice armor. They numbered in all seven hundred, but only nine had yet\nreceived the order of knighthood; the rest were candidates for that\nhonor, and anxious to earn it by an early encounter with the enemy.\nGawain, the leader, was a knight of wonderful strength; but what was\nmost remarkable about him was that his strength was greater at certain\nhours of the day than at others. From nine o\u2019clock till noon his\nstrength was doubled, and so it was from three to evensong; for the rest\nof the time it was less remarkable, though at all times surpassing that\nof ordinary men.\n\nAfter a march of three days they arrived in the vicinity of London,\nwhere they expected to find Arthur and his court, and very unexpectedly\nfell in with a large convoy belonging to the enemy, consisting of\nnumerous carts and wagons, all loaded with provisions, and escorted by\nthree thousand men, who had been collecting spoil from all the country\nround. A single charge from Gawain\u2019s impetuous cavalry was sufficient to\ndisperse the escort and recover the convoy, which was instantly\ndespatched to London. But before long a body of seven thousand fresh\nsoldiers advanced to the attack of the five princes and their little\narmy. Gawain, singling out a chief named Choas, of gigantic size, began\nthe battle by splitting him from the crown of the head to the breast.\nGalachin encountered King Sanagran, who was also very huge, and cut off\nhis head. Agrivain and Gahariet also performed prodigies of valor. Thus\nthey kept the great army of assailants at bay, though hard pressed, till\nof a sudden they perceived a strong body of the citizens advancing from\nLondon, where the convoy which had been recovered by Gawain had arrived,\nand informed the mayor and citizens of the danger of their deliverer.\nThe arrival of the Londoners soon decided the contest. The enemy fled in\nall directions, and Gawain and his friends, escorted by the grateful\ncitizens, entered London, and were received with acclamations.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER V\n\n ARTHUR (_Continued_)\n\nAFTER the great victory of Mount Badon, by which the Saxons were for the\ntime effectually put down, Arthur turned his arms against the Scots and\nPicts, whom he routed at Lake Lomond, and compelled to sue for mercy. He\nthen went to York to keep his Christmas, and employed himself in\nrestoring the Christian churches which the Pagans had rifled and\noverthrown. The following summer he conquered Ireland, and then made a\nvoyage with his fleet to Iceland, which he also subdued. The kings of\nGothland and of the Orkneys came voluntarily and made their submission,\npromising to pay tribute. Then he returned to Britain, where, having\nestablished the kingdom, he dwelt twelve years in peace.\n\nDuring this time he invited over to him all persons whatsoever that were\nfamous for valor in foreign nations, and augmented the number of his\ndomestics, and introduced such politeness into his court as people of\nthe remotest countries thought worthy of their imitation. So that there\nwas not a nobleman who thought himself of any consideration unless his\nclothes and arms were made in the same fashion as those of Arthur\u2019s\nknights.\n\nFinding himself so powerful at home, Arthur began to form designs for\nextending his power abroad. So, having prepared his fleet, he first\nattempted Norway, that he might procure the crown of it for Lot, his\nsister\u2019s husband. Arthur landed in Norway, fought a great battle with\nthe king of that country, defeated him, and pursued the victory till he\nhad reduced the whole country under his dominion, and established Lot\nupon the throne. Then Arthur made a voyage to Gaul and laid siege to the\ncity of Paris. Gaul was at that time a Roman province, and governed by\nFlollo, the Tribune. When the siege of Paris had continued a month, and\nthe people began to suffer from famine, Flollo challenged Arthur to\nsingle combat, proposing to decide the conquest of the province in that\nway. Arthur gladly accepted the challenge, and slew his adversary in the\ncontest, upon which the citizens surrendered the city to him. After the\nvictory Arthur divided his army into two parts, one of which he\ncommitted to the conduct of Hoel, whom he ordered to march into\nAquitaine, while he with the other part should endeavor to subdue the\nother provinces. At the end of nine years, in which time all the parts\nof Gaul were entirely reduced, Arthur returned to Paris, where he kept\nhis court, and, calling an assembly of the clergy and people,\nestablished peace and the just administration of the laws in that\nkingdom. Then he bestowed Normandy upon Bedver, his butler, and the\nprovince of Andegavia upon Kay, his steward,[43] and several other\nprovinces upon his great men that attended him. And, having settled the\npeace of the cities and countries, he returned back in the beginning of\nspring to Britain.\n\nUpon the approach of the feast of Pentecost, Arthur, the better to\ndemonstrate his joy after such triumphant successes, and for the more\nsolemn observation of that festival, and reconciling the minds of the\nprinces that were now subject to him, resolved during that season to\nhold a magnificent court, to place the crown upon his head, and to\ninvite all the kings and dukes under his subjection to the solemnity.\nAnd he pitched upon Caerleon, the City of Legions, as the proper place\nfor his purpose. For, besides its great wealth above the other\ncities,[44] its situation upon the river Usk, near the Severn sea, was\nmost pleasant and fit for so great a solemnity. For on one side it was\nwashed by that noble river, so that the kings and princes from the\ncountries beyond the seas might have the convenience of sailing up to\nit. On the other side the beauty of the meadows and groves, and\nmagnificence of the royal palaces, with lofty gilded roofs that adorned\nit, made it even rival the grandeur of Rome. It was also famous for two\nchurches, whereof one was adorned with a choir of virgins, who devoted\nthemselves wholly to the service of God, and the other maintained a\nconvent of priests. Besides, there was a college of two hundred\nphilosophers, who, being learned in astronomy and the other arts, were\ndiligent in observing the courses of the stars, and gave Arthur true\npredictions of the events that would happen. In this place, therefore,\nwhich afforded such delights, were preparations made for the ensuing\nfestival.\n\nAmbassadors were then sent into several kingdoms, to invite to court the\nprinces both of Gaul and of the adjacent islands. Accordingly there came\nAugusel, king of Albania, now Scotland, Cadwallo, king of Venedotia, now\nNorth Wales, Sater, king of Demetia, now South Wales; also the\narchbishops of the metropolitan sees, London and York, and Dubricius,\nbishop of Caerleon, the City of Legions. This prelate, who was primate\nof Britain, was so eminent for his piety that he could cure any sick\nperson by his prayers. There were also the counts of the principal\ncities, and many other worthies of no less dignity.\n\nFrom the adjacent islands came Guillamurius, king of Ireland, Gunfasius,\nking of the Orkneys, Malvasius, king of Iceland, Lot, king of Norway,\nBedver, the butler, Duke of Normandy, Kay, the sewer, Duke of Andegavia;\nalso the twelve peers of Gaul, and Hoel, Duke of the Armorican Britons,\nwith his nobility, who came with such a train of mules, horses, and rich\nfurniture as it is difficult to describe. Besides these there remained\nno prince of any consideration on this side of Spain who came not upon\nthis invitation. And no wonder, when Arthur\u2019s munificence, which was\ncelebrated over the whole world, made him beloved by all people.\n\nWhen all were assembled upon the day of the solemnity the archbishops\nwere conducted to the palace, in order to place the crown upon the\nking\u2019s head. Then Dubricius, inasmuch as the court was held in his\ndiocese, made himself ready to celebrate the office. As soon as the king\nwas invested with his royal habiliments he was conducted in great pomp\nto the metropolitan church, having four kings, viz., of Albania,\nCornwall, Demetia, and Venedotia, bearing four golden swords before him.\nOn another part was the queen, dressed out in her richest ornaments,\nconducted by the archbishops and bishops to the Church of Virgins; the\nfour queens, also, of the kings last mentioned, bearing before her four\nwhite doves, according to ancient custom. When the whole procession was\nended so transporting was the harmony of the musical instruments and\nvoices, whereof there was a vast variety in both churches, that the\nknights who attended were in doubt which to prefer, and therefore\ncrowded from the one to the other by turns, and were far from being\ntired of the solemnity, though the whole day had been spent in it. At\nlast, when divine service was over at both churches, the king and queen\nput off their crowns, and, putting on their lighter ornaments, went to\nthe banquet. When they had all taken their seats according to\nprecedence, Kay, the sewer, in rich robes of ermine, with a thousand\nyoung noblemen all in like manner clothed in rich attire, served up the\ndishes. From another part Bedver, the butler, was followed by the same\nnumber of attendants, who waited with all kinds of cups and\ndrinking-vessels. And there was food and drink in abundance, and\neverything was of the best kind, and served in the best manner. For at\nthat time Britain had arrived at such a pitch of grandeur that in\nriches, luxury, and politeness it far surpassed all other kingdoms.\n\nAs soon as the banquets were over they went into the fields without the\ncity to divert themselves with various sports, such as shooting with\nbows and arrows, tossing the pike, casting of heavy stones and rocks,\nplaying at dice, and the like, and all these inoffensively, and without\nquarrelling. In this manner were three days spent, and after that they\nseparated, and the kings and noblemen departed to their several homes.\n\nAfter this Arthur reigned five years in peace. Then came ambassadors\nfrom Lucius Tiberius, Procurator under Leo, Emperor of Rome, demanding\ntribute. But Arthur refused to pay tribute, and prepared for war. As\nsoon as the necessary dispositions were made he committed the government\nof his kingdom to his nephew Modred and to Queen Guenever, and marched\nwith his army to Hamo\u2019s Port, where the wind stood fair for him. The\narmy crossed over in safety, and landed at the mouth of the river Barba.\nAnd there they pitched their tents to wait the arrival of the kings of\nthe islands.\n\nAs soon as all the forces were arrived Arthur marched forward to\nAugustodunum, and encamped on the banks of the river Alba. Here repeated\nbattles were fought, in all which the Britons, under their valiant\nleaders, Hoel, Duke of Armorica, and Gawain, nephew to Arthur, had the\nadvantage. At length Lucius Tiberius determined to retreat, and wait for\nthe Emperor Leo to join him with fresh troops. But Arthur, anticipating\nthis event, took possession of a certain valley, and closed up the way\nof retreat to Lucius, compelling him to fight a decisive battle, in\nwhich Arthur lost some of the bravest of his knights and most faithful\nfollowers. But on the other hand Lucius Tiberius was slain, and his army\ntotally defeated. The fugitives dispersed over the country, some to the\nby-ways and woods, some to cities and towns, and all other places where\nthey could hope for safety.\n\nArthur stayed in those parts till the next winter was over, and employed\nhis time in restoring order and settling the government. He then\nreturned into England, and celebrated his victories with great splendor.\n\nThen the king stablished all his knights, and to them that were not rich\nhe gave lands, and charged them all never to do outrage nor murder, and\nalways to flee treason; also, by no means to be cruel, but to give mercy\nunto him that asked mercy, upon pain of forfeiture of their worship and\nlordship; and always to do ladies, damosels, and gentlewomen service,\nupon pain of death. Also that no man take battle in a wrongful quarrel,\nfor no law, nor for any world\u2019s goods. Unto this were all the knights\nsworn of the Table Round, both old and young. And at every year were\nthey sworn at the high feast of Pentecost.\n\n KING ARTHUR SLAYS THE GIANT OF ST. MICHAEL\u2019S MOUNT\n\nWhile the army was encamped in Brittany, awaiting the arrival of the\nkings, there came a countryman to Arthur, and told him that a giant,\nwhose cave was on a neighboring mountain, called St. Michael\u2019s Mount,\nhad for a long time been accustomed to carry off the children of the\npeasants to devour them. \u201cAnd now he hath taken the Duchess of Brittany,\nas she rode with her attendants, and hath carried her away in spite of\nall they could do.\u201d \u201cNow, fellow,\u201d said King Arthur, \u201ccanst thou bring\nme there where this giant haunteth?\u201d \u201cYea, sure,\u201d said the good man;\n\u201clo, yonder where thou seest two great fires, there shalt thou find him,\nand more treasure than I suppose is in all France beside.\u201d Then the king\ncalled to him Sir Bedver and Sir Kay, and commanded them to make ready\nhorse and harness for himself and them; for after evening he would ride\non pilgrimage to St. Michael\u2019s Mount.\n\nSo they three departed, and rode forth till they came to the foot of the\nmount. And there the king commanded them to tarry, for he would himself\ngo up into that mount. So he ascended the hill till he came to a great\nfire, and there he found an aged woman sitting by a new-made grave,\nmaking great sorrow. Then King Arthur saluted her, and demanded of her\nwherefore she made such lamentation; to whom she answered: \u201cSir knight,\nspeak low, for yonder is a devil, and if he hear thee speak, he will\ncome and destroy thee. For ye cannot make resistance to him, he is so\nfierce and so strong. He hath murdered the Duchess, which here lieth,\nwho was the fairest of all the world, wife to Sir Hoel, Duke of\nBrittany.\u201d \u201cDame,\u201d said the king, \u201cI come from the noble conqueror, King\nArthur, to treat with that tyrant.\u201d \u201cFie on such treaties,\u201d said she;\n\u201che setteth not by the king, nor by no man else.\u201d \u201cWell,\u201d said Arthur,\n\u201cI will accomplish my message for all your fearful words.\u201d So he went\nforth by the crest of the hill, and saw where the giant sat at supper,\ngnawing on the limb of a man, and baking his broad limbs at the fire,\nand three fair damsels lying bound, whose lot it was to be devoured in\ntheir turn. When King Arthur beheld that, he had great compassion on\nthem, so that his heart bled for sorrow. Then he hailed the giant,\nsaying, \u201cHe that all the world ruleth give thee short life and shameful\ndeath. Why hast thou murdered this Duchess? Therefore come forth, for\nthis day thou shalt die by my hand.\u201d Then the giant started up, and took\na great club, and smote at the king, and smote off his coronal; and then\nthe king struck him in the belly with his sword, and made a fearful\nwound. Then the giant threw away his club, and caught the king in his\narms, so that he crushed his ribs. Then the three maidens kneeled down\nand prayed for help and comfort for Arthur. And Arthur weltered and\nwrenched, so that he was one while under, and another time above. And so\nweltering and wallowing they rolled down the hill, and ever as they\nweltered Arthur smote him with his dagger; and it fortuned they came to\nthe place where the two knights were. And when they saw the king fast in\nthe giant\u2019s arms they came and loosed him. Then the king commanded Sir\nKay to smite off the giant\u2019s head, and to set it on the truncheon of a\nspear, and fix it on the barbican, that all the people might see and\nbehold it. This was done, and anon it was known through all the country,\nwherefor the people came and thanked the king. And he said, \u201cGive your\nthanks to God; and take ye the giant\u2019s spoil and divide it among you.\u201d\nAnd King Arthur caused a church to be builded on that hill, in honor of\nSt. Michael.\n\n KING ARTHUR GETS A SWORD FROM THE LADY OF THE LAKE\n\nOne day King Arthur rode forth, and on a sudden he was ware of three\nchurls chasing Merlin, to have slain him. And the king rode unto them\nand bade them, \u201cFlee, churls!\u201d Then were they afraid when they saw a\nknight, and fled. \u201cO Merlin,\u201d said Arthur, \u201chere hadst thou been slain,\nfor all thy crafts, had I not been by.\u201d \u201cNay,\u201d said Merlin, \u201cnot so, for\nI could save myself if I would; but thou art more near thy death than I\nam.\u201d So, as they went thus talking, King Arthur perceived where sat a\nknight on horseback, as if to guard the pass. \u201cSir knight,\u201d said Arthur,\n\u201cfor what cause abidest thou here?\u201d Then the knight said, \u201cThere may no\nknight ride this way unless he just with me, for such is the custom of\nthe pass.\u201d \u201cI will amend that custom,\u201d said the king. Then they ran\ntogether, and they met so hard that their spears were shivered. Then\nthey drew their swords and fought a strong battle, with many great\nstrokes. But at length the sword of the knight smote King Arthur\u2019s sword\nin two pieces. Then said the knight unto Arthur, \u201cThou art in my power,\nwhether to save thee or slay thee, and unless thou yield thee as\novercome and recreant, thou shalt die.\u201d \u201cAs for death,\u201d said King\nArthur, \u201cwelcome be it when it cometh; but to yield me unto thee as\nrecreant, I will not.\u201d Then he leapt upon the knight, and took him by\nthe middle and threw him down; but the knight was a passing strong man,\nand anon he brought Arthur under him, and would have razed off his helm\nto slay him. Then said Merlin, \u201cKnight, hold thy hand, for this knight\nis a man of more worship than thou art aware of.\u201d \u201cWhy, who is he?\u201d said\nthe knight. \u201cIt is King Arthur.\u201d Then would he have slain him for dread\nof his wrath, and lifted up his sword to slay him; and therewith Merlin\ncast an enchantment on the knight, so that he fell to the earth in a\ngreat sleep. Then Merlin took up King Arthur, and set him on his horse.\n\u201cAlas!\u201d said Arthur, \u201cwhat hast thou done, Merlin? hast thou slain this\ngood knight by thy crafts?\u201d \u201cCare ye not,\u201d said Merlin; \u201che is wholer\nthan ye be. He is only asleep, and will wake in three hours.\u201d\n\nThen the king and he departed, and went till they came to a hermit, that\nwas a good man and a great leech. So the hermit searched all his wounds,\nand applied good salves; and the king was there three days, and then\nwere his wounds well amended, that he might ride and go. So they\ndeparted, and as they rode Arthur said, \u201cI have no sword.\u201d \u201cNo matter,\u201d\nsaid Merlin; \u201chereby is a sword that shall be yours.\u201d So they rode till\nthey came to a lake, which was a fair water and broad. And in the midst\nof the lake Arthur was aware of an arm clothed in white samite,[45] that\nheld a fair sword in the hand. \u201cLo!\u201d said Merlin, \u201cyonder is that sword\nthat I spake of. It belongeth to the Lady of the Lake, and, if she will,\nthou mayest take it; but if she will not, it will not be in thy power to\ntake it.\u201d\n\nSo Sir Arthur and Merlin alighted from their horses, and went into a\nboat. And when they came to the sword that the hand held Sir Arthur took\nit by the handle and took it to him, and the arm and the hand went under\nthe water.\n\nThen they returned unto the land and rode forth. And Sir Arthur looked\non the sword and liked it right well.\n\nSo they rode unto Caerleon, whereof his knights were passing glad. And\nwhen they heard of his adventures they marvelled that he would jeopard\nhis person so alone. But all men of worship said it was a fine thing to\nbe under such a chieftain as would put his person in adventure as other\npoor knights did.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER VI\n\n SIR GAWAIN\n\nSIR GAWAIN was nephew to King Arthur, by his sister Morgana, married to\nLot, king of Orkney, who was by Arthur made king of Norway. Sir Gawain\nwas one of the most famous knights of the Round Table, and is\ncharacterized by the romancers as the _sage_ and _courteous_ Gawain. To\nthis Chaucer alludes in his \u201cSquiere\u2019s Tale,\u201d where the strange knight\n\u201csalueth\u201d all the court\n\n \u201cWith so high reverence and observance,\n As well in speeche as in countenance,\n That Gawain, with his olde curtesie,\n Though he were come agen out of fa\u00ebrie,\n Ne coude him not amenden with a word.\u201d\n\nGawain\u2019s brothers were Agrivain, Gahariet, and Gareth.\n\n SIR GAWAIN\u2019S MARRIAGE\n\nOnce upon a time King Arthur held his court in merry Carlisle, when a\ndamsel came before him and craved a boon. It was for vengeance upon a\ncaitiff knight, who had made her lover captive and despoiled her of her\nlands. King Arthur commanded to bring him his sword, Excalibar, and to\nsaddle his steed, and rode forth without delay to right the lady\u2019s\nwrong. Ere long he reached the castle of the grim baron, and challenged\nhim to the conflict. But the castle stood on magic ground, and the spell\nwas such that no knight could tread thereon but straight his courage\nfell and his strength decayed. King Arthur felt the charm, and before a\nblow was struck, his sturdy limbs lost their strength, and his head grew\nfaint. He was fain to yield himself prisoner to the churlish knight, who\nrefused to release him except upon condition that he should return at\nthe end of a year, and bring a true answer to the question, \u201cWhat thing\nis it which women most desire?\u201d or in default thereof surrender himself\nand his lands. King Arthur accepted the terms, and gave his oath to\nreturn at the time appointed. During the year the king rode east, and he\nrode west, and inquired of all whom he met what thing it is which all\nwomen most desire. Some told him riches; some, pomp and state; some,\nmirth; some, flattery; and some, a gallant knight. But in the diversity\nof answers he could find no sure dependence. The year was well-nigh\nspent, when one day, as he rode thoughtfully through a forest, he saw\nsitting beneath a tree a lady of such hideous aspect that he turned away\nhis eyes, and when she greeted him in seemly sort, made no answer. \u201cWhat\nwight art thou,\u201d the lady said, \u201cthat will not speak to me? It may\nchance that I may resolve thy doubts, though I be not fair of aspect.\u201d\n\u201cIf thou wilt do so,\u201d said King Arthur, \u201cchoose what reward thou wilt,\nthou grim lady, and it shall be given thee.\u201d \u201cSwear me this upon thy\nfaith,\u201d she said, and Arthur swore it. Then the lady told him the\nsecret, and demanded her reward, which was that the king should find\nsome fair and courtly knight to be her husband.\n\nKing Arthur hastened to the grim baron\u2019s castle and told him one by one\nall the answers which he had received from his various advisers, except\nthe last, and not one was admitted as the true one. \u201cNow yield thee,\nArthur,\u201d the giant said, \u201cfor thou hast not paid thy ransom, and thou\nand thy lands are forfeited to me.\u201d Then King Arthur said:\n\n \u201cYet hold thy hand, thou proud baron,\n I pray thee hold thy hand,\n And give me leave to speak once more,\n In rescue of my land.\n This morn as I came over a moor,\n I saw a lady set,\n Between an oak and a green holly,\n All clad in red scarlett.\n She says _all women would have their will_,\n This is their chief desire;\n Now yield, as thou art a baron true,\n That I have paid my hire.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt was my sister that told thee this,\u201d the churlish baron exclaimed.\n\u201cVengeance light on her! I will some time or other do her as ill a\nturn.\u201d\n\nKing Arthur rode homeward, but not light of heart, for he remembered the\npromise he was under to the loathly lady to give her one of his young\nand gallant knights for a husband. He told his grief to Sir Gawain, his\nnephew, and he replied, \u201cBe not sad, my lord, for I will marry the\nloathly lady.\u201d King Arthur replied:\n\n \u201cNow nay, now nay, good Sir Gawaine,\n My sister\u2019s son ye be;\n The loathly lady\u2019s all too grim,\n And all too foule for thee.\u201d\n\nBut Gawain persisted, and the king at last, with sorrow of heart,\nconsented that Gawain should be his ransom. So one day the king and his\nknights rode to the forest, met the loathly lady, and brought her to the\ncourt. Sir Gawain stood the scoffs and jeers of his companions as he\nbest might, and the marriage was solemnized, but not with the usual\nfestivities. Chaucer tells us:\n\n \u201c. . . There was no joye ne feste at alle;\n There n\u2019 as but hevinesse and mochel sorwe,\n For prively he wed her on the morwe,\n And all day after hid him as an owle,\n So we was him his wife loked so foule!\u201d[46]\n\nWhen night came, and they were alone together, Sir Gawain could not\nconceal his aversion; and the lady asked him why he sighed so heavily,\nand turned away his face. He candidly confessed it was on account of\nthree things, her age, her ugliness, and her low degree. The lady, not\nat all offended, replied with excellent arguments to all his objections.\nShe showed him that with age is discretion, with ugliness security from\nrivals, and that all true gentility depends, not upon the accident of\nbirth, but upon the character of the individual.\n\nSir Gawain made no reply; but, turning his eyes on his bride, what was\nhis amazement to perceive that she wore no longer the unseemly aspect\nthat had so distressed him. She then told him that the form she had worn\nwas not her true form, but a disguise imposed upon her by a wicked\nenchanter, and that she was condemned to wear it until two things should\nhappen: one, that she should obtain some young and gallant knight to be\nher husband. This having been done, one-half of the charm was removed.\nShe was now at liberty to wear her true form for half the time, and she\nbade him choose whether he would have her fair by day, and ugly by\nnight, or the reverse. Sir Gawain would fain have had her look her best\nby night, when he alone would see her, and show her repulsive visage, if\nat all, to others. But she reminded him how much more pleasant it would\nbe to her to wear her best looks in the throng of knights and ladies by\nday. Sir Gawain yielded, and gave up his will to hers. This alone was\nwanting to dissolve the charm. The lovely lady now with joy assured him\nthat she should change no more, but as she now was, so would she remain\nby night as well as by day.\n\n \u201cSweet blushes stayned her rud-red cheek,\n Her eyen were black as sloe,\n The ripening cherrye swelled her lippe,\n And all her neck was snow.\n Sir Gawain kist that ladye faire\n Lying upon the sheete,\n And swore, as he was a true knight,\n The spice was never so swete.\u201d\n\nThe dissolution of the charm which had held the lady also released her\nbrother, the \u201cgrim baron,\u201d for he too had been implicated in it. He\nceased to be a churlish oppressor, and became a gallant and generous\nknight as any at Arthur\u2019s court.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER VII\n\n CARADOC BRIEFBRAS; OR, CARADOC WITH THE SHRUNKEN ARM\n\nCARADOC was the son of Ysenne, the beautiful niece of Arthur. He was\nignorant who his father was, till it was discovered in the following\nmanner: When the youth was of proper years to receive the honors of\nknighthood, King Arthur held a grand court for the purpose of knighting\nhim. On this occasion a strange knight presented himself, and challenged\nthe knights of Arthur\u2019s court to exchange blow for blow with him. His\nproposal was this\u2014to lay his neck on a block for any knight to strike,\non condition that, if he survived the blow, the knight should submit in\nturn to the same experiment. Sir Kay, who was usually ready to accept\nall challenges, pronounced this wholly unreasonable, and declared that\nhe would not accept it for all the wealth in the world. And when the\nknight offered his sword, with which the operation was to be performed,\nno person ventured to accept it, till Caradoc, growing angry at the\ndisgrace which was thus incurred by the Round Table, threw aside his\nmantle and took it. \u201cDo you do this as one of the best knights?\u201d said\nthe stranger. \u201cNo,\u201d he replied, \u201cbut as one of the most foolish.\u201d The\nstranger lays his head upon the block, receives a blow which sends it\nrolling from his shoulders, walks after it, picks it up, replaces it\nwith great success, and says he will return when the court shall be\nassembled next year, and claim his turn. When the anniversary arrived,\nboth parties were punctual to their engagement. Great entreaties were\nused by the king and queen, and the whole court, in behalf of Caradoc,\nbut the stranger was inflexible. The young knight laid his head upon the\nblock, and more than once desired him to make an end of the business,\nand not keep him longer in so disagreeable a state of expectation. At\nlast the stranger strikes him gently with the side of the sword, bids\nhim rise, and reveals to him the fact that he is his father, the\nenchanter Eliaures, and that he gladly owns him for a son, having proved\nhis courage and fidelity to his word.\n\nBut the favor of enchanters is short-lived and uncertain. Eliaures fell\nunder the influence of a wicked woman, who, to satisfy her pique against\nCaradoc, persuaded the enchanter to fasten on his arm a serpent, which\nremained there sucking at his flesh and blood, no human skill sufficing\neither to remove the reptile or alleviate the torments which Caradoc\nendured.\n\nCaradoc was betrothed to Guimier, sister to his bosom friend, Cador, and\ndaughter to the king of Cornwall. As soon as they were informed of his\ndeplorable condition, they set out for Nantes, where Caradoc\u2019s castle\nwas, that Guimier might attend upon him. When Caradoc heard of their\ncoming, his first emotion was that of joy and love. But soon he began to\nfear that the sight of his emaciated form, and of his sufferings, would\ndisgust Guimier; and this apprehension became so strong, that he\ndeparted secretly from Nantes, and hid himself in a hermitage. He was\nsought far and near by the knights of Arthur\u2019s court, and Cador made a\nvow never to desist from the quest till he should have found him. After\nlong wandering, Cador discovered his friend in the hermitage, reduced\nalmost to a skeleton, and apparently near his death. All other means of\nrelief having already been tried in vain, Cador at last prevailed on the\nenchanter Eliaures to disclose the only method which could avail for his\nrescue. A maiden must be found, his equal in birth and beauty, and\nloving him better than herself, so that she would expose herself to the\nsame torment to deliver him. Two vessels were then to be provided, the\none filled with sour wine, and the other with milk. Caradoc must enter\nthe first, so that the wine should reach his neck, and the maiden must\nget into the other, and, exposing her bosom upon the edge of the vessel,\ninvite the serpent to forsake the withered flesh of his victim for this\nfresh and inviting food. The vessels were to be placed three feet apart,\nand as the serpent crossed from one to the other, a knight was to cut\nhim in two. If he failed in his blow, Caradoc would indeed be delivered,\nbut it would be only to see his fair champion suffering the same cruel\nand hopeless torment. The sequel may be easily foreseen. Guimier\nwillingly exposed herself to the perilous adventure, and Cador, with a\nlucky blow, killed the serpent. The arm in which Caradoc had suffered so\nlong recovered its strength, but not its shape, in consequence of which\nhe was called Caradoc Briefbras, Caradoc of the Shrunken Arm.\n\nCaradoc and Guimier are the hero and heroine of the ballad of the \u201cBoy\nand the Mantle,\u201d which follows:\n\n \u201cTHE BOY AND THE MANTLE\n\n \u201cIn Carlisle dwelt King Arthur,\n A prince of passing might,\n And there maintained his Table Round,\n Beset with many a knight.\n\n \u201cAnd there he kept his Christmas,\n With mirth and princely cheer,\n When lo! a strange and cunning boy\n Before him did appear.\n\n \u201cA kirtle and a mantle\n This boy had him upon,\n With brooches, rings, and ouches,\n Full daintily bedone.\n\n \u201cHe had a sash of silk\n About his middle meet;\n And thus with seemly curtesie\n He did King Arthur greet:\n\n \u201c\u2018God speed thee, brave King Arthur.\n Thus feasting in thy bower,\n And Guenever, thy goodly queen,\n That fair and peerless flower.\n\n \u201c\u2018Ye gallant lords and lordlings,\n I wish you all take heed,\n Lest what ye deem a blooming rose\n Should prove a cankered weed.\u2019\n\n \u201cThen straightway from his bosom\n A little wand he drew;\n And with it eke a mantle,\n Of wondrous shape and hue.\n\n \u201cNow have thou here, King Arthur,\n Have this here of me,\n And give unto thy comely queen,\n All shapen as you see.\n\n \u201c\u2018No wife it shall become,\n That once hath been to blame.\u2019\n Then every knight in Arthur\u2019s court\n Sly glanced at his dame.\n\n \u201cAnd first came Lady Guenever,\n The mantle she must try.\n This dame she was new-fangled,[47]\n And of a roving eye.\n\n \u201cWhen she had taken the mantle,\n And all with it was clad,\n From top to toe it shivered down,\n As though with shears beshred.\n\n \u201cOne while it was too long,\n Another while too short,\n And wrinkled on her shoulders,\n In most unseemly sort.\n\n \u201cNow green, now red it seemed,\n Then all of sable hue;\n \u2018Beshrew me,\u2019 quoth King Arthur,\n \u2018I think thou be\u2019st not true!\u2019\n\n \u201cDown she threw the mantle,\n No longer would she stay;\n But, storming like a fury,\n To her chamber flung away.\n\n \u201cShe cursed the rascal weaver,\n That had the mantle wrought;\n And doubly cursed the froward imp\n Who thither had it brought.\n\n \u201c\u2018I had rather live in deserts,\n Beneath the greenwood tree,\n Than here, base king, among thy grooms\n The sport of them and thee.\u2019\n\n \u201cSir Kay called forth his lady,\n And bade her to come near:\n \u2018Yet dame, if thou be guilty,\n I pray thee now forbear.\u2019\n\n \u201cThis lady, pertly giggling,\n With forward step came on,\n And boldly to the little boy\n With fearless face is gone.\n\n \u201cWhen she had taken the mantle,\n With purpose for to wear,\n It shrunk up to her shoulder,\n And left her back all bare.\n\n \u201cThen every merry knight,\n That was in Arthur\u2019s court,\n Gibed and laughed and flouted,\n To see that pleasant sport.\n\n \u201cDown she threw the mantle,\n No longer bold or gay,\n But, with a face all pale and wan,\n To her chamber slunk away.\n\n \u201cThen forth came an old knight\n A pattering o\u2019er his creed,\n And proffered to the little boy\n Five nobles to his meed:\n\n \u201c\u2018And all the time of Christmas\n Plum-porridge shall be thine,\n If thou wilt let my lady fair\n Within the mantle shine.\u2019\n\n \u201cA saint his lady seemed,\n With step demure and slow,\n And gravely to the mantle\n With mincing face doth go.\n\n \u201cWhen she the same had taken\n That was so fine and thin,\n It shrivelled all about her,\n And showed her dainty skin.\n\n \u201cAh! little did her mincing,\n Or his long prayers bestead;\n She had no more hung on her\n Than a tassel and a thread.\n\n \u201cDown she threw the mantle,\n With terror and dismay,\n And with a face of scarlet\n To her chamber hied away.\n\n \u201cSir Cradock called his lady,\n And bade her to come near:\n \u2018Come win this mantle, lady,\n And do me credit here:\n\n \u201c\u2018Come win this mantle, lady,\n For now it shall be thine,\n If thou hast never done amiss,\n Since first I made thee mine.\u2019\n\n \u201cThe lady, gently blushing,\n With modest grace came on;\n And now to try the wondrous charm\n Courageously is gone.\n\n \u201cWhen she had ta\u2019en the mantle,\n And put it on her back,\n About the hem it seemed\n To wrinkle and to crack.\n\n \u201c\u2018Lie still,\u2019 she cried, \u2018O mantle!\n And shame me not for naught;\n I\u2019ll freely own whate\u2019er amiss\n Or blameful I have wrought.\n\n \u201c\u2018Once I kissed Sir Cradock\n Beneath the greenwood tree;\n Once I kissed Sir Cradock\u2019s mouth,\n Before he married me.\u2019\n\n \u201cWhen she had thus her shriven,\n And her worst fault had told,\n The mantle soon became her,\n Right comely as it should.\n\n \u201cMost rich and fair of color,\n Like gold it glittering shone,\n And much the knights in Arthur\u2019s court\n Admired her every one.\u201d\n\nThe ballad goes on to tell of two more trials of a similar kind, made by\nmeans of a boar\u2019s head and a drinking horn, in both of which the result\nwas equally favorable with the first to Sir Cradock and his lady. It\nthen concludes as follows:\n\n \u201cThus boar\u2019s head, horn, and mantle\n Were this fair couple\u2019s meed;\n And all such constant lovers,\n God send them well to speed.\u201d\n \u2014_Percy\u2019s Reliques._\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER VIII\n\n LAUNCELOT OF THE LAKE\n\nKING BAN, of Brittany, the faithful ally of Arthur was attacked by his\nenemy Claudas, and after a long war saw himself reduced to the\npossession of a single fortress, where he was besieged by his enemy. In\nthis extremity he determined to solicit the assistance of Arthur, and\nescaped in a dark night, with his wife Helen and his infant son\nLauncelot, leaving his castle in the hands of his seneschal, who\nimmediately surrendered the place to Claudas. The flames of his burning\ncitadel reached the eyes of the unfortunate monarch during his flight\nand he expired with grief. The wretched Helen, leaving her child on the\nbrink of a lake, flew to receive the last sighs of her husband, and on\nreturning perceived the little Launcelot in the arms of a nymph, who, on\nthe approach of the queen, threw herself into the lake with the child.\nThis nymph was Viviane, mistress of the enchanter Merlin, better known\nby the name of the Lady of the Lake. Launcelot received his appellation\nfrom having been educated at the court of this enchantress, whose palace\nwas situated in the midst, not of a real, but, like the appearance which\ndeceives the African traveller, of an imaginary lake, whose deluding\nresemblance served as a barrier to her residence. Here she dwelt not\nalone, but in the midst of a numerous retinue, and a splendid court of\nknights and damsels.\n\nThe queen, after her double loss, retired to a convent, where she was\njoined by the widow of Bohort, for this good king had died of grief on\nhearing of the death of his brother Ban. His two sons, Lionel and\nBohort, were rescued by a faithful knight, and arrived in the shape of\ngreyhounds at the palace of the lake, where, having resumed their\nnatural form, they were educated along with their cousin Launcelot.\n\nThe fairy, when her pupil had attained the age of eighteen, conveyed him\nto the court of Arthur for the purpose of demanding his admission to the\nhonor of knighthood; and at the first appearance of the youthful\ncandidate the graces of his person, which were not inferior to his\ncourage and skill in arms, made an instantaneous and indelible\nimpression on the heart of Guenever, while her charms inspired him with\nan equally ardent and constant passion. The mutual attachment of these\nlovers exerted, from that time forth, an influence over the whole\nhistory of Arthur. For the sake of Guenever, Launcelot achieved the\nconquest of Northumberland, defeated Gallehaut, King of the Marches, who\nafterwards became his most faithful friend and ally, exposed himself in\nnumberless encounters, and brought hosts of prisoners to the feet of his\nsovereign.\n\n SIR LAUNCELOT\n\nAfter King Arthur was come from Rome into England all the knights of the\nTable Round resorted unto him and made him many justs and tournaments.\nAnd in especial Sir Launcelot of the Lake in all tournaments and justs\nand deeds of arms, both for life and death, passed all other knights,\nand was never overcome, except it were by treason or enchantment; and he\nincreased marvellously in worship, wherefore Queen Guenever had him in\ngreat favor, above all other knights. And for certain he loved the queen\nagain above all other ladies; and for her he did many deeds of arms, and\nsaved her from peril, through his noble chivalry. Thus Sir Launcelot\nrested him long with play and game, and then he thought to prove himself\nin strange adventures; so he bade his nephew, Sir Lionel, to make him\nready,\u2014\u201cfor we two will seek adventures.\u201d So they mounted on their\nhorses, armed at all sights, and rode into a forest, and so into a deep\nplain. And the weather was hot about noon, and Sir Launcelot had great\ndesire to sleep. Then Sir Lionel espied a great apple-tree that stood by\na hedge, and he said: \u201cBrother, yonder is a fair shadow\u2014there may we\nrest us and our horses.\u201d \u201cIt is well said,\u201d replied Sir Launcelot. So\nthey there alighted, and Sir Launcelot laid him down, and his helm under\nhis head, and soon was asleep passing fast. And Sir Lionel waked while\nhe slept. And presently there came three knights riding as fast as ever\nthey might ride, and there followed them but one knight. And Sir Lionel\nthought he never saw so great a knight before. So within a while this\ngreat knight overtook one of those knights, and smote him so that he\nfell to the earth. Then he rode to the second knight and smote him, and\nso he did to the third knight. Then he alighted down and bound all the\nthree knights fast with their own bridles. When Sir Lionel saw him do\nthus, he thought to assay him, and made him ready silently, not to awake\nSir Launcelot, and rode after the strong knight, and bade him turn. And\nthe other smote Sir Lionel so hard that horse and man fell to the earth;\nand then he alighted down and bound Sir Lionel, and threw him across his\nown horse; and so he served them all four, and rode with them away to\nhis own castle. And when he came there he put them in a deep prison, in\nwhich were many more knights in great distress.\n\nNow while Sir Launcelot lay under the apple-tree sleeping, there came by\nhim four queens of great estate. And that the heat should not grieve\nthem, there rode four knights about them, and bare a cloth of green silk\non four spears, betwixt them and the sun. And the queens rode on four\nwhite mules.\n\nThus as they rode they heard by them a great horse grimly neigh. Then\nthey were aware of a sleeping knight, that lay all armed under an\napple-tree; and as the queens looked on his face, they knew it was Sir\nLauncelot. Then they began to strive for that knight, and each one said\nshe would have him for her love. \u201cWe will not strive,\u201d said Morgane le\nFay, that was King Arthur\u2019s sister, \u201cfor I will put an enchantment upon\nhim, that he shall not wake for six hours, and we will take him away to\nmy castle; and then when he is surely within my hold, I will take the\nenchantment from him, and then let him choose which of us he will have\nfor his love.\u201d So the enchantment was cast upon Sir Launcelot. And then\nthey laid him upon his shield, and bare him so on horseback between two\nknights, and brought him unto the castle and laid him in a chamber, and\nat night they sent him his supper.\n\nAnd on the morning came early those four queens, richly dight, and bade\nhim good morning, and he them again. \u201cSir knight,\u201d they said, \u201cthou must\nunderstand thou art our prisoner; and we know thee well, that thou art\nSir Launcelot of the Lake, King Ban\u2019s son, and that thou art the noblest\nknight living. And we know well that there can no lady have thy love but\none, and that is Queen Guenever; and now thou shalt lose her for ever,\nand she thee; and therefore it behooveth thee now to choose one of us. I\nam the Queen Morgane le Fay, and here is the Queen of North Wales, and\nthe Queen of Eastland, and the Queen of the Isles. Now choose one of us\nwhich thou wilt have, for if thou choose not, in this prison thou shalt\ndie.\u201d \u201cThis is a hard case,\u201d said Sir Launcelot, \u201cthat either I must\ndie, or else choose one of you; yet had I liever to die in this prison\nwith worship, than to have one of you for my paramour, for ye be false\nenchantresses.\u201d \u201cWell,\u201d said the queens, \u201cis this your answer, that ye\nwill refuse us.\u201d \u201cYea, on my life it is,\u201d said Sir Launcelot. Then they\ndeparted, making great sorrow.\n\nThen at noon came a damsel unto him with his dinner, and asked him,\n\u201cWhat cheer?\u201d \u201cTruly, fair damsel,\u201d said Sir Launcelot, \u201cnever so ill.\u201d\n\u201cSir,\u201d said she, \u201cif you will be ruled by me, I will help you out of\nthis distress. If ye will promise me to help my father on Tuesday next,\nwho hath made a tournament betwixt him and the king of North Wales; for\nlast Tuesday my father lost the field.\u201d \u201cFair maiden,\u201d said Sir\nLauncelot, \u201ctell me what is your father\u2019s name, and then will I give you\nan answer.\u201d \u201cSir knight,\u201d she said, \u201cmy father is King Bagdemagus.\u201d \u201cI\nknow him well,\u201d said Sir Launcelot, \u201cfor a noble king and a good knight;\nand, by the faith of my body, I will be ready to do your father and you\nservice at that day.\u201d\n\nSo she departed, and came on the next morning early and found him ready,\nand brought him out of twelve locks, and brought him to his own horse,\nand lightly he saddled him, and so rode forth.\n\nAnd on the Tuesday next he came to a little wood where the tournament\nshould be. And there were scaffolds and holds, that lords and ladies\nmight look on, and give the prize. Then came into the field the king of\nNorth Wales, with eightscore helms, and King Badgemagus came with\nfourscore helms. And then they couched their spears, and came together\nwith a great dash, and there were overthrown at the first encounter\ntwelve of King Bagdemagus\u2019s party and six of the king of North Wales\u2019s\nparty, and King Bagdemagus\u2019s party had the worse.\n\nWith that came Sir Launcelot of the Lake, and thrust in with his spear\nin the thickest of the press; and he smote down five knights ere he held\nhis hand; and he smote down the king of North Wales, and he brake his\nthigh in that fall. And then the knights of the king of North Wales\nwould just no more; and so the gree was given to King Bagdemagus.\n\nAnd Sir Launcelot rode forth with King Bagdemagus unto his castle; and\nthere he had passing good cheer, both with the king and with his\ndaughter. And on the morn he took his leave, and told the king he would\ngo and seek his brother, Sir Lionel, that went from him when he slept.\nSo he departed, and by adventure he came to the same forest where he was\ntaken sleeping. And in the highway he met a damsel riding on a white\npalfrey, and they saluted each other. \u201cFair damsel,\u201d said Sir Launcelot,\n\u201cknow ye in this country any adventures?\u201d \u201cSir knight,\u201d said the damsel,\n\u201chere are adventures near at hand, if thou durst pursue them.\u201d \u201cWhy\nshould I not prove adventures?\u201d said Sir Launcelot, \u201csince for that\ncause came I hither.\u201d \u201cSir,\u201d said she, \u201chereby dwelleth a knight that\nwill not be overmatched for any man I know, except thou overmatch him.\nHis name is Sir Turquine, and, as I understand, he is a deadly enemy of\nKing Arthur, and he has in his prison good knights of Arthur\u2019s court,\nthreescore and more, that he hath won with his own hands.\u201d \u201cDamsel,\u201d\nsaid Launcelot, \u201cI pray you bring me unto this knight.\u201d So she told him,\n\u201cHereby, within this mile, is his castle, and by it on the left hand is\na ford for horses to drink of, and over that ford there groweth a fair\ntree, and on that tree hang many shields that good knights wielded\naforetime, that are now prisoners; and on the tree hangeth a basin of\ncopper and latten, and if thou strike upon that basin thou shalt hear\ntidings.\u201d And Sir Launcelot departed, and rode as the damsel had shown\nhim, and shortly he came to the ford, and the tree where hung the\nshields and the basin. And among the shields he saw Sir Lionel\u2019s and Sir\nHector\u2019s shields, besides many others of knights that he knew.\n\nThen Sir Launcelot struck on the basin with the butt of his spear; and\nlong he did so, but he saw no man. And at length he was ware of a great\nknight that drove a horse before him, and across the horse there lay an\narmed knight bounden. And as they came near, Sir Launcelot thought he\nshould know the captive knight. Then Sir Launcelot saw that it was Sir\nGaheris, Sir Gawain\u2019s brother, a knight of the Table Round. \u201cNow, fair\nknight,\u201d said Sir Launcelot, \u201cput that wounded knight off the horse, and\nlet him rest awhile, and let us two prove our strength. For, as it is\ntold me, thou hast done great despite and shame unto knights of the\nRound Table, therefore now defend thee.\u201d \u201cIf thou be of the Table\nRound,\u201d said Sir Turquine, \u201cI defy thee and all thy fellowship.\u201d \u201cThat\nis overmuch said,\u201d said Sir Launcelot.\n\nThen they put their spears in the rests, and came together with their\nhorses as fast as they might run. And each smote the other in the middle\nof their shields, so that their horses fell under them, and the knights\nwere both staggered; and as soon as they could clear their horses they\ndrew out their swords and came together eagerly, and each gave the other\nmany strong strokes, for neither shield nor harness might withstand\ntheir strokes. So within a while both had grimly wounds, and bled\ngrievously. Then at the last they were breathless both, and stood\nleaning upon their swords. \u201cNow, fellow,\u201d said Sir Turquine, \u201cthou art\nthe stoutest man that ever I met with, and best breathed; and so be it\nthou be not the knight that I hate above all other knights, the knight\nthat slew my brother, Sir Carados, I will gladly accord with thee; and\nfor thy love I will deliver all the prisoners that I have.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat knight is he that thou hatest so above others?\u201d \u201cTruly,\u201d said Sir\nTurquine, \u201chis name is Sir Launcelot of the Lake.\u201d \u201cI am Sir Launcelot\nof the Lake, King Ban\u2019s son of Benwick, and very knight of the Table\nRound; and now I defy thee do thy best.\u201d \u201cAh!\u201d said Sir Turquine,\n\u201cLauncelot, thou art to me the most welcome that ever was knight; for we\nshall never part till the one of us be dead.\u201d And then they hurtled\ntogether like two wild bulls, rashing and lashing with their swords and\nshields, so that sometimes they fell, as it were, headlong. Thus they\nfought two hours and more, till the ground where they fought was all\nbepurpled with blood.\n\nThen at the last Sir Turquine waxed sore faint, and gave somewhat aback,\nand bare his shield full low for weariness. That spied Sir Launcelot,\nand leapt then upon him fiercely as a lion, and took him by the beaver\nof his helmet, and drew him down on his knees. And he raised off his\nhelm, and smote his neck in sunder.\n\nAnd Sir Gaheris, when he saw Sir Turquine slain, said, \u201cFair lord, I\npray you tell me your name, for this day I say ye are the best knight in\nthe world, for ye have slain this day in my sight the mightiest man and\nthe best knight except you that ever I saw.\u201d \u201cSir, my name is Sir\nLauncelot du Lac, that ought to help you of right for King Arthur\u2019s\nsake, and in especial for Sir Gawain\u2019s sake, your own dear brother. Now\nI pray you, that ye go into yonder castle, and set free all the\nprisoners ye find there, for I am sure ye shall find there many knights\nof the Table Round, and especially my brother Sir Lionel. I pray you\ngreet them all from me, and tell them I bid them take there such stuff\nas they find; and tell my brother to go unto the court and abide me\nthere, for by the feast of Pentecost I think to be there; but at this\ntime I may not stop, for I have adventures on hand.\u201d So he departed, and\nSir Gaheris rode into the castle, and took the keys from the porter, and\nhastily opened the prison door and let out all the prisoners. There was\nSir Kay, Sir Brandeles, and Sir Galynde, Sir Bryan, and Sir Alyduke, Sir\nHector de Marys, and Sir Lionel, and many more. And when they saw Sir\nGaheris they all thanked him, for they thought, because he was wounded,\nthat he had slain Sir Turquine. \u201cNot so,\u201d said Sir Gaheris; \u201cit was Sir\nLauncelot that slew him, right worshipfully; I saw it with mine eyes.\u201d\n\nSir Launcelot rode till at nightfall he came to a fair castle, and\ntherein he found an old gentlewoman, who lodged him with good-will, and\nthere he had good cheer for him and his horse. And when time was, his\nhost brought him to a fair chamber over the gate to his bed. Then Sir\nLauncelot unarmed him, and set his harness by him, and went to bed, and\nanon he fell asleep. And soon after, there came one on horseback and\nknocked at the gate in great haste; and when Sir Launcelot heard this,\nhe arose and looked out of the window, and saw by the moonlight three\nknights riding after that one man, and all three lashed on him with\ntheir swords, and that one knight turned on them knightly again and\ndefended himself. \u201cTruly,\u201d said Sir Launcelot, \u201cyonder one knight will I\nhelp, for it is shame to see three knights on one.\u201d Then he took his\nharness and went out at the window by a sheet down to the four knights;\nand he said aloud, \u201cTurn you knights unto me, and leave your fighting\nwith that knight.\u201d Then the knights left Sir Kay, for it was he they\nwere upon, and turned unto Sir Launcelot, and struck many great strokes\nat Sir Launcelot, and assailed him on every side. Then Sir Kay addressed\nhim to help Sir Launcelot, but he said, \u201cNay, sir, I will none of your\nhelp; let me alone with them.\u201d So Sir Kay suffered him to do his will,\nand stood one side. And within six strokes Sir Launcelot had stricken\nthem down.\n\nThen they all cried, \u201cSir knight, we yield us unto you.\u201d \u201cAs to that,\u201d\nsaid Sir Launcelot, \u201cI will not take your yielding unto me. If so be ye\nwill yield you unto Sir Kay the Seneschal, I will save your lives, but\nelse not.\u201d \u201cFair knight,\u201d then they said, \u201cwe will do as thou commandest\nus.\u201d \u201cThen shall ye,\u201d said Sir Launcelot, \u201con Whitsunday next, go unto\nthe court of King Arthur, and there shall ye yield you unto Queen\nGuenever, and say that Sir Kay sent you thither to be her prisoners.\u201d\n\u201cSir,\u201d they said, \u201cit shall be done, by the faith of our bodies;\u201d and\nthen they swore, every knight upon his sword. And so Sir Launcelot\nsuffered them to depart.\n\nOn the morn Sir Launcelot rose early and left Sir Kay sleeping; and Sir\nLauncelot took Sir Kay\u2019s armor, and his shield, and armed him, and went\nto the stable and took his horse, and so he departed. Then soon after\narose Sir Kay, and missed Sir Launcelot. And then he espied that he had\ntaken his armor and his horse. \u201cNow, by my faith, I know well,\u201d said Sir\nKay, \u201cthat he will grieve some of King Arthur\u2019s knights, for they will\ndeem that it is I, and will be bold to meet him. But by cause of his\narmor I am sure I shall ride in peace.\u201d Then Sir Kay thanked his host\nand departed.\n\nSir Launcelot rode in a deep forest, and there he saw four knights,\nunder an oak, and they were of Arthur\u2019s court. There was Sir Sagramour\nle Desirus, and Hector de Marys, and Sir Gawain, and Sir Uwaine. As they\nspied Sir Launcelot they judged by his arms it had been Sir Kay. \u201cNow,\nby my faith,\u201d said Sir Sagramour, \u201cI will prove Sir Kay\u2019s might;\u201d and\ngot his spear in his hand, and came towards Sir Launcelot. Therewith Sir\nLauncelot couched his spear against him, and smote Sir Sagramour so sore\nthat horse and man fell both to the earth. Then said Sir Hector, \u201cNow\nshall ye see what I may do with him.\u201d But he fared worse than Sir\nSagramour, for Sir Launcelot\u2019s spear went through his shoulder and bare\nhim from his horse to the ground. \u201cBy my faith,\u201d said Sir Uwaine,\n\u201cyonder is a strong knight, and I fear he hath slain Sir Kay, and taken\nhis armor.\u201d And therewith Sir Uwaine took his spear in hand, and rode\ntoward Sir Launcelot; and Sir Launcelot met him on the plain and gave\nhim such a buffet that he was staggered, and wist not where he was. \u201cNow\nsee I well,\u201d said Sir Gawain, \u201cthat I must encounter with that knight.\u201d\nThen he adjusted his shield, and took a good spear in his hand, and Sir\nLauncelot knew him well. Then they let run their horses with all their\nmights, and each knight smote the other in the middle of his shield. But\nSir Gawain\u2019s spear broke, and Sir Launcelot charged so sore upon him\nthat his horse fell over backward. Then Sir Launcelot passed by smiling\nwith himself, and he said, \u201cGood luck be with him that made this spear,\nfor never came a better into my hand.\u201d Then the four knights went each\nto the other and comforted one another. \u201cWhat say ye to this adventure,\u201d\nsaid Sir Gawain, \u201cthat one spear hath felled us all four?\u201d \u201cI dare lay\nmy head it is Sir Launcelot,\u201d said Sir Hector; \u201cI know it by his\nriding.\u201d\n\nAnd Sir Launcelot rode through many strange countries, till by fortune\nhe came to a fair castle; and as he passed beyond the castle he thought\nhe heard two bells ring. And then he perceived how a falcon came flying\nover his head, toward a high elm; and she had long lunys[48] about her\nfeet, and she flew unto the elm to take her perch, and the lunys got\nentangled in the bough; and when she would have taken her flight, she\nhung by the legs fast, and Sir Launcelot saw how she hung, and beheld\nthe fair falcon entangled, and he was sorry for her. Then came a lady\nout of the castle and cried aloud, \u201cO Launcelot, Launcelot, as thou art\nthe flower of all knights, help me to get my hawk; for if my hawk be\nlost, my lord will slay me, he is so hasty.\u201d \u201cWhat is your lord\u2019s name?\u201d\nsaid Sir Launcelot. \u201cHis name is Sir Phelot, a knight that belongeth to\nthe king of North Wales.\u201d \u201cWell, fair lady, since ye know my name, and\nrequire me of knighthood to help you, I will do what I may to get your\nhawk; and yet in truth I am an ill climber, and the tree is passing\nhigh, and few boughs to help me.\u201d And therewith Sir Launcelot alighted\nand tied his horse to the tree, and prayed the lady to unarm him. And\nwhen he was unarmed, he put off his jerkin, and with might and force he\nclomb up to the falcon, and tied the lunys to a rotten bough, and threw\nthe hawk down with it; and the lady got the hawk in her hand. Then\nsuddenly there came out of the castle her husband, all armed, and with\nhis naked sword in his hand, and said, \u201cO Knight Launcelot, now have I\ngot thee as I would,\u201d and stood at the boll of the tree to slay him.\n\u201cAh, lady!\u201d said Sir Launcelot, \u201cwhy have ye betrayed me?\u201d \u201cShe hath\ndone,\u201d said Sir Phelot, \u201cbut as I commanded her; and therefore there is\nnone other way but thine hour is come, and thou must die.\u201d \u201cThat were\nshame unto thee,\u201d said Sir Launcelot; \u201cthou an armed knight to slay a\nnaked man by treason.\u201d \u201cThou gettest none other grace,\u201d said Sir Phelot,\n\u201cand therefore help thyself if thou canst.\u201d \u201cAlas!\u201d said Sir Launcelot,\n\u201cthat ever a knight should die weaponless!\u201d And therewith he turned his\neyes upward and downward; and over his head he saw a big bough leafless,\nand he brake it off from the trunk. And then he came lower, and watched\nhow his own horse stood; and suddenly he leapt on the further side of\nhis horse from the knight. Then Sir Phelot lashed at him eagerly,\nmeaning to have slain him. But Sir Launcelot put away the stroke, with\nthe big bough, and smote Sir Phelot therewith on the side of the head,\nso that he fell down in a swoon to the ground. Then Sir Launcelot took\nhis sword out of his hand and struck his head from the body. Then said\nthe lady, \u201cAlas! why hast thou slain my husband?\u201d \u201cI am not the cause,\u201d\nsaid Sir Launcelot, \u201cfor with falsehood ye would have slain me, and now\nit is fallen on yourselves.\u201d Thereupon Sir Launcelot got all his armor,\nand put it upon him hastily, for fear of more resort, for the knight\u2019s\ncastle was so nigh. And as soon as he might, he took his horse and\ndeparted, and thanked God he had escaped that adventure.\n\nAnd two days before the feast of Pentecost, Sir Launcelot came home; and\nthe king and all the court were passing glad of his coming. And when Sir\nGawain, Sir Uwaine, Sir Sagramour, and Sir Hector de Marys saw Sir\nLauncelot in Sir Kay\u2019s armor then they wist well it was he that smote\nthem down, all with one spear. Then there was laughing and merriment\namong them; and from time to time came all the knights that Sir Turquine\nhad prisoners, and they all honored and worshipped Sir Launcelot. Then\nSir Gaheris said, \u201cI saw all the battle from the beginning to the end,\u201d\nand he told King Arthur all how it was. Then Sir Kay told the king how\nSir Launcelot had rescued him, and how he \u201cmade the knights yield to me,\nand not to him.\u201d And there they were, all three, and confirmed it all.\n\u201cAnd, by my faith,\u201d said Sir Kay, \u201cbecause Sir Launcelot took my harness\nand left me his, I rode in peace, and no man would have to do with me.\u201d\n\nAnd so at that time Sir Launcelot had the greatest name of any knight of\nthe world, and most was he honored of high and low.\n\n[Illustration: THE BEGUILING OF MERLIN.\n From painting by Sir Edwin Burne-Jones.]\n\n[Illustration: THE ROUND TABLE.\n From a photograph. This supposed relic of King Arthur and his\n Knights now hangs in the Great Hall of the Castle of Winchester\n (Camelot).]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER IX\n\n THE ADVENTURE OF THE CART\n\nIT befell in the month of May, Queen Guenever called to her knights of\nthe Table Round, and gave them warning that early upon the morrow she\nwould ride a-maying into the woods and fields beside Westminster; \u201cand I\nwarn you that there be none of you but he be well horsed, and that ye\nall be clothed in green, either silk or cloth; and I shall bring with me\nten ladies, and every knight shall have a lady behind him, and every\nknight shall have a squire and two yeoman, and all well horsed.\u201d\n\n \u201cFor thus it chanced one morn when all the court,\n Green-suited, but with plumes that mock\u2019d the May,\n Had been, their wont, a-maying.\u201d\n \u2014_Guinevere._\n\nSo they made them ready; and these were the names of the knights: Sir\nKay the Seneschal, Sir Agrivaine, Sir Brandiles, Sir Sagramour le\nDesirus, Sir Dodynas le Sauvage, Sir Ozanna, Sir Ladynas, Sir Persant of\nInde, Sir Ironside, and Sir Pelleas; and these ten knights made them\nready, in the freshest manner, to ride with the queen. So upon the morn\nthey took their horses with the queen, and rode a-maying in woods and\nmeadows, as it pleased them, in great joy and delight. Now there was a\nknight named Maleagans, son to King Brademagus, who loved Queen Guenever\npassing well, and so had he done long and many years. Now this knight,\nSir Maleagans, learned the queen\u2019s purpose, and that she had no men of\narms with her but the ten noble knights all arrayed in green for maying;\nso he prepared him twenty men of arms, and a hundred archers, to take\ncaptive the queen and her knights.\n\n \u201cIn the merry month of May,\n In a morn at break of day,\n With a troop of damsels playing,\n The Queen, forsooth, went forth a-maying.\u201d\n \u2014_Old Song._\n\nSo when the queen had mayed, and all were bedecked with herbs, mosses,\nand flowers in the best manner and freshest, right then came out of a\nwood Sir Maleagans with eightscore men well harnessed, and bade the\nqueen and her knights yield them prisoners. \u201cTraitor knight,\u201d said Queen\nGuenever, \u201cwhat wilt thou do? Wilt thou shame thyself? Bethink thee how\nthou art a king\u2019s son, and a knight of the Table Round, and how thou art\nabout to dishonor all knighthood and thyself?\u201d \u201cBe it as it may,\u201d said\nSir Maleagans, \u201cknow you well, madam, I have loved you many a year and\nnever till now could I get you to such advantage as I do now; and\ntherefore I will take you as I find you.\u201d Then the ten knights of the\nRound Table drew their swords, and the other party run at them with\ntheir spears, and the ten knights manfully abode them, and smote away\ntheir spears. Then they lashed together with swords till several were\nsmitten to the earth. So when the queen saw her knights thus dolefully\noppressed, and needs must be slain at the last, then for pity and sorrow\nshe cried, \u201cSir Maleagans, slay not my noble knights and I will go with\nyou, upon this covenant, that they be led with me wheresoever thou\nleadest me.\u201d \u201cMadame,\u201d said Maleagans, \u201cfor your sake they shall be led\nwith you into my own castle, if that ye will be ruled, and ride with\nme.\u201d Then Sir Maleagans charged them all that none should depart from\nthe queen, for he dreaded lest Sir Launcelot should have knowledge of\nwhat had been done.\n\nThen the queen privily called unto her a page of her chamber that was\nswiftly horsed, to whom she said, \u201cGo thou when thou seest thy time, and\nbear this ring unto Sir Launcelot, and pray him as he loveth me, that he\nwill see me and rescue me. And spare not thy horse,\u201d said the queen,\n\u201cneither for water nor for land.\u201d So the child espied his time, and\nlightly he took his horse with the spurs and departed as fast as he\nmight. And when Sir Maleagans saw him so flee, he understood that it was\nby the queen\u2019s commandment for to warn Sir Launcelot. Then they that\nwere best horsed chased him, and shot at him, but the child went from\nthem all. Then Sir Maleagans said to the queen, \u201cMadam, ye are about to\nbetray me, but I shall arrange for Sir Launcelot that he shall not come\nlightly at you.\u201d Then he rode with her and them all to his castle, in\nall the haste that they might. And by the way Sir Maleagans laid in\nambush the best archers that he had to wait for Sir Launcelot. And the\nchild came to Westminster and found Sir Launcelot and told his message\nand delivered him the queen\u2019s ring. \u201cAlas!\u201d said Sir Launcelot, \u201cnow am\nI shamed for ever, unless I may rescue that noble lady.\u201d Then eagerly he\nasked his armor and put it on him, and mounted his horse and rode as\nfast as he might; and men say he took the water at Westminster Bridge,\nand made his horse swim over Thames unto Lambeth. Then within a while he\ncame to a wood where was a narrow way; and there the archers were laid\nin ambush. And they shot at him and smote his horse so that he fell.\nThen Sir Launcelot left his horse and went on foot, but there lay so\nmany ditches and hedges betwixt the archers and him that he might not\nmeddle with them. \u201cAlas! for shame,\u201d said Sir Launcelot, \u201cthat ever one\nknight should betray another! but it is an old saw, a good man is never\nin danger, but when he is in danger of a coward.\u201d Then Sir Launcelot\nwent awhile and he was exceedingly cumbered by his armor, his shield,\nand his spear, and all that belonged to him. Then by chance there came\nby him a cart that came thither to fetch wood.\n\nNow at this time carts were little used except for carrying offal and\nfor conveying criminals to execution. But Sir Launcelot took no thought\nof anything but the necessity of haste for the purpose of rescuing the\nqueen; so he demanded of the carter that he should take him in and\nconvey him as speedily as possible for a liberal reward. The carter\nconsented, and Sir Launcelot placed himself in the cart and only\nlamented that with much jolting he made but little progress. Then it\nhappened Sir Gawain passed by and seeing an armed knight travelling in\nthat unusual way he drew near to see who it might be. Then Sir Launcelot\ntold him how the queen had been carried off, and how, in hastening to\nher rescue, his horse had been disabled and he had been compelled to\navail himself of the cart rather than give up his enterprise. Then Sir\nGawain said, \u201cSurely it is unworthy of a knight to travel in such sort;\u201d\nbut Sir Launcelot heeded him not.\n\nAt nightfall they arrived at a castle and the lady thereof came out at\nthe head of her damsels to welcome Sir Gawain. But to admit his\ncompanion, whom she supposed to be a criminal, or at least a prisoner,\nit pleased her not; however, to oblige Sir Gawain, she consented. At\nsupper Sir Launcelot came near being consigned to the kitchen and was\nonly admitted to the lady\u2019s table at the earnest solicitation of Sir\nGawain. Neither would the damsels prepare a bed for him. He seized the\nfirst he found unoccupied and was left undisturbed.\n\nNext morning he saw from the turrets of the castle a train accompanying\na lady, whom he imagined to be the queen. Sir Gawain thought it might be\nso, and became equally eager to depart. The lady of the castle supplied\nSir Launcelot with a horse and they traversed the plain at full speed.\nThey learned from some travellers whom they met, that there were two\nroads which led to the castle of Sir Maleagans. Here therefore the\nfriends separated. Sir Launcelot found his way beset with obstacles,\nwhich he encountered successfully, but not without much loss of time. As\nevening approached he was met by a young and sportive damsel, who gayly\nproposed to him a supper at her castle. The knight, who was hungry and\nweary, accepted the offer, though with no very good grace. He followed\nthe lady to her castle and ate voraciously of her supper, but was quite\nimpenetrable to all her amorous advances. Suddenly the scene changed and\nhe was assailed by six furious ruffians, whom he dealt with so\nvigorously that most of them were speedily disabled, when again there\nwas a change and he found himself alone with his fair hostess, who\ninformed him that she was none other than his guardian fairy, who had\nbut subjected him to tests of his courage and fidelity. The next day the\nfairy brought him on his road, and before parting gave him a ring, which\nshe told him would by its changes of color disclose to him all\nenchantments, and enable him to subdue them.\n\nSir Launcelot pursued his journey, without being much incommoded except\nby the taunts of travellers, who all seemed to have learned, by some\nmeans, his disgraceful drive in the cart. One, more insolent than the\nrest, had the audacity to interrupt him during dinner, and even to risk\na battle in support of his pleasantry. Launcelot, after an easy victory,\nonly doomed him to be carted in his turn.\n\nAt night he was received at another castle, with great apparent\nhospitality, but found himself in the morning in a dungeon, and loaded\nwith chains. Consulting his ring, and finding that this was an\nenchantment, he burst his chains, seized his armor in spite of the\nvisionary monsters who attempted to defend it, broke open the gates of\nthe tower, and continued his journey. At length his progress was checked\nby a wide and rapid torrent, which could only be passed on a narrow\nbridge, on which a false step would prove his destruction. Launcelot,\nleading his horse by the bridle, and making him swim by his side, passed\nover the bridge, and was attacked as soon as he reached the bank by a\nlion and a leopard, both of which he slew, and then, exhausted and\nbleeding, seated himself on the grass, and endeavored to bind up his\nwounds, when he was accosted by Brademagus, the father of Maleagans,\nwhose castle was then in sight, and at no great distance. This king, no\nless courteous than his son was haughty and insolent, after\ncomplimenting Sir Launcelot on the valor and skill he had displayed in\nthe perils of the bridge and the wild beasts, offered him his\nassistance, and informed him that the queen was safe in his castle, but\ncould only be rescued by encountering Maleagans. Launcelot demanded the\nbattle for the next day, and accordingly it took place, at the foot of\nthe tower, and under the eyes of the fair captive. Launcelot was\nenfeebled by his wounds, and fought not with his usual spirit, and the\ncontest for a time was doubtful; till Guenever exclaimed, \u201cAh,\nLauncelot! my knight, truly have I been told that thou art no longer\nworthy of me!\u201d These words instantly revived the drooping knight; he\nresumed at once his usual superiority, and soon laid at his feet his\nhaughty adversary.\n\nHe was on the point of sacrificing him to his resentment, when Guenever,\nmoved by the entreaties of Brademagus, ordered him to withhold the blow,\nand he obeyed. The castle and its prisoners were now at his disposal.\nLauncelot hastened to the apartment of the queen, threw himself at her\nfeet, and was about to kiss her hand, when she exclaimed, \u201cAh,\nLauncelot! why do I see thee again, yet feel thee to be no longer worthy\nof me, after having been disgracefully drawn about the country in a\u2014\u201d\nShe had not time to finish the phrase, for her lover suddenly started\nfrom her, and, bitterly lamenting that he had incurred the displeasure\nof his sovereign lady, rushed out of the castle, threw his sword and his\nshield to the right and left, ran furiously into the woods, and\ndisappeared.\n\nIt seems that the story of the abominable cart, which haunted Launcelot\nat every step, had reached the ears of Sir Kay, who had told it to the\nqueen, as a proof that her knight must have been dishonored. But\nGuenever had full leisure to repent the haste with which she had given\ncredit to the tale. Three days elapsed, during which Launcelot wandered\nwithout knowing where he went, till at last he began to reflect that his\nmistress had doubtless been deceived by misrepresentation, and that it\nwas his duty to set her right. He therefore returned, compelled\nMaleagans to release his prisoners, and, taking the road by which they\nexpected the arrival of Sir Gawain, had the satisfaction of meeting him\nthe next day; after which the whole company proceeded gayly towards\nCamelot.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER X\n\n THE LADY OF SHALOTT\n\nKING ARTHUR proclaimed a solemn tournament to be held at Winchester. The\nking, not less impatient than his knights for this festival, set off\nsome days before to superintend the preparations, leaving the queen with\nher court at Camelot. Sir Launcelot, under pretence of indisposition,\nremained behind also. His intention was to attend the tournament in\ndisguise; and having communicated his project to Guenever, he mounted\nhis horse, set off without any attendant, and, counterfeiting the\nfeebleness of age, took the most unfrequented road to Winchester, and\npassed unnoticed as an old knight who was going to be a spectator of the\nsports. Even Arthur and Gawain, who happened to behold him from the\nwindows of a castle under which he passed, were the dupes of his\ndisguise. But an accident betrayed him. His horse happened to stumble,\nand the hero, forgetting for a moment his assumed character, recovered\nthe animal with a strength and agility so peculiar to himself, that they\ninstantly recognized the inimitable Launcelot. They suffered him,\nhowever, to proceed on his journey without interruption, convinced that\nhis extraordinary feats of arms must discover him at the approaching\nfestival.\n\nIn the evening Launcelot was magnificently entertained as a stranger\nknight at the neighboring castle of Shalott. The lord of this castle had\na daughter of exquisite beauty, and two sons lately received into the\norder of knighthood, one of whom was at that time ill in bed, and\nthereby prevented from attending the tournament, for which both brothers\nhad long made preparation. Launcelot offered to attend the other, if he\nwere permitted to borrow the armor of the invalid, and the lord of\nShalott, without knowing the name of his guest, being satisfied from his\nappearance that his son could not have a better assistant in arms, most\nthankfully accepted the offer. In the meantime the young lady, who had\nbeen much struck by the first appearance of the stranger knight,\ncontinued to survey him with increased attention, and, before the\nconclusion of supper, became so deeply enamoured of him, that after\nfrequent changes of color, and other symptoms which Sir Launcelot could\nnot possibly mistake, she was obliged to retire to her chamber, and seek\nrelief in tears. Sir Launcelot hastened to convey to her, by means of\nher brother, the information that his heart was already disposed of, but\nthat it would be his pride and pleasure to act as her knight at the\napproaching tournament. The lady, obliged to be satisfied with that\ncourtesy, presented him her scarf to be worn at the tournament.\n\nLauncelot set off in the morning with the young knight, who, on their\napproaching Winchester, carried him to the castle of a lady, sister to\nthe lord of Shalott, by whom they were hospitably entertained. The next\nday they put on their armor, which was perfectly plain and without any\ndevice, as was usual to youths during the first year of knighthood,\ntheir shields being only painted red, as some color was necessary to\nenable them to be recognized by their attendants. Launcelot wore on his\ncrest the scarf of the maid of Shalott, and, thus equipped, proceeded to\nthe tournament, where the knights were divided into two companies, the\none commanded by Sir Galehaut, the other by King Arthur. Having surveyed\nthe combat for a short time from without the lists, and observed that\nSir Galehaut\u2019s party began to give way, they joined the press and\nattacked the royal knights, the young man choosing such adversaries as\nwere suited to his strength, while his companion selected the principal\nchampions of the Round Table, and successively overthrew Gawain, Bohort,\nand Lionel. The astonishment of the spectators was extreme, for it was\nthought that no one but Launcelot could possess such invincible force;\nyet the favor on his crest seemed to preclude the possibility of his\nbeing thus disguised, for Launcelot had never been known to wear the\nbadge of any but his sovereign lady. At length Sir Hector, Launcelot\u2019s\nbrother, engaged him, and, after a dreadful combat, wounded him\ndangerously in the head, but was himself completely stunned by a blow on\nthe helmet, and felled to the ground; after which the conqueror rode off\nat full speed, attended by his companion.\n\nThey returned to the castle of Shalott, where Launcelot was attended\nwith the greatest care by the good earl, by his two sons, and, above\nall, by his fair daughter, whose medical skill probably much hastened\nthe period of his recovery. His health was almost completely restored,\nwhen Sir Hector, Sir Bohort, and Sir Lionel, who, after the return of\nthe court to Camelot, had undertaken the quest of their relation,\ndiscovered him walking on the walls of the castle. Their meeting was\nvery joyful; they passed three days in the castle amidst constant\nfestivities, and bantered each other on the events of the tournament.\nLauncelot, though he began by vowing vengeance against the author of his\nwound, yet ended by declaring that he felt rewarded for the pain by the\npride he took in witnessing his brother\u2019s extraordinary prowess. He then\ndismissed them with a message to the queen, promising to follow\nimmediately, it being necessary that he should first take a formal leave\nof his kind hosts, as well as of the fair maid of Shalott.\n\nThe young lady, after vainly attempting to detain him by her tears and\nsolicitations, saw him depart without leaving her any ground for hope.\n\nIt was early summer when the tournament took place; but some months had\npassed since Launcelot\u2019s departure, and winter was now near at hand. The\nhealth and strength of the Lady of Shalott had gradually sunk, and she\nfelt that she could not live apart from the object of her affections.\nShe left the castle, and descending to the river\u2019s brink placed herself\nin a boat, which she loosed from its moorings, and suffered to bear her\ndown the current toward Camelot.\n\nOne morning, as Arthur and Sir Lionel looked from the window of the\ntower, the walls of which were washed by a river, they descried a boat\nrichly ornamented, and covered with an awning of cloth of gold, which\nappeared to be floating down the stream without any human guidance. It\nstruck the shore while they watched it, and they hastened down to\nexamine it. Beneath the awning they discovered the dead body of a\nbeautiful woman, in whose features Sir Lionel easily recognized the\nlovely maid of Shalott. Pursuing their search, they discovered a purse\nrichly embroidered with gold and jewels, and within the purse a letter,\nwhich Arthur opened, and found addressed to himself and all the knights\nof the Round Table, stating that Launcelot of the Lake, the most\naccomplished of knights and most beautiful of men, but at the same time\nthe most cruel and inflexible, had by his rigor produced the death of\nthe wretched maiden, whose love was no less invincible than his cruelty.\nThe king immediately gave orders for the interment of the lady with all\nthe honors suited to her rank, at the same time explaining to the\nknights the history of her affection for Launcelot, which moved the\ncompassion and regret of all.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\nTennyson has chosen the story of the \u201cLady of Shalott\u201d for the subject\nof a poem. The catastrophe is told thus:\n\n \u201cUnder tower and balcony,\n By garden-wall and gallery,\n A gleaming shape she floated by,\n A corse between the houses high,\n Silent into Camelot.\n Out upon the wharfs they came,\n Knight and burgher, lord and dame,\n And round the prow they read her name,\n \u2018The Lady of Shalott.\u2019\n\n \u201cWho is this? and what is here?\n And in the lighted palace near\n Died the sound of royal cheer;\n And they crossed themselves for fear,\n All the knights at Camelot.\n But Launcelot mused a little space;\n He said, \u2018She has a lovely face;\n God in his mercy lend her grace,\n The Lady of Shalott.\u2019\u201d\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XI\n\n QUEEN GUENEVER\u2019S PERIL\n\nIT happened at this time that Queen Guenever was thrown into great peril\nof her life. A certain squire who was in her immediate service, having\nsome cause of animosity to Sir Gawain, determined to destroy him by\npoison, at a public entertainment. For this purpose he concealed the\npoison in an apple of fine appearance, which he placed on the top of\nseveral others, and put the dish before the queen, hoping that, as Sir\nGawain was the knight of greatest dignity, she would present the apple\nto him. But it happened that a Scottish knight of high distinction, who\narrived on that day, was seated next to the queen, and to him as a\nstranger she presented the apple, which he had no sooner eaten than he\nwas seized with dreadful pain, and fell senseless. The whole court was,\nof course, thrown into confusion; the knights rose from table, darting\nlooks of indignation at the wretched queen, whose tears and\nprotestations were unable to remove their suspicions. In spite of all\nthat could be done the knight died, and nothing remained but to order a\nmagnificent funeral and monument for him, which was done.\n\nSome time after Sir Mador, brother of the murdered knight, arrived at\nArthur\u2019s court in quest of him. While hunting in the forest he by chance\ncame to the spot where the monument was erected, read the inscription,\nand returned to court determined on immediate and signal vengeance. He\nrode into the hall, loudly accused the queen of treason, and insisted on\nher being given up for punishment, unless she should find by a certain\nday a knight hardy enough to risk his life in support of her innocence.\nArthur, powerful as he was, did not dare to deny the appeal, but was\ncompelled with a heavy heart to accept it, and Mador sternly took his\ndeparture, leaving the royal couple plunged in terror and anxiety.\n\nDuring all this time Launcelot was absent, and no one knew where he was.\nHe fled in anger from his fair mistress, upon being reproached by her\nwith his passion for the Lady of Shalott, which she had hastily inferred\nfrom his wearing her scarf at the tournament. He took up his abode with\na hermit in the forest, and resolved to think no more of the cruel\nbeauty, whose conduct he thought must flow from a wish to get rid of\nhim. Yet calm reflection had somewhat cooled his indignation, and he had\nbegun to wish, though hardly able to hope, for a reconciliation when the\nnews of Sir Mador\u2019s challenge fortunately reached his ears. The\nintelligence revived his spirits, and he began to prepare with the\nutmost cheerfulness for a contest which, if successful, would insure him\nat once the affection of his mistress and the gratitude of his\nsovereign.\n\nThe sad fate of the Lady of Shalott had ere this completely acquitted\nLauncelot in the queen\u2019s mind of all suspicion of his fidelity, and she\nlamented most grievously her foolish quarrel with him, which now, at her\ntime of need, deprived her of her most efficient champion.\n\nAs the day appointed by Sir Mador was fast approaching, it became\nnecessary that she should procure a champion for her defence; and she\nsuccessively adjured Sir Hector, Sir Lionel, Sir Bohort, and Sir Gawain\nto undertake the battle. She fell on her knees before them, called\nheaven to witness her innocence of the crime alleged against her, but\nwas sternly answered by all that they could not fight to maintain the\ninnocence of one whose act, and the fatal consequence of it, they had\nseen with their own eyes. She retired, therefore, dejected and\ndisconsolate; but the sight of the fatal pile on which, if guilty, she\nwas doomed to be burned, exciting her to fresh effort, she again\nrepaired to Sir Bohort, threw herself at his feet, and piteously calling\non him for mercy, fell into a swoon. The brave knight was not proof\nagainst this. He raised her up, and hastily promised that he would\nundertake her cause, if no other or better champion should present\nhimself. He then summoned his friends, and told them his resolution; and\nas a mortal combat with Sir Mador was a most fearful enterprise, they\nagreed to accompany him in the morning to the hermitage in the forest,\nwhere he proposed to receive absolution from the hermit, and to make his\npeace with Heaven before he entered the lists. As they approached the\nhermitage, they espied a knight riding in the forest, whom they at once\nrecognized as Sir Launcelot. Overjoyed at the meeting, they quickly, in\nanswer to his questions, confirmed the news of the queen\u2019s imminent\ndanger, and received his instructions to return to court, to comfort her\nas well as they could, but to say nothing of his intention of\nundertaking her defence, which he meant to do in the character of an\nunknown adventurer.\n\nOn their return to the castle they found that mass was finished, and had\nscarcely time to speak to the queen before they were summoned into the\nhall to dinner. A general gloom was spread over the countenances of all\nthe guests. Arthur himself was unable to conceal his dejection, and the\nwretched Guenever, motionless and bathed in tears, sat in trembling\nexpectation of Sir Mador\u2019s appearance. Nor was it long ere he stalked\ninto the hall, and with a voice of thunder, rendered more impressive by\nthe general silence, demanded instant justice on the guilty party.\nArthur replied with dignity, that little of the day was yet spent, and\nthat perhaps a champion might yet be found capable of satisfying his\nthirst for battle. Sir Bohort now rose from table, and shortly returning\nin complete armor, resumed his place, after receiving the embraces and\nthanks of the king, who now began to resume some degree of confidence.\nSir Mador, growing impatient, again repeated his denunciations of\nvengeance, and insisted that the combat should no longer be postponed.\n\nIn the height of the debate there came riding into the hall a knight\nmounted on a black steed, and clad in black armor, with his visor down,\nand lance in hand. \u201cSir,\u201d said the king, \u201cis it your will to alight and\npartake of our cheer?\u201d \u201cNay, sir,\u201d he replied; \u201cI come to save a lady\u2019s\nlife. The queen hath ill bestowed her favors, and honored many a knight,\nthat in her hour of need she should have none to take her part. Thou\nthat darest accuse her of treachery, stand forth, for to-day shalt thou\nneed all thy might.\u201d\n\nSir Mador, though surprised, was not appalled by the stern challenge and\nformidable appearance of his antagonist, but prepared for the encounter.\nAt the first shock both were unhorsed. They then drew their swords, and\ncommenced a combat which lasted from noon till evening, when Sir Mador,\nwhose strength began to fail, was felled to the ground by Launcelot, and\ncompelled to sue for mercy. The victor, whose arm was already raised to\nterminate the life of his opponent, instantly dropped his sword,\ncourteously lifted up the fainting Sir Mador, frankly confessing that he\nhad never before encountered so formidable an enemy. The other, with\nsimilar courtesy, solemnly renounced all further projects of vengeance\nfor his brother\u2019s death; and the two knights, now become fast friends,\nembraced each other with the greatest cordiality. In the meantime\nArthur, having recognized Sir Launcelot, whose helmet was now unlaced,\nrushed down into the lists, followed by all his knights, to welcome and\nthank his deliverer. Guenever swooned with joy, and the place of combat\nsuddenly exhibited a scene of the most tumultuous delight.\n\nThe general satisfaction was still further increased by the discovery of\nthe real culprit. Having accidentally incurred some suspicion, he\nconfessed his crime, and was publicly punished in the presence of Sir\nMador.\n\nThe court now returned to the castle, which, with the title of \u201cLa\nJoyeuse Garde\u201d bestowed upon it in memory of the happy event, was\nconferred on Sir Launcelot by Arthur, as a memorial of his gratitude.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XII\n\n TRISTRAM AND ISOUDE\n\nMELIADUS was king of Leonois, or Lionesse, a country famous in the\nannals of romance, which adjoined the kingdom of Cornwall, but has now\ndisappeared from the map, having been, it is said, overwhelmed by the\nocean. Meliadus was married to Isabella, sister of Mark, king of\nCornwall. A fairy fell in love with him, and drew him away by\nenchantment while he was engaged in hunting. His queen set out in quest\nof him, but was taken ill on her journey, and died, leaving an infant\nson, whom, from the melancholy circumstances of his birth, she called\nTristram.\n\nGouvernail, the queen\u2019s squire, who had accompanied her, took charge of\nthe child, and restored him to his father, who had at length burst the\nenchantments of the fairy, and returned home.\n\nMeliadus after seven years married again, and the new queen, being\njealous of the influence of Tristram with his father, laid plots for his\nlife, which were discovered by Gouvernail, who in consequence fled with\nthe boy to the court of the king of France, where Tristram was kindly\nreceived, and grew up improving in every gallant and knightly\naccomplishment, adding to his skill in arms the arts of music and of\nchess. In particular, he devoted himself to the chase and to all\nwoodland sports, so that he became distinguished above all other\nchevaliers of the court for his knowledge of all that relates to\nhunting. No wonder that Belinda, the king\u2019s daughter, fell in love with\nhim; but as he did not return her passion, she, in a sudden impulse of\nanger, excited her father against him, and he was banished the kingdom.\nThe princess soon repented of her act, and in despair destroyed herself,\nhaving first written a most tender letter to Tristram, sending him at\nthe same time a beautiful and sagacious dog, of which she was very fond,\ndesiring him to keep it as a memorial of her. Meliadus was now dead, and\nas his queen, Tristram\u2019s stepmother, held the throne, Gouvernail was\nafraid to carry his pupil to his native country, and took him to\nCornwall, to his uncle Mark, who gave him a kind reception.\n\nKing Mark resided at the castle of Tintadel, already mentioned in the\nhistory of Uther and Igerne. In this court Tristram became distinguished\nin all the exercises incumbent on a knight; nor was it long before he\nhad an opportunity of practically employing his valor and skill.\nMoraunt, a celebrated champion, brother to the queen of Ireland, arrived\nat the court, to demand tribute of King Mark. The knights of Cornwall\nare in ill repute in romance for their cowardice, and they exhibited it\non this occasion. King Mark could find no champion who dared to\nencounter the Irish knight, till his nephew Tristram, who had not yet\nreceived the honors of knighthood, craved to be admitted to the order,\noffering at the same time to fight the battle of Cornwall against the\nIrish champion. King Mark assented with reluctance; Tristram received\nthe accolade, which conferred knighthood upon him, and the place and\ntime were assigned for the encounter.\n\nWithout attempting to give the details of this famous combat, the first\nand one of the most glorious of Tristram\u2019s exploits, we shall only say\nthat the young knight, though severely wounded, cleft the head of\nMoraunt, leaving a portion of his sword in the wound. Moraunt, half dead\nwith his wound and the disgrace of his defeat, hastened to hide himself\nin his ship, sailed away with all speed for Ireland, and died soon after\narriving in his own country.\n\nThe kingdom of Cornwall was thus delivered from its tribute. Tristram,\nweakened by loss of blood, fell senseless. His friends flew to his\nassistance. They dressed his wounds, which in general healed readily;\nbut the lance of Moraunt was poisoned, and one wound which it made\nyielded to no remedies, but grew worse day by day. The surgeons could do\nno more. Tristram asked permission of his uncle to depart, and seek for\naid in the kingdom of Loegria (England). With his consent he embarked,\nand after tossing for many days on the sea, was driven by the winds to\nthe coast of Ireland. He landed, full of joy and gratitude that he had\nescaped the peril of the sea; took his rote,[49] and began to play. It\nwas a summer evening, and the king of Ireland and his daughter, the\nbeautiful Isoude, were at a window which overlooked the sea. The strange\nharper was sent for, and conveyed to the palace, where, finding that he\nwas in Ireland, whose champion he had lately slain, he concealed his\nname, and called himself Tramtris. The queen undertook his cure, and by\na medicated bath gradually restored him to health. His skill in music\nand in games occasioned his being frequently called to court, and he\nbecame the instructor of the princess Isoude in minstrelsy and poetry,\nwho profited so well under his care, that she soon had no equal in the\nkingdom, except her instructor.\n\nAt this time a tournament was held, at which many knights of the Round\nTable, and others, were present. On the first day a Saracen prince,\nnamed Palamedes, obtained the advantage over all. They brought him to\nthe court, and gave him a feast, at which Tristram, just recovering from\nhis wound, was present. The fair Isoude appeared on this occasion in all\nher charms. Palamedes could not behold them without emotion, and made no\neffort to conceal his love. Tristram perceived it, and the pain he felt\nfrom jealousy taught him how dear the fair Isoude had already become to\nhim.\n\nNext day the tournament was renewed. Tristram, still feeble from his\nwound, rose during the night, took his arms, and concealed them in a\nforest near the place of the contest, and, after it had begun, mingled\nwith the combatants. He overthrew all that encountered him, in\nparticular Palamedes, whom he brought to the ground with a stroke of his\nlance, and then fought him hand to hand, bearing off the prize of the\ntourney. But his exertions caused his wound to reopen; he bled fast, and\nin this sad state, yet in triumph, they bore him to the palace. The fair\nIsoude devoted herself to his relief with an interest which grew more\nvivid day by day; and her skilful care soon restored him to health.\n\nIt happened one day that a damsel of the court, entering the closet\nwhere Tristram\u2019s arms were deposited, perceived that a part of the sword\nhad been broken off. It occurred to her that the missing portion was\nlike that which was left in the skull of Moraunt, the Irish champion.\nShe imparted her thought to the queen, who compared the fragment taken\nfrom her brother\u2019s wound with the sword of Tristram, and was satisfied\nthat it was part of the same, and that the weapon of Tristram was that\nwhich reft her brother\u2019s life. She laid her griefs and resentment before\nthe king, who satisfied himself with his own eyes of the truth of her\nsuspicions. Tristram was cited before the whole court, and reproached\nwith having dared to present himself before them after having slain\ntheir kinsman. He acknowledged that he had fought with Moraunt to settle\nthe claim for tribute, and said that it was by force of winds and waves\nalone that he was thrown on their coast. The queen demanded vengeance\nfor the death of her brother; the fair Isoude trembled and grew pale,\nbut a murmur rose from all the assembly that the life of one so handsome\nand so brave should not be taken for such a cause, and generosity\nfinally triumphed over resentment in the mind of the king. Tristram was\ndismissed in safety, but commanded to leave the kingdom without delay,\nand never to return thither under pain of death. Tristram went back,\nwith restored health, to Cornwall.\n\nKing Mark made his nephew give him a minute recital of his adventures.\nTristram told him all minutely; but when he came to speak of the fair\nIsoude he described her charms with a warmth and energy such as none but\na lover could display. King Mark was fascinated with the description,\nand, choosing a favorable time, demanded a boon[50] of his nephew, who\nreadily granted it. The king made him swear upon the holy reliques that\nhe would fulfil his commands. Then Mark directed him to go to Ireland,\nand obtain for him the fair Isoude to be queen of Cornwall.\n\nTristram believed it was certain death for him to return to Ireland; and\nhow could he act as ambassador for his uncle in such a cause? Yet, bound\nby his oath, he hesitated not for an instant. He only took the\nprecaution to change his armor. He embarked for Ireland; but a tempest\ndrove him to the coast of England, near Camelot, where King Arthur was\nholding his court, attended by the knights of the Round Table, and many\nothers, the most illustrious in the world.\n\nTristram kept himself unknown. He took part in many justs; he fought\nmany combats, in which he covered himself with glory. One day he saw\namong those recently arrived the king of Ireland, father of the fair\nIsoude. This prince, accused of treason against his liege sovereign,\nArthur, came to Camelot to free himself from the charge. Blaanor, one of\nthe most redoubtable warriors of the Round Table, was his accuser, and\nArgius, the king, had neither youthful vigor nor strength to encounter\nhim. He must therefore seek a champion to sustain his innocence. But the\nknights of the Round Table were not at liberty to fight against one\nanother, unless in a quarrel of their own. Argius heard of the great\nrenown of the unknown knight; he also was witness of his exploits. He\nsought him, and conjured him to adopt his defence, and on his oath\ndeclared that he was innocent of the crime of which he was accused.\nTristram readily consented, and made himself known to the king, who on\nhis part promised to reward his exertions, if successful, with whatever\ngift he might ask.\n\nTristram fought with Blaanor, and overthrew him, and held his life in\nhis power. The fallen warrior called on him to use his right of\nconquest, and strike the fatal blow. \u201cGod forbid,\u201d said Tristram, \u201cthat\nI should take the life of so brave a knight!\u201d He raised him up and\nrestored him to his friends. The judges of the field decided that the\nking of Ireland was acquitted of the charge against him, and they led\nTristram in triumph to his tent. King Argius, full of gratitude,\nconjured Tristram to accompany him to his kingdom. They departed\ntogether, and arrived in Ireland; and the queen, forgetting her\nresentment for her brother\u2019s death, exhibited to the preserver of her\nhusband\u2019s life nothing but gratitude and good-will.\n\nHow happy a moment for Isoude, who knew that her father had promised his\ndeliverer whatever boon he might ask! But the unhappy Tristram gazed on\nher with despair, at the thought of the cruel oath which bound him. His\nmagnanimous soul subdued the force of his love. He revealed the oath\nwhich he had taken, and with trembling voice demanded the fair Isoude\nfor his uncle.\n\nArgius consented, and soon all was prepared for the departure of Isoude.\nBrengwain, her favorite maid of honor, was to accompany her. On the day\nof departure the queen took aside this devoted attendant, and told her\nthat she had observed that her daughter and Tristram were attached to\none another, and that to avert the bad effects of this inclination she\nhad procured from a powerful fairy a potent philter (love-draught),\nwhich she directed Brengwain to administer to Isoude and to King Mark on\nthe evening of their marriage.\n\nIsoude and Tristram embarked together. A favorable wind filled the\nsails, and promised them a fortunate voyage. The lovers gazed upon one\nanother, and could not repress their sighs. Love seemed to light up all\nhis fires on their lips, as in their hearts. The day was warm; they\nsuffered from thirst. Isoude first complained. Tristram descried the\nbottle containing the love-draught, which Brengwain had been so\nimprudent as to leave in sight. He took it, gave some of it to the\ncharming Isoude, and drank the remainder himself. The dog Houdain licked\nthe cup. The ship arrived in Cornwall, and Isoude was married to King\nMark. The old monarch was delighted with his bride, and his gratitude to\nTristram was unbounded. He loaded him with honors, and made him\nchamberlain of his palace, thus giving him access to the queen at all\ntimes.\n\nIn the midst of the festivities of the court which followed the royal\nmarriage, an unknown minstrel one day presented himself, bearing a harp\nof peculiar construction. He excited the curiosity of King Mark by\nrefusing to play upon it till he should grant him a boon. The king\nhaving promised to grant his request, the minstrel, who was none other\nthan the Saracen knight, Sir Palamedes, the lover of the fair Isoude,\nsung to the harp a lay, in which he demanded Isoude as the promised\ngift. King Mark could not by the laws of knighthood withhold the boon.\nThe lady was mounted on her horse, and led away by her triumphant lover.\nTristram, it is needless to say, was absent at the time, and did not\nreturn until their departure. When he heard what had taken place he\nseized his rote, and hastened to the shore, where Isoude and her new\nmaster had already embarked. Tristram played upon his rote, and the\nsound reached the ears of Isoude, who became so deeply affected, that\nSir Palamedes was induced to return with her to land, that they might\nsee the unknown musician. Tristram watched his opportunity, seized the\nlady\u2019s horse by the bridle, and plunged with her into the forest,\ntauntingly informing his rival that \u201cwhat he had got by the harp he had\nlost by the rote.\u201d Palamedes pursued, and a combat was about to\ncommence, the result of which must have been fatal to one or other of\nthese gallant knights; but Isoude stepped between them, and, addressing\nPalamedes, said, \u201cYou tell me that you love me; you will not then deny\nme the request I am about to make?\u201d \u201cLady,\u201d he replied, \u201cI will perform\nyour bidding.\u201d \u201cLeave, then,\u201d said she, \u201cthis contest, and repair to\nKing Arthur\u2019s court, and salute Queen Guenever from me; tell her that\nthere are in the world but two ladies, herself and I, and two lovers,\nhers and mine; and come thou not in future in any place where I am.\u201d\nPalamedes burst into tears. \u201cAh, lady,\u201d said he, \u201cI will obey you; but I\nbeseech you that you will not for ever steel your heart against me.\u201d\n\u201cPalamedes,\u201d she replied, \u201cmay I never taste of joy again if I ever quit\nmy first love.\u201d Palamedes then went his way. The lovers remained a week\nin concealment, after which Tristram restored Isoude to her husband,\nadvising him in future to reward minstrels in some other way.\n\nThe king showed much gratitude to Tristram, but in the bottom of his\nheart he cherished bitter jealousy of him. One day Tristram and Isoude\nwere alone together in her private chamber. A base and cowardly knight\nof the court, named Andret, spied them through a keyhole. They sat at a\ntable of chess, but were not attending to the game. Andret brought the\nking, having first raised his suspicions, and placed him so as to watch\ntheir motions. The king saw enough to confirm his suspicions, and he\nburst into the apartment with his sword drawn, and had nearly slain\nTristram before he was put on his guard. But Tristram avoided the blow,\ndrew his sword, and drove before him the cowardly monarch, chasing him\nthrough all the apartments of the palace, giving him frequent blows with\nthe flat of his sword, while he cried in vain to his knights to save\nhim. They were not inclined, or did not dare, to interpose in his\nbehalf.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\nA proof of the great popularity of the tale of Sir Tristram is the fact\nthat the Italian poets, Boiardo and Ariosto, have founded upon it the\nidea of the two enchanted fountains, which produced the opposite effects\nof love and hatred. Boiardo thus describes the fountain of hatred:\n\n \u201cFair was that, fountain, sculptured all of gold,\n With alabaster sculptured, rich and rare;\n And in its basin clear thou might\u2019st behold\n The flowery marge reflected fresh and fair.\n Sage Merlin framed the font,\u2014so legends bear,\u2014\n When on fair Isoude doated Tristram brave,\n That the good errant knight, arriving there,\n Might quaff oblivion in the enchanted wave,\n And leave his luckless love, and \u2019scape his timeless grave.\n\n \u201cBut ne\u2019er the warrior\u2019s evil fate allowed\n His steps that fountain\u2019s charmed verge to gain.\n Though restless, roving on adventure proud,\n He traversed oft the land and oft the main.\u201d\n . . . . . . .\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XIII\n\n TRISTRAM AND ISOUDE (_Continued_)\n\nAFTER this affair Tristram was banished from the kingdom, and Isoude\nshut up in a tower, which stood on the bank of a river. Tristram could\nnot resolve to depart without some further communication with his\nbeloved; so he concealed himself in the forest, till at last he\ncontrived to attract her attention, by means of twigs which he curiously\npeeled, and sent down the stream under her window. By this means many\nsecret interviews were obtained. Tristram dwelt in the forest,\nsustaining himself by game, which the dog Houdain ran down for him; for\nthis faithful animal was unequalled in the chase, and knew so well his\nmaster\u2019s wish for concealment, that, in the pursuit of his game, he\nnever barked. At length Tristram departed, but left Houdain with Isoude,\nas a remembrancer of him.\n\nSir Tristram wandered through various countries, achieving the most\nperilous enterprises, and covering himself with glory, yet unhappy at\nthe separation from his beloved Isoude. At length King Mark\u2019s territory\nwas invaded by a neighboring chieftain, and he was forced to summon his\nnephew to his aid. Tristram obeyed the call, put himself at the head of\nhis uncle\u2019s vassals, and drove the enemy out of the country. Mark was\nfull of gratitude, and Tristram, restored to favor and to the society of\nhis beloved Isoude, seemed at the summit of happiness. But a sad reverse\nwas at hand.\n\nTristram had brought with him a friend named Pheredin, son of the king\nof Brittany. This young knight saw Queen Isoude, and could not resist\nher charms. Knowing the love of his friend for the queen, and that that\nlove was returned, Pheredin concealed his own, until his health failed,\nand he feared he was drawing near his end. He then wrote to the\nbeautiful queen that he was dying for love of her.\n\nThe gentle Isoude, in a moment of pity for the friend of Tristram,\nreturned him an answer so kind and compassionate that it restored him to\nlife. A few days afterwards Tristram found this letter. The most\nterrible jealousy took possession of his soul; he would have slain\nPheredin, who with difficulty made his escape. Then Tristram mounted his\nhorse, and rode to the forest, where for ten days he took no rest nor\nfood. At length he was found by a damsel lying almost dead by the brink\nof a fountain. She recognized him, and tried in vain to rouse his\nattention. At last recollecting his love for music she went and got her\nharp, and played thereon. Tristram was roused from his reverie; tears\nflowed; he breathed more freely; he took the harp from the maiden, and\nsung this lay, with a voice broken with sobs:\n\n \u201cSweet I sang in former days,\n Kind love perfected my lays:\n Now my art alone displays\n The woe that on my being preys.\n\n \u201cCharming love, delicious power,\n Worshipped from my earliest hour,\n Thou who life on all dost shower,\n Love! my life thou dost devour.\n\n \u201cIn death\u2019s hour I beg of thee,\n Isoude, dearest enemy,\n Thou who erst couldst kinder be,\n When I\u2019m gone, forget not me.\n\n \u201cOn my gravestone passers-by\n Oft will read, as low I lie,\n \u2018Never wight in love could vie\n With Tristram, yet she let him die.\u2019\u201d\n\nTristram, having finished his lay, wrote it off and gave it to the\ndamsel, conjuring her to present it to the queen.\n\nMeanwhile Queen Isoude was inconsolable at the absence of Tristram. She\ndiscovered that it was caused by the fatal letter which she had written\nto Pheredin. Innocent, but in despair at the sad effects of her letter,\nshe wrote another to Pheredin, charging him never to see her again. The\nunhappy lover obeyed this cruel decree. He plunged into the forest, and\ndied of grief and love in a hermit\u2019s cell.\n\nIsoude passed her days in lamenting the absence and unknown fate of\nTristram. One day her jealous husband, having entered her chamber\nunperceived, overheard her singing the following lay:\n\n \u201cMy voice to piteous wail is bent,\n My harp to notes of languishment;\n Ah, love! delightsome days be meant\n For happier wights, with hearts content.\n\n \u201cAh, Tristram! far away from me,\n Art thou from restless anguish free?\n Ah! couldst thou so one moment be,\n From her who so much loveth thee?\u201d\n\nThe king hearing these words burst forth in a rage; but Isoude was too\nwretched to fear his violence. \u201cYou have heard me,\u201d she said; \u201cI confess\nit all. I love Tristram, and always shall love him. Without doubt he is\ndead, and died for me. I no longer wish to live. The blow that shall\nfinish my misery will be most welcome.\u201d\n\nThe king was moved at the distress of the fair Isoude, and perhaps the\nidea of Tristram\u2019s death tended to allay his wrath. He left the queen in\ncharge of her women, commanding them to take especial care lest her\ndespair should lead her to do harm to herself.\n\nTristram meanwhile, distracted as he was, rendered a most important\nservice to the shepherds by slaying a gigantic robber named Taullas, who\nwas in the habit of plundering their flocks and rifling their cottages.\nThe shepherds, in their gratitude to Tristram, bore him in triumph to\nKing Mark to have him bestow on him a suitable reward. No wonder Mark\nfailed to recognize in the half-clad, wild man, before him his nephew\nTristram; but grateful for the service the unknown had rendered he\nordered him to be well taken care of, and gave him in charge to the\nqueen and her women. Under such care Tristram rapidly recovered his\nserenity and his health, so that the romancer tells us he became\nhandsomer than ever. King Mark\u2019s jealousy revived with Tristram\u2019s health\nand good looks, and, in spite of his debt of gratitude so lately\nincreased, he again banished him from the court.\n\nSir Tristram left Cornwall, and proceeded into the land of Loegria\n(England) in quest of adventures. One day he entered a wide forest. The\nsound of a little bell showed him that some inhabitant was near. He\nfollowed the sound, and found a hermit, who informed him that he was in\nthe forest of Arnantes, belonging to the fairy Viviane, the Lady of the\nLake, who, smitten with love for King Arthur, had found means to entice\nhim to this forest, where by enchantments she held him a prisoner,\nhaving deprived him of all memory of who and what he was. The hermit\ninformed him that all the knights of the Round Table were out in search\nof the king, and that he (Tristram) was now in the scene of the most\ngrand and important adventures.\n\nThis was enough to animate Tristram in the search. He had not wandered\nfar before he encountered a knight of Arthur\u2019s court, who proved to be\nSir Kay the Seneschal, who demanded of him whence he came. Tristram\nanswering, \u201cFrom Cornwall,\u201d Sir Kay did not let slip the opportunity of\na joke at the expense of the Cornish knight. Tristram chose to leave him\nin his error, and even confirmed him in it; for meeting some other\nknights Tristram declined to just with them. They spent the night\ntogether at an abbey, where Tristram submitted patiently to all their\njokes. The Seneschal gave the word to his companions that they should\nset out early next day, and intercept the Cornish knight on his way, and\nenjoy the amusement of seeing his fright when they should insist on\nrunning a tilt with him. Tristram next morning found himself alone; he\nput on his armor, and set out to continue his quest. He soon saw before\nhim the Seneschal and the three knights, who barred the way, and\ninsisted on a just. Tristram excused himself a long time; at last he\nreluctantly took his stand. He encountered them, one after the other,\nand overthrew them all four, man and horse, and then rode off, bidding\nthem not to forget their friend, the knight of Cornwall.\n\nTristram had not ridden far when he met a damsel, who cried out, \u201cAh, my\nlord! hasten forward, and prevent a horrid treason!\u201d Tristram flew to\nher assistance, and soon reached a spot where he beheld a knight, whom\nthree others had borne to the ground, and were unlacing his helmet in\norder to cut off his head.\n\nTristram flew to the rescue, and slew with one stroke of his lance one\nof the assailants. The knight, recovering his feet, sacrificed another\nto his vengeance, and the third made his escape. The rescued knight then\nraised the visor of his helmet, and a long white beard fell down upon\nhis breast. The majesty and venerable air of this knight made Tristram\nsuspect that it was none other than Arthur himself, and the prince\nconfirmed his conjecture. Tristram would have knelt before him, but\nArthur received him in his arms, and inquired his name and country; but\nTristram declined to disclose them, on the plea that he was now on a\nquest requiring secrecy. At this moment the damsel who had brought\nTristram to the rescue darted forward, and, seizing the king\u2019s hand,\ndrew from his finger a ring, the gift of the fairy, and by that act\ndissolved the enchantment. Arthur, having recovered his reason and his\nmemory, offered to Tristram to attach him to his court, and to confer\nhonors and dignities upon him; but Tristram declined all, and only\nconsented to accompany him till he should see him safe in the hands of\nhis knights. Soon after, Hector de Marys rode up, and saluted the king,\nwho on his part introduced him to Tristram as one of the bravest of his\nknights. Tristram took leave of the king and his faithful follower, and\ncontinued his quest.\n\nWe cannot follow Tristram through all the adventures which filled this\nepoch of his history. Suffice it to say, he fulfilled on all occasions\nthe duty of a true knight, rescuing the oppressed, redressing wrongs,\nabolishing evil customs, and suppressing injustice, thus by constant\naction endeavoring to lighten the pains of absence from her he loved. In\nthe meantime Isoude, separated from her dear Tristram, passed her days\nin languor and regret. At length she could no longer resist the desire\nto hear some news of her lover. She wrote a letter, and sent it by one\nof her damsels, niece of her faithful Brengwain. One day Tristram, weary\nwith his exertions, had dismounted and laid himself down by the side of\na fountain and fallen asleep. The damsel of Queen Isoude arrived at the\nsame fountain, and recognized Passebreul, the horse of Tristram, and\npresently perceived his master asleep. He was thin and pale, showing\nevident marks of the pain he suffered in separation from his beloved.\nShe awakened him, and gave him the letter which she bore, and Tristram\nenjoyed the pleasure, so sweet to a lover, of hearing from and talking\nabout the object of his affections. He prayed the damsel to postpone her\nreturn till after the magnificent tournament which Arthur had proclaimed\nshould have taken place, and conducted her to the castle of Persides, a\nbrave and loyal knight, who received her with great consideration.\n\nTristram conducted the damsel of Queen Isoude to the tournament, and had\nher placed in the balcony among the ladies of the queen.\n\n \u201cHe glanced and saw the stately galleries,\n Dame, damsel, each through worship of their Queen\n White-robed in honor of the stainless child,\n And some with scatter\u2019d jewels, like a bank\n Of maiden snow mingled with sparks of fire.\n He looked but once, and veiled his eyes again.\u201d\n \u2014_The Last Tournament._\n\nHe then joined the tourney. Nothing could exceed his strength and valor.\nLauncelot admired him, and by a secret presentiment declined to dispute\nthe honor of the day with a knight so gallant and so skilful. Arthur\ndescended from the balcony to greet the conqueror; but the modest and\ndevoted Tristram, content with having borne off the prize in the sight\nof the messenger of Isoude, made his escape with her, and disappeared.\n\nThe next day the tourney recommenced. Tristram assumed different armor,\nthat he might not be known; but he was soon detected by the terrible\nblows that he gave. Arthur and Guenever had no doubt that it was the\nsame knight who had borne off the prize of the day before. Arthur\u2019s\ngallant spirit was roused. After Launcelot of the Lake and Sir Gawain he\nwas accounted the best knight of the Round Table. He went privately and\narmed himself, and came into the tourney in undistinguished armor. He\nran a just with Tristram, whom he shook in his seat; but Tristram, who\ndid not know him, threw him out of the saddle. Arthur recovered himself,\nand content with having made proof of the stranger knight bade Launcelot\nfinish the adventure, and vindicate the honor of the Round Table. Sir\nLauncelot, at the bidding of the monarch, assailed Tristram, whose lance\nwas already broken in former encounters. But the law of this sort of\ncombat was that the knight after having broken his lance must fight with\nhis sword, and must not refuse to meet with his shield the lance of his\nantagonist. Tristram met Launcelot\u2019s charge upon his shield, which that\nterrible lance could not fail to pierce. It inflicted a wound upon\nTristram\u2019s side, and, breaking, left the iron in the wound. But Tristram\nalso with his sword smote so vigorously on Launcelot\u2019s casque that he\ncleft it, and wounded his head. The wound was not deep, but the blood\nflowed into his eyes, and blinded him for a moment, and Tristram, who\nthought himself mortally wounded, retired from the field. Launcelot\ndeclared to the king that he had never received such a blow in his life\nbefore.\n\nTristram hastened to Gouvernail, his squire, who drew forth the iron,\nbound up the wound, and gave him immediate ease. Tristram after the\ntournament kept retired in his tent, but Arthur, with the consent of all\nthe knights of the Round Table, decreed him the honors of the second\nday. But it was no longer a secret that the victor of the two days was\nthe same individual, and Gouvernail, being questioned, confirmed the\nsuspicions of Launcelot and Arthur that it was no other than Sir\nTristram of Leonais, the nephew of the king of Cornwall.\n\nKing Arthur, who desired to reward his distinguished valor, and knew\nthat his Uncle Mark had ungratefully banished him, would have eagerly\navailed himself of the opportunity to attach Tristram to his court,\u2014all\nthe knights of the Round Table declaring with acclamation that it would\nbe impossible to find a more worthy companion. But Tristram had already\ndeparted in search of adventures, and the damsel of Queen Isoude\nreturned to her mistress.\n\n[Illustration: SIR GALAHAD.\n From painting by George Frederick Watts.]\n\n[Illustration: KING ARTHUR AND QUEEN GUENEVER.\n Original drawing by A. Fredericks.]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XIV\n\n SIR TRISTRAM\u2019S BATTLE WITH SIR LAUNCELOT\n\nSIR TRISTRAM rode through a forest and saw ten men fighting, and one man\ndid battle against nine. So he rode to the knights and cried to them,\nbidding them cease their battle, for they did themselves great shame, so\nmany knights to fight against one. Then answered the master of the\nknights (his name was Sir Breuse sans Pitie, who was at that time the\nmost villanous knight living): \u201cSir knight, what have ye to do to meddle\nwith us? If ye be wise depart on your way as you came, for this knight\nshall not escape us.\u201d \u201cThat were pity,\u201d said Sir Tristram, \u201cthat so good\na knight should be slain so cowardly; therefore I warn you I will succor\nhim with all my puissance.\u201d\n\nThen Sir Tristram alighted off his horse, because they were on foot,\nthat they should not slay his horse. And he smote on the right hand and\non the left so vigorously that well-nigh at every stroke he struck down\na knight. At last they fled, with Breuse sans Pitie, into the tower, and\nshut Sir Tristram without the gate. Then Sir Tristram returned back to\nthe rescued knight, and found him sitting under a tree, sore wounded.\n\u201cFair knight,\u201d said he, \u201chow is it with you?\u201d \u201cSir knight,\u201d said Sir\nPalamedes, for he it was, \u201cI thank you of your great goodness, for ye\nhave rescued me from death.\u201d \u201cWhat is your name?\u201d said Sir Tristram. He\nsaid, \u201cMy name is Sir Palamedes.\u201d \u201cSay ye so?\u201d said Sir Tristram; \u201cnow\nknow that thou art the man in the world that I most hate; therefore make\nthee ready, for I will do battle with thee.\u201d \u201cWhat is your name?\u201d said\nSir Palamedes. \u201cMy name is Sir Tristram, your mortal enemy.\u201d \u201cIt may be\nso,\u201d said Sir Palamedes; \u201cbut you have done overmuch for me this day,\nthat I should fight with you. Moreover, it will be no honor for you to\nhave to do with me, for you are fresh and I am wounded. Therefore, if\nyou will needs have to do with me, assign me a day, and I shall meet you\nwithout fail.\u201d \u201cYou say well,\u201d said Sir Tristram; \u201cnow I assign you to\nmeet me in the meadow by the river of Camelot, where Merlin set the\nmonument.\u201d So they were agreed. Then they departed and took their ways\ndiverse. Sir Tristram passed through a great forest into a plain, till\nhe came to a priory, and there he reposed him with a good man six days.\n\nThen departed Sir Tristram, and rode straight into Camelot to the\nmonument of Merlin, and there he looked about him for Sir Palamedes. And\nhe perceived a seemly knight, who came riding against him all in white,\nwith a covered shield. When he came nigh Sir Tristram said aloud,\n\u201cWelcome, sir knight, and well and truly have you kept your promise.\u201d\nThen they made ready their shields and spears, and came together with\nall the might of their horses, so fiercely, that both the horses and the\nknights fell to the earth. And as soon as they might they quitted their\nhorses, and struck together with bright swords as men of might, and each\nwounded the other wonderfully sore, so that the blood ran out upon the\ngrass. Thus they fought for the space of four hours and never one would\nspeak to the other one word. Then at last spake the white knight, and\nsaid, \u201cSir, thou fightest wonderful well, as ever I saw a knight;\ntherefore, if it please you, tell me your name.\u201d \u201cWhy dost thou ask my\nname?\u201d said Sir Tristram; \u201cart thou not Sir Palamedes?\u201d \u201cNo, fair\nknight,\u201d said he, \u201cI am Sir Launcelot of the Lake.\u201d \u201cAlas!\u201d said Sir\nTristram, \u201cwhat have I done? for you are the man of the world that I\nlove best.\u201d \u201cFair knight,\u201d said Sir Launcelot, \u201ctell me your name.\u201d\n\u201cTruly,\u201d said he, \u201cmy name is Sir Tristram de Lionesse.\u201d \u201cAlas! alas!\u201d\nsaid Sir Launcelot, \u201cwhat adventure has befallen me!\u201d And therewith Sir\nLauncelot kneeled down and yielded him up his sword; and Sir Tristram\nkneeled down and yielded him up his sword; and so either gave other the\ndegree. And then they both went to the stone, and sat them down upon it\nand took off their helms and each kissed the other a hundred times. And\nthen anon they rode toward Camelot, and on the way they met with Sir\nGawain and Sir Gaheris, that had made promise to Arthur never to come\nagain to the court till they had brought Sir Tristram with them.\n\n\u201cReturn again,\u201d said Sir Launcelot, \u201cfor your quest is done; for I have\nmet with Sir Tristram. Lo, here he is in his own person.\u201d Then was Sir\nGawain glad, and said to Sir Tristram, \u201cYe are welcome.\u201d With this came\nKing Arthur, and when he wist there was Sir Tristram, he ran unto him,\nand took him by the hand, and said, \u201cSir Tristram, ye are as welcome as\nany knight that ever came to this court.\u201d Then Sir Tristram told the\nking how he came thither for to have had to do with Sir Palamedes, and\nhow he had rescued him from Sir Breuse sans Pitie and the nine knights.\nThen King Arthur took Sir Tristram by the hand, and went to the Table\nRound, and Queen Guenever came, and many ladies with her, and all the\nladies said with one voice, \u201cWelcome, Sir Tristram.\u201d \u201cWelcome,\u201d said the\nknights. \u201cWelcome,\u201d said Arthur, \u201cfor one of the best of knights, and\nthe gentlest of the world, and the man of most worship; for of all\nmanner of hunting thou bearest the prize, and of all measures of blowing\nthou art the beginning, and of all the terms of hunting and hawking ye\nare the inventor, and of all instruments of music ye are the best\nskilled; therefore, gentle knight,\u201d said Arthur, \u201cye are welcome to this\ncourt.\u201d And then King Arthur made Sir Tristram knight of the Table Round\nwith great nobley and feasting as can be thought.\n\n SIR TRISTRAM AS A SPORTSMAN\n\nTristram is often alluded to by the Romancers as the great authority and\nmodel in all matters relating to the chase. In the \u201cFaery Queene,\u201d\nTristram, in answer to the inquiries of Sir Calidore, informs him of his\nname and parentage, and concludes:\n\n \u201cAll which my days I have not lewdly spent,\n Nor spilt the blossom of my tender years\n In idlesse; but, as was convenient,\n Have trained been with many noble feres\n In gentle thewes, and such like seemly leers;[51]\n \u2019Mongst which my most delight hath always been\n To hunt the salvage chace, amongst my peers,\n Of all that rangeth in the forest green,\n Of which none is to me unknown that yet was seen.\n\n \u201cNe is there hawk which mantleth on her perch,\n Whether high towering or accosting low,\n But I the measure of her flight do search,\n And all her prey, and all her diet know.\n Such be our joys, which in these forests grow.\u201d\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XV\n\n THE ROUND TABLE\n\nTHE famous enchanter, Merlin, had exerted all his skill in fabricating\nthe Round Table. Of the seats which surrounded it he had constructed\nthirteen, in memory of the thirteen Apostles. Twelve of these seats only\ncould be occupied, and they only by knights of the highest fame; the\nthirteenth represented the seat of the traitor Judas. It remained always\nempty. It was called the _perilous seat_, ever since a rash and haughty\nSaracen knight had dared to place himself in it, when the earth opened\nand swallowed him up.\n\n \u201cIn our great hall there stood a vacant chair,\n Fashion\u2019d by Merlin ere he past away,\n And carven with strange figures; and in and out\n The figures, like a serpent, ran a scroll\n Of letters in a tongue no man could read.\n And Merlin call\u2019d it \u2018The Siege perilous,\u2019\n Perilous for good and ill; \u2018for there,\u2019 he said,\n \u2018No man could sit but he should lose himself.\u2019\u201d\n \u2014_The Holy Grail._\n\nA magic power wrote upon each seat the name of the knight who was\nentitled to sit in it. No one could succeed to a vacant seat unless he\nsurpassed in valor and glorious deeds the knight who had occupied it\nbefore him; without this qualification he would be violently repelled by\na hidden force. Thus proof was made of all those who presented\nthemselves to replace any companions of the order who had fallen.\n\nOne of the principal seats, that of Moraunt of Ireland, had been vacant\nten years, and his name still remained over it ever since the time when\nthat distinguished champion fell beneath the sword of Sir Tristram.\nArthur now took Tristram by the hand and led him to that seat.\nImmediately the most melodious sounds were heard, and exquisite perfumes\nfilled the place; the name of Moraunt disappeared, and that of Tristram\nblazed forth in light. The rare modesty of Tristram had now to be\nsubjected to a severe task; for the clerks charged with the duty of\npreserving the annals of the Round Table attended, and he was required\nby the law of his order to declare what feats of arms he had\naccomplished to entitle him to take that seat. This ceremony being\nended, Tristram received the congratulations of all his companions. Sir\nLauncelot and Guenever took the occasion to speak to him of the fair\nIsoude, and to express their wish that some happy chance might bring her\nto the kingdom of Loegria.\n\nWhile Tristram was thus honored and caressed at the court of King\nArthur, the most gloomy and malignant jealousy harassed the soul of\nMark. He could not look upon Isoude without remembering that she loved\nTristram, and the good fortune of his nephew goaded him to thoughts of\nvengeance. He at last resolved to go disguised into the kingdom of\nLoegria, attack Tristram by stealth, and put him to death. He took with\nhim two knights, brought up in his court, who he thought were devoted to\nhim; and, not willing to leave Isoude behind, named two of her maidens\nto attend her, together with her faithful Brengwain, and made them\naccompany him.\n\nHaving arrived in the neighborhood of Camelot, Mark imparted his plan to\nhis two knights, but they rejected it with horror; nay, more, they\ndeclared that they would no longer remain in his service; and left him,\ngiving him reason to suppose that they should repair to the court to\naccuse him before Arthur. It was necessary for Mark to meet and rebut\ntheir accusation; so, leaving Isoude in an abbey, he pursued his way\nalone to Camelot.\n\nMark had not ridden far when he encountered a party of knights of\nArthur\u2019s court, and would have avoided them, for he knew their habit of\nchallenging to a just every stranger knight whom they met. But it was\ntoo late. They had seen his armor, and recognized him as a Cornish\nknight, and at once resolved to have some sport with him. It happened\nthey had with them Daguenet, King Arthur\u2019s fool, who, though deformed\nand weak of body, was not wanting in courage. The knights as Mark\napproached laid their plan that Daguenet should personate Sir Launcelot\nof the Lake, and challenge the Cornish knight. They equipped him in\narmor belonging to one of their number who was ill, and sent him forward\nto the cross-road to defy the strange knight. Mark, who saw that his\nantagonist was by no means formidable in appearance, was not disinclined\nto the combat; but when the dwarf rode towards him, calling out that he\nwas Sir Launcelot of the Lake, his fears prevailed, he put spurs to his\nhorse, and rode away at full speed, pursued by the shouts and laughter\nof the party.\n\nMeanwhile Isoude, remaining at the abbey with her faithful Brengwain,\nfound her only amusement in walking occasionally in a forest adjoining\nthe abbey. There, on the brink of a fountain girdled with trees, she\nthought of her love, and sometimes joined her voice and her harp in lays\nreviving the memory of its pains or pleasures. One day the caitiff\nknight, Breuse the Pitiless, heard her voice, concealed himself, and\ndrew near. She sang:\n\n \u201cSweet silence, shadowy bower, and verdant lair,\n Ye court my troubled spirit to repose,\n Whilst I, such dear remembrance rises there,\n Awaken every echo with my woes.\n\n \u201cWithin these woods, by nature\u2019s hand arrayed,\n A fountain springs, and feeds a thousand flowers;\n Ah! how my groans do all its murmurs aid!\n How my sad eyes do swell it with their showers!\n\n \u201cWhat doth my knight the while? to him is given\n A double meed; in love and arms\u2019 emprise,\n Him the Round Table elevates to heaven!\n Tristram! ah me! he hears not Isoude\u2019s cries.\u201d\n\nBreuse the Pitiless, who like most other caitiffs had felt the weight of\nTristram\u2019s arm, and hated him accordingly, at hearing his name breathed\nforth by the beautiful songstress, impelled by a double impulse, rushed\nforth from his concealment and laid hands on his victim. Isoude fainted,\nand Brengwain filled the air with her shrieks. Breuse carried Isoude to\nthe place where he had left his horse; but the animal had got away from\nhis bridle, and was at some distance. He was obliged to lay down his\nfair burden, and go in pursuit of his horse. Just then a knight came up,\ndrawn by the cries of Brengwain, and demanded the cause of her distress.\nShe could not speak, but pointed to her mistress lying insensible on the\nground.\n\nBreuse had by this time returned, and the cries of Brengwain, renewed at\nseeing him, sufficiently showed the stranger the cause of the distress.\nTristram spurred his horse towards Breuse, who, not unprepared, ran to\nthe encounter. Breuse was unhorsed, and lay motionless, pretending to be\ndead; but when the stranger knight left him to attend to the distressed\ndamsels, he mounted his horse, and made his escape.\n\nThe knight now approached Isoude, gently raised her head, drew aside the\ngolden hair which covered her countenance, gazed thereon for an instant,\nuttered a cry, and fell back insensible. Brengwain came; her cares soon\nrestored her mistress to life, and they then turned their attention to\nthe fallen warrior. They raised his visor, and discovered the\ncountenance of Sir Tristram. Isoude threw herself on the body of her\nlover, and bedewed his face with her tears. Their warmth revived the\nknight, and Tristram on awaking found himself in the arms of his dear\nIsoude.\n\nIt was the law of the Round Table that each knight after his admission\nshould pass the next ten days in quest of adventures, during which time\nhis companions might meet him in disguised armor and try their strength\nwith him. Tristram had now been out seven days, and in that time had\nencountered many of the best knights of the Round Table, and acquitted\nhimself with honor. During the remaining three days, Isoude remained at\nthe abbey, under his protection, and then set out with her maidens,\nescorted by Sir Tristram, to rejoin King Mark at the court of Camelot.\n\nThis happy journey was one of the brightest epochs in the lives of\nTristram and Isoude. He celebrated it by a lay upon the harp in a\npeculiar measure, to which the French give the name of _Triolet_.\n\n \u201cWith fair Isoude, and with love,\n Ah! how sweet the life I lead!\n How blest for ever thus to rove,\n With fair Isoude, and with love!\n As she wills, I live and move,\n And cloudless days to days succeed:\n With fair Isoude, and with love,\n Ah! how sweet the life I lead!\n\n \u201cJourneying on from break of day,\n Feel you not fatigued, my fair?\n Yon green turf invites to play;\n Journeying on from day to day,\n Ah! let us to that shade away,\n Were it but to slumber there!\n Journeying on from break of day,\n Feel you not fatigued, my fair?\u201d\n\nThey arrived at Camelot, where Sir Launcelot received them most\ncordially. Isoude was introduced to King Arthur and Queen Guenever, who\nwelcomed her as a sister. As King Mark was held in arrest under the\naccusation of the two Cornish knights, Queen Isoude could not rejoin her\nhusband, and Sir Launcelot placed his castle of La Joyeuse Garde at the\ndisposal of his friends, who there took up their abode.\n\nKing Mark, who found himself obliged to confess the truth of the charge\nagainst him, or to clear himself by combat with his accusers, preferred\nthe former, and King Arthur, as his crime had not been perpetrated,\nremitted the penalty, only enjoining upon him, under pain of his signal\ndispleasure, to lay aside all thoughts of vengeance against his nephew.\nIn the presence of the king and his court all parties were formally\nreconciled; Mark and his queen departed for their home, and Tristram\nremained at Arthur\u2019s court.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XVI\n\n SIR PALAMEDES\n\nWHILE Sir Tristram and the fair Isoude abode yet at La Joyeuse Garde,\nSir Tristram rode forth one day, without armor, having no weapon but his\nspear and his sword. And as he rode he came to a place where he saw two\nknights in battle, and one of them had gotten the better and the other\nlay overthrown. The knight who had the better was Sir Palamedes. When\nSir Palamedes knew Sir Tristram, he cried out, \u201cSir Tristram, now we be\nmet, and ere we depart we will redress our old wrongs.\u201d \u201cAs for that,\u201d\nsaid Sir Tristram, \u201cthere never yet was Christian man that might make\nhis boast that I ever fled from him, and thou that art a Saracen shalt\nnever say that of me.\u201d And therewith Sir Tristram made his horse to run,\nand with all his might came straight upon Sir Palamedes, and broke his\nspear upon him. Then he drew his sword and struck at Sir Palamedes six\ngreat strokes, upon his helm. Sir Palamedes saw that Sir Tristram had\nnot his armor on, and he marvelled at his rashness and his great folly;\nand said to himself, \u201cIf I meet and slay him, I am shamed wheresoever I\ngo.\u201d Then Sir Tristram cried out and said, \u201cThou coward knight, why wilt\nthou not do battle with me? for have thou no doubt I shall endure all\nthy malice.\u201d \u201cAh, Sir Tristram!\u201d said Sir Palamedes, \u201cthou knowest I may\nnot fight with thee for shame; for thou art here naked, and I am armed;\nnow I require that thou answer me a question that I shall ask you.\u201d\n\u201cTell me what it is,\u201d said Sir Tristram. \u201cI put the case,\u201d said\nPalamedes, \u201cthat you were well armed, and I naked as ye be; what would\nyou do to me now, by your true knighthood?\u201d \u201cAh!\u201d said Sir Tristram,\n\u201cnow I understand thee well, Sir Palamedes; and, as God bless me, what I\nshall say shall not be said for fear that I have of thee. But if it were\nso, thou shouldest depart from me, for I would not have to do with\nthee.\u201d \u201cNo more will I with thee,\u201d said Sir Palamedes, \u201cand therefore\nride forth on thy way.\u201d \u201cAs for that, I may choose,\u201d said Sir Tristram,\n\u201ceither to ride or to abide. But, Sir Palamedes, I marvel at one\nthing,\u2014that thou art so good a knight, yet that thou wilt not be\nchristened.\u201d \u201cAs for that,\u201d said Sir Palamedes, \u201cI may not yet be\nchristened, for a vow which I made many years ago; yet in my heart I\nbelieve in our Saviour and his mild mother, Mary; but I have yet one\nbattle to do, and when that is done I will be christened, with a good\nwill.\u201d \u201cBy my head,\u201d said Sir Tristram, \u201cas for that one battle, thou\nshalt seek it no longer; for yonder is a knight, whom you have smitten\ndown. Now help me to be clothed in his armor, and I will soon fulfil thy\nvow.\u201d \u201cAs ye will,\u201d said Sir Palamedes, \u201cso shall it be.\u201d So they rode\nboth unto that knight that sat on a bank; and Sir Tristram saluted him,\nand he full weary saluted him again. \u201cSir,\u201d said Sir Tristram, \u201cI pray\nyou to lend me your whole armor; for I am unarmed, and I must do battle\nwith this knight.\u201d \u201cSir,\u201d said the hurt knight, \u201cyou shall have it, with\na right good will.\u201d Then Sir Tristram unarmed Sir Galleron, for that was\nthe name of the hurt knight, and he as well as he could helped to arm\nSir Tristram. Then Sir Tristram mounted upon his own horse, and in his\nhand he took Sir Galleron\u2019s spear. Thereupon Sir Palamedes was ready,\nand so they came hurling together, and each smote the other in the midst\nof their shields. Sir Palamedes\u2019 spear broke, and Sir Tristram smote\ndown the horse. Then Sir Palamedes leapt from his horse, and drew out\nhis sword. That saw Sir Tristram, and therewith he alighted and tied his\nhorse to a tree. Then they came together as two wild beasts, lashing the\none on the other, and so fought more than two hours; and often Sir\nTristram smote such strokes at Sir Palamedes that he made him to kneel,\nand Sir Palamedes broke away Sir Tristram\u2019s shield, and wounded him.\nThen Sir Tristram was wroth out of measure, and he rushed to Sir\nPalamedes and wounded him passing sore through the shoulder, and by\nfortune smote Sir Palamedes\u2019 sword out of his hand. And if Sir Palamedes\nhad stooped for his sword Sir Tristram had slain him. Then Sir Palamedes\nstood and beheld his sword with a full sorrowful heart. \u201cNow,\u201d said Sir\nTristram, \u201cI have thee at a vantage, as thou hadst me to-day; but it\nshall never be said, in court, or among good knights, that Sir Tristram\ndid slay any knight that was weaponless; therefore take thou thy sword,\nand let us fight this battle to the end.\u201d Then spoke Sir Palamedes to\nSir Tristram: \u201cI have no wish to fight this battle any more. The offence\nthat I have done unto you is not so great but that, if it please you, we\nmay be friends. All that I have offended is for the love of the queen,\nLa Belle Isoude, and I dare maintain that she is peerless among ladies;\nand for that offence ye have given me many grievous and sad strokes, and\nsome I have given you again. Wherefore I require you, my lord Sir\nTristram, forgive me all that I have offended you, and this day have me\nunto the next church; and first I will be clean confessed, and after\nthat see you that I be truly baptized, and then we will ride together\nunto the court of my lord, King Arthur, so that we may be there at the\nfeast of Pentecost.\u201d \u201cNow take your horse,\u201d said Sir Tristram, \u201cand as\nyou have said, so shall it be done.\u201d So they took their horses, and Sir\nGalleron rode with them. When they came to the church of Carlisle, the\nbishop commanded to fill a great vessel with water; and when he had\nhallowed it, he then confessed Sir Palamedes clean, and christened him,\nand Sir Tristram and Sir Galleron were his godfathers. Then soon after\nthey departed, and rode towards Camelot, where the noble King Arthur and\nQueen Guenever were keeping a court royal. And the king and all the\ncourt were glad that Sir Palamedes was christened. Then Sir Tristram\nreturned again to La Joyeuse Garde, and Sir Palamedes went his way.\n\nNot long after these events Sir Gawain returned from Brittany, and\nrelated to King Arthur the adventure which befell him in the forest of\nBreciliande, how Merlin had there spoken to him, and enjoined him to\ncharge the king to go without delay upon the quest of the Holy Greal.\nWhile King Arthur deliberated Tristram determined to enter upon the\nquest, and the more readily, as it was well known to him that this holy\nadventure would, if achieved, procure him the pardon of all his sins. He\nimmediately departed for the kingdom of Brittany, hoping there to obtain\nfrom Merlin counsel as to the proper course to pursue to insure success.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XVII\n\n SIR TRISTRAM\n\nON arriving in Brittany Tristram found King Hoel engaged in a war with a\nrebellious vassal, and hard pressed by his enemy. His best knights had\nfallen in a late battle, and he knew not where to turn for assistance.\nTristram volunteered his aid. It was accepted; and the army of Hoel, led\nby Tristram, and inspired by his example, gained a complete victory. The\nking, penetrated by the most lively sentiments of gratitude, and having\ninformed himself of Tristram\u2019s birth, offered him his daughter in\nmarriage. The princess was beautiful and accomplished, and bore the same\nname with the Queen of Cornwall; but this one is designated by the\nRomancers as Isoude of the White Hands, to distinguish her from Isoude\nthe Fair.\n\nHow can we describe the conflict that agitated the heart of Tristram? He\nadored the first Isoude, but his love for her was hopeless, and not\nunaccompanied by remorse. Moreover, the sacred quest on which he had now\nentered demanded of him perfect purity of life. It seemed as if a happy\ndestiny had provided for him in the charming princess Isoude of the\nWhite Hands the best security for all his good resolutions. This last\nreflection determined him. They were married, and passed some months in\ntranquil happiness at the court of King Hoel. The pleasure which\nTristram felt in his wife\u2019s society increased day by day. An inward\ngrace seemed to stir within him from the moment when he took the oath to\ngo on the quest of the Holy Greal; it seemed even to triumph over the\npower of the magic love-potion.\n\nThe war, which had been quelled for a time, now burst out anew. Tristram\nas usual was foremost in every danger. The enemy was worsted in\nsuccessive conflicts, and at last shut himself up in his principal city.\nTristram led on the attack of the city. As he mounted a ladder to scale\nthe walls he was struck on the head by a fragment of rock, which the\nbesieged threw down upon him. It bore him to the ground, where he lay\ninsensible.\n\nAs soon as he recovered consciousness he demanded to be carried to his\nwife. The princess, skilled in the art of surgery, would not suffer any\none but herself to touch her beloved husband. Her fair hands bound up\nhis wounds; Tristram kissed them with gratitude, which began to grow\ninto love. At first the devoted cares of Isoude seemed to meet with\ngreat success; but after a while these flattering appearances vanished,\nand, in spite of all her care, the malady grew more serious day by day.\n\nIn this perplexity, an old squire of Tristram\u2019s reminded his master that\nthe princess of Ireland, afterwards queen of Cornwall, had once cured\nhim under circumstances quite as discouraging. He called Isoude of the\nWhite Hands to him, told her of his former cure, added that he believed\nthat the Queen Isoude could heal him, and that he felt sure that she\nwould come to his relief, if sent for.\n\nIsoude of the White Hands consented that Gesnes, a trusty man and\nskilful navigator, should be sent to Cornwall. Tristram called him, and,\ngiving him a ring, \u201cTake this,\u201d he said, \u201cto the Queen of Cornwall. Tell\nher that Tristram, near to death, demands her aid. If you succeed in\nbringing her with you, place white sails to your vessel on your return,\nthat we may know of your success when the vessel first heaves in sight.\nBut if Queen Isoude refuses, put on black sails; they will be the\npresage of my impending death.\u201d\n\nGesnes performed his mission successfully. King Mark happened to be\nabsent from his capital, and the queen readily consented to return with\nthe bark to Brittany. Gesnes clothed his vessel in the whitest of sails,\nand sped his way back to Brittany.\n\nMeantime the wound of Tristram grew more desperate day by day. His\nstrength, quite prostrated, no longer permitted him to be carried to the\nseaside daily, as had been his custom from the first moment when it was\npossible for the bark to be on the way homeward. He called a young\ndamsel, and gave her in charge to keep watch in the direction of\nCornwall, and to come and tell him the color of the sails of the first\nvessel she should see approaching.\n\nWhen Isoude of the White Hands consented that the queen of Cornwall\nshould be sent for, she had not known all the reasons which she had for\nfearing the influence which renewed intercourse with that princess might\nhave on her own happiness. She had now learned more, and felt the danger\nmore keenly. She thought, if she could only keep the knowledge of the\nqueen\u2019s arrival from her husband, she might employ in his service any\nresources which her skill could supply, and still avert the dangers\nwhich she apprehended. When the vessel was seen approaching, with its\nwhite sails sparkling in the sun, the damsel, by command of her\nmistress, carried word to Tristram that the sails were black.\n\nTristram, penetrated with inexpressible grief, breathed a profound sigh,\nturned away his face, and said, \u201cAlas, my beloved! we shall never see\none another again!\u201d Then he commended himself to God, and breathed his\nlast.\n\nThe death of Tristram was the first intelligence which the queen of\nCornwall heard on landing. She was conducted almost senseless into the\nchamber of Tristram, and expired holding him in her arms.\n\nTristram, before his death, had requested that his body should be sent\nto Cornwall, and that his sword, with a letter he had written, should be\ndelivered to King Mark. The remains of Tristram and Isoude were embarked\nin a vessel, along with the sword, which was presented to the king of\nCornwall. He was melted with tenderness when he saw the weapon which\nslew Moraunt of Ireland,\u2014which had so often saved his life, and\nredeemed the honor of his kingdom. In the letter Tristram begged pardon\nof his uncle, and related the story of the amorous draught.\n\nMark ordered the lovers to be buried in his own chapel. From the tomb of\nTristram there sprung a vine, which went along the walls, and descended\ninto the grave of the queen. It was cut down three times, but each time\nsprung up again more vigorous than before, and this wonderful plant has\never since shaded the tombs of Tristram and Isoude.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\nSpenser introduces Sir Tristram in his \u201cFaery Queene.\u201d In Book VI.,\nCanto ii., Sir Calidore encounters in the forest a young hunter, whom he\nthus describes:\n\n \u201cHim steadfastly he marked, and saw to be\n A goodly youth of amiable grace,\n Yet but a slender slip, that scarce did see\n Yet seventeen yeares; but tall and faire of face,\n That sure he deemed him borne of noble race.\n All in a woodman\u2019s jacket he was clad\n Of Lincoln greene, belayed with silver lace;\n And on his head an hood with aglets[52] sprad,\n And by his side his hunter\u2019s horne he hanging had.\n\n \u201cBuskins he wore of costliest cordawayne,\n Pinckt upon gold, and paled part per part,[53]\n As then the guize was for each gentle swayne.\n In his right hand he held a trembling dart,\n Whose fellow he before had sent apart;\n And in his left he held a sharp bore-speare,\n With which he wont to launch the salvage heart\n Of many a lyon, and of many a beare,\n That first unto his hand in chase did happen neare.\u201d\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XVIII\n\n PERCEVAL\n\nTHE father and two elder brothers of Perceval had fallen in battle or\ntournaments, and hence, as the last hope of his family, his mother\nretired with him into a solitary region, where he was brought up in\ntotal ignorance of arms and chivalry. He was allowed no weapon but \u201ca\nlyttel Scots spere,\u201d which was the only thing of all \u201cher lordes faire\ngere\u201d that his mother carried to the wood with her. In the use of this\nhe became so skilful, that he could kill with it not only the animals of\nthe chase for the table, but even birds on the wing. At length, however,\nPerceval was roused to a desire of military renown by seeing in the\nforest five knights who were in complete armor. He said to his mother,\n\u201cMother, what are those yonder?\u201d \u201cThey are angels, my son,\u201d said she.\n\u201cBy my faith, I will go and become an angel with them.\u201d And Perceval\nwent to the road and met them. \u201cTell me, good lad,\u201d said one of them,\n\u201csawest thou a knight pass this way either to-day or yesterday?\u201d \u201cI know\nnot,\u201d said he, \u201cwhat a knight is.\u201d \u201cSuch an one as I am,\u201d said the\nknight. \u201cIf thou wilt tell me what I ask thee, I will tell thee what\nthou askest me.\u201d \u201cGladly will I do so,\u201d said Sir Owain, for that was the\nknight\u2019s name. \u201cWhat is this?\u201d demanded Perceval, touching the saddle.\n\u201cIt is a saddle,\u201d said Owain. Then he asked about all the accoutrements\nwhich he saw upon the men and the horses, and about the arms, and what\nthey were for, and how they were used. And Sir Owain showed him all\nthose things fully. And Perceval in return gave him such information as\nhe had.\n\nThen Perceval returned to his mother, and said to her, \u201cMother, those\nwere not angels, but honorable knights.\u201d Then his mother swooned away.\nAnd Perceval went to the place where they kept the horses that carried\nfirewood and provisions for the castle, and he took a bony, piebald\nhorse, which seemed to him the strongest of them. And he pressed a pack\ninto the form of a saddle, and with twisted twigs he imitated the\ntrappings which he had seen upon the horses. When he came again to his\nmother, the countess had recovered from her swoon. \u201cMy son,\u201d said she,\n\u201cdesirest thou to ride forth?\u201d \u201cYes, with thy leave,\u201d said he. \u201cGo\nforward, then,\u201d she said, \u201cto the court of Arthur, where there are the\nbest and the noblest and the most bountiful of men, and tell him thou\nart Perceval, the son of Pelenore, and ask of him to bestow knighthood\non thee. And whenever thou seest a church, repeat there thy\npater-noster; and if thou see meat and drink, and hast need of them,\nthou mayest take them. If thou hear an outcry of one in distress,\nproceed toward it, especially if it be the cry of a woman, and render\nher what service thou canst. If thou see a fair jewel, win it, for thus\nshalt thou acquire fame; yet freely give it to another, for thus thou\nshalt obtain praise. If thou see a fair woman, pay court to her, for\nthus thou wilt obtain love.\u201d\n\nAfter this discourse Perceval mounted the horse and taking a number of\nsharp-pointed sticks in his hand he rode forth. And he rode far in the\nwoody wilderness without food or drink. At last he came to an opening in\nthe wood where he saw a tent, and as he thought it might be a church he\nsaid his pater-noster to it. And he went towards it; and the door of the\ntent was open. And Perceval dismounted and entered the tent. In the tent\nhe found a maiden sitting, with a golden frontlet on her forehead and a\ngold ring on her hand. And Perceval said, \u201cMaiden, I salute you, for my\nmother told me whenever I met a lady I must respectfully salute her.\u201d\nPerceiving in one corner of the tent some food, two flasks full of wine,\nand some boar\u2019s flesh roasted, he said, \u201cMy mother told me, whenever I\nsaw meat and drink to take it.\u201d And he ate greedily, for he was very\nhungry. The maiden said, \u201cSir, thou hadst best go quickly from here, for\nfear that my friends should come, and evil should befall you.\u201d But\nPerceval said, \u201cMy mother told me wheresoever I saw a fair jewel to take\nit,\u201d and he took the gold ring from her finger, and put it on his own;\nand he gave the maiden his own ring in exchange for hers; then he\nmounted his horse and rode away.\n\nPerceval journeyed on till he arrived at Arthur\u2019s court. And it so\nhappened that just at that time an uncourteous knight had offered Queen\nGuenever a gross insult. For when her page was serving the queen with a\ngolden goblet, this knight struck the arm of the page and dashed the\nwine in the queen\u2019s face and over her stomacher. Then he said, \u201cIf any\nhave boldness to avenge this insult to Guenever, let him follow me to\nthe meadow.\u201d So the knight took his horse and rode to the meadow,\ncarrying away the golden goblet. And all the household hung down their\nheads and no one offered to follow the knight to take vengeance upon\nhim. For it seemed to them that no one would have ventured on so daring\nan outrage unless he possessed such powers, through magic or charms,\nthat none could be able to punish him. Just then, behold, Perceval\nentered the hall upon the bony, piebald horse, with his uncouth\ntrappings. In the centre of the hall stood Kay the Seneschal. \u201cTell me,\ntall man,\u201d said Perceval, \u201cis that Arthur yonder?\u201d \u201cWhat wouldst thou\nwith Arthur?\u201d asked Kay. \u201cMy mother told me to go to Arthur and receive\nknighthood from him.\u201d \u201cBy my faith,\u201d said he, \u201cthou art all too meanly\nequipped with horse and with arms.\u201d Then all the household began to jeer\nand laugh at him. But there was a certain damsel who had been a whole\nyear at Arthur\u2019s court, and had never been known to smile. And the\nking\u2019s fool[54] had said that this damsel would not smile till she had\nseen him who would be the flower of chivalry. Now this damsel came up to\nPerceval and told him, smiling, that if he lived he would be one of the\nbravest and best of knights. \u201cTruly,\u201d said Kay, \u201cthou art ill taught to\nremain a year at Arthur\u2019s court, with choice of society, and smile on no\none, and now before the face of Arthur and all his knights to call such\na man as this the flower of knighthood;\u201d and he gave her a box on the\near, that she fell senseless to the ground. Then said Kay to Perceval,\n\u201cGo after the knight who went hence to the meadow, overthrow him and\nrecover the golden goblet, and possess thyself of his horse and arms,\nand thou shalt have knighthood.\u201d \u201cI will do so, tall man,\u201d said\nPerceval. So he turned his horse\u2019s head toward the meadow. And when he\ncame there, the knight was riding up and down, proud of his strength and\nvalor and noble mien. \u201cTell me,\u201d said the knight, \u201cdidst thou see any\none coming after me from the court?\u201d \u201cThe tall man that was there,\u201d said\nPerceval, \u201ctold me to come and overthrow thee, and to take from thee the\ngoblet and thy horse and armor for myself.\u201d \u201cSilence!\u201d said the knight;\n\u201cgo back to the court, and tell Arthur either to come himself, or to\nsend some other to fight with me; and unless he do so quickly, I will\nnot wait for him.\u201d \u201cBy my faith,\u201d said Perceval, \u201cchoose thou whether it\nshall be willingly or unwillingly, for I will have the horse and the\narms and the goblet.\u201d Upon this the knight ran at him furiously, and\nstruck him a violent blow with the shaft of his spear, between the neck\nand the shoulder. \u201cHa, ha, lad!\u201d said Perceval, \u201cmy mother\u2019s servants\nwere not used to play with me in this wise; so thus will I play with\nthee.\u201d And he threw at him one of his sharp-pointed sticks, and it\nstruck him in the eye, and came out at the back of his head, so that he\nfell down lifeless.\n\n\u201cVerily,\u201d said Sir Owain, the son of Urien, to Kay the Seneschal, \u201cthou\nwast ill-advised to send that madman after the knight, for he must\neither be overthrown or flee, and either way it will be a disgrace to\nArthur and his warriors; therefore will I go to see what has befallen\nhim.\u201d So Sir Owain went to the meadow, and he found Perceval trying in\nvain to get the dead knight\u2019s armor off, in order to clothe himself with\nit. Sir Owain unfastened the armor, and helped Perceval to put it on,\nand taught him how to put his foot in the stirrup, and use the spur; for\nPerceval had never used stirrup nor spur, but rode without saddle, and\nurged on his horse with a stick. Then Owain would have had him return to\nthe court to receive the praise that was his due; but Perceval said, \u201cI\nwill not come to the court till I have encountered the tall man that is\nthere, to revenge the injury he did to the maiden. But take thou the\ngoblet to Queen Guenever, and tell King Arthur that, wherever I am, I\nwill be his vassal, and will do him what profit and service I can.\u201d And\nSir Owain went back to the court, and related all these things to Arthur\nand Guenever, and to all the household.\n\nAnd Perceval rode forward. And he came to a lake on the side of which\nwas a fair castle, and on the border of the lake he saw a hoary-headed\nman sitting upon a velvet cushion, and his attendants were fishing in\nthe lake. When the hoary-headed man beheld Perceval approaching, he\narose and went into the castle. Perceval rode to the castle, and the\ndoor was open, and he entered the hall. And the hoary-headed man\nreceived Perceval courteously, and asked him to sit by him on the\ncushion. When it was time the tables were set, and they went to meat.\nAnd when they had finished their meat the hoary-headed man asked\nPerceval if he knew how to fight with the sword. \u201cI know not,\u201d said\nPerceval, \u201cbut were I to be taught, doubtless I should.\u201d And the\nhoary-headed man said to him, \u201cI am thy uncle, thy mother\u2019s brother; I\nam called King Pecheur.[55] Thou shalt remain with me a space, in order\nto learn the manners and customs of different countries, and courtesy\nand noble bearing. And this do thou remember, if thou seest aught to\ncause thy wonder, ask not the meaning of it; if no one has the courtesy\nto inform thee, the reproach will not fall upon thee, but upon me that\nam thy teacher.\u201d While Perceval and his uncle discoursed together,\nPerceval beheld two youths enter the hall bearing a golden cup and a\nspear of mighty size, with blood dropping from its point to the ground.\nAnd when all the company saw this they began to weep and lament. But for\nall that, the man did not break off his discourse with Perceval. And as\nhe did not tell him the meaning of what he saw, he forebore to ask him\nconcerning it. Now the cup that Perceval saw was the Sangreal, and the\nspear the sacred spear; and afterwards King Pecheur removed with those\nsacred relics into a far country.\n\n . . . . . . .\n\nOne evening Perceval entered a valley, and came to a hermit\u2019s cell; and\nthe hermit welcomed him gladly, and there he spent the night. And in the\nmorning he arose, and when he went forth, behold! a shower of snow had\nfallen in the night, and a hawk had killed a wild-fowl in front of the\ncell. And the noise of the horse had scared the hawk away, and a raven\nalighted on the bird. And Perceval stood and compared the blackness of\nthe raven and the whiteness of the snow and the redness of the blood to\nthe hair of the lady that best he loved, which was blacker than jet, and\nto her skin, which was whiter than the snow, and to the two red spots\nupon her cheeks, which were redder than the blood upon the snow.\n\nNow Arthur and his household were in search of Perceval, and by chance\nthey came that way. \u201cKnow ye,\u201d said Arthur, \u201cwho is the knight with the\nlong spear that stands by the brook up yonder?\u201d \u201cLord,\u201d said one of\nthem, \u201cI will go and learn who he is.\u201d So the youth came to the place\nwhere Perceval was, and asked him what he did thus, and who he was. But\nPerceval was so intent upon his thought that he gave him no answer. Then\nthe youth thrust at Perceval with his lance; and Perceval turned upon\nhim, and struck him to the ground. And when the youth returned to the\nking, and told how rudely he had been treated, Sir Kay said, \u201cI will go\nmyself.\u201d And when he greeted Perceval, and got no answer, he spoke to\nhim rudely and angrily. And Perceval thrust at him with his lance, and\ncast him down so that he broke his arm and his shoulder-blade. And while\nhe lay thus stunned his horse returned back at a wild and prancing pace.\n\nThen said Sir Gawain, surnamed the Golden-Tongued, because he was the\nmost courteous knight in Arthur\u2019s court: \u201cIt is not fitting that any\nshould disturb an honorable knight from his thought unadvisedly; for\neither he is pondering some damage that he has sustained, or he is\nthinking of the lady whom best he loves. If it seem well to thee, lord,\nI will go and see if this knight has changed from his thought, and if he\nhas, I will ask him courteously to come and visit thee.\u201d\n\nAnd Perceval was resting on the shaft of his spear, pondering the same\nthought, and Sir Gawain came to him, and said: \u201cIf I thought it would be\nas agreeable to thee as it would be to me, I would converse with thee. I\nhave also a message from Arthur unto thee, to pray thee to come and\nvisit him. And two men have been before on this errand.\u201d \u201cThat is true,\u201d\nsaid Perceval; \u201cand uncourteously they came. They attacked me, and I was\nannoyed thereat.\u201d Then he told him the thought that occupied his mind,\nand Gawain said, \u201cThis was not an ungentle thought, and I should marvel\nif it were pleasant for thee to be drawn from it.\u201d Then said Perceval,\n\u201cTell me, is Sir Kay in Arthur\u2019s court?\u201d \u201cHe is,\u201d said Gawain; \u201cand\ntruly he is the knight who fought with thee last.\u201d \u201cVerily,\u201d said\nPerceval, \u201cI am not sorry to have thus avenged the insult to the smiling\nmaiden.\u201d Then Perceval told him his name, and said, \u201cWho art thou?\u201d And\nhe replied, \u201cI am Gawain.\u201d \u201cI am right glad to meet thee,\u201d said\nPerceval, \u201cfor I have everywhere heard of thy prowess and uprightness;\nand I solicit thy fellowship.\u201d \u201cThou shalt have it, by my faith; and\ngrant me thine,\u201d said he. \u201cGladly will I do so,\u201d answered Perceval.\n\nSo they went together to Arthur, and saluted him.\n\n\u201cBehold, lord,\u201d said Gawain, \u201chim whom thou hast sought so long.\u201d\n\u201cWelcome unto thee, chieftain,\u201d said Arthur. And hereupon there came the\nqueen and her handmaidens, and Perceval saluted them. And they were\nrejoiced to see him, and bade him welcome. And Arthur did him great\nhonor and respect and they returned towards Caerleon.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XIX\n\n THE SANGREAL, OR HOLY GRAAL\n\nTHE Sangreal was the cup from which our Saviour drank at his last\nsupper. He was supposed to have given it to Joseph of Arimathea, who\ncarried it to Europe, together with the spear with which the soldier\npierced the Saviour\u2019s side. From generation to generation, one of the\ndescendants of Joseph of Arimathea had been devoted to the guardianship\nof these precious relics; but on the sole condition of leading a life of\npurity in thought, word, and deed. For a long time the Sangreal was\nvisible to all pilgrims, and its presence conferred blessings upon the\nland in which it was preserved. But at length one of those holy men to\nwhom its guardianship had descended so far forgot the obligation of his\nsacred office as to look with unhallowed eye upon a young female pilgrim\nwhose robe was accidentally loosened as she knelt before him. The sacred\nlance instantly punished his frailty, spontaneously falling upon him,\nand inflicting a deep wound. The marvellous wound could by no means be\nhealed, and the guardian of the Sangreal was ever after called \u201cLe Roi\nPescheur,\u201d\u2014The Sinner King. The Sangreal withdrew its visible presence\nfrom the crowds who came to worship, and an iron age succeeded to the\nhappiness which its presence had diffused among the tribes of Britain.\n\n \u201cBut then the times\n Grew to such evil that the Holy cup\n Was caught away to heaven and disappear\u2019d.\u201d\n \u2014_The Holy Grail._\n\nWe have told in the history of Merlin how that great prophet and\nenchanter sent a message to King Arthur by Sir Gawain, directing him to\nundertake the recovery of the Sangreal, informing him at the same time\nthat the knight who should accomplish that sacred quest was already\nborn, and of a suitable age to enter upon it. Sir Gawain delivered his\nmessage, and the king was anxiously revolving in his mind how best to\nachieve the enterprise, when, at the vigil of Pentecost, all the\nfellowship of the Round Table being met together at Camelot, as they sat\nat meat, suddenly there was heard a clap of thunder, and then a bright\nlight burst forth, and every knight, as he looked on his fellow, saw\nhim, in seeming, fairer than ever before. All the hall was filled with\nsweet odors, and every knight had such meat and drink as he best loved.\nThen there entered into the hall the Holy Graal, covered with white\nsamite, so that none could see it, and it passed through the hall\nsuddenly, and disappeared. During this time no one spoke a word, but\nwhen they had recovered breath to speak King Arthur said, \u201cCertainly we\nought greatly to thank the Lord for what he hath showed us this day.\u201d\nThen Sir Gawain rose up, and made a vow that for twelve months and a day\nhe would seek the Sangreal, and not return till he had seen it, if so he\nmight speed. When they of the Round Table heard Sir Gawain say so, they\narose, the most part of them, and vowed the same. When King Arthur heard\nthis, he was greatly displeased, for he knew well that they might not\ngainsay their vows. \u201cAlas!\u201d said he to Sir Gawain, \u201cyou have nigh slain\nme with the vow and promise that ye have made, for ye have bereft me of\nthe fairest fellowship that ever were seen together in any realm of the\nworld; for when they shall depart hence, I am sure that all shall never\nmeet more in this world.\u201d\n\n SIR GALAHAD\n\nAt that time there entered the hall a good old man, and with him he\nbrought a young knight, and these words he said: \u201cPeace be with you,\nfair lords.\u201d Then the old man said unto King Arthur, \u201cSir, I bring you\nhere a young knight that is of kings\u2019 lineage, and of the kindred of\nJoseph of Arimathea, being the son of Dame Elaine, the daughter of King\nPelles, king of the foreign country.\u201d Now the name of the young knight\nwas Sir Galahad, and he was the son of Sir Launcelot du Lac; but he had\ndwelt with his mother, at the court of King Pelles, his grandfather,\ntill now he was old enough to bear arms, and his mother had sent him in\nthe charge of a holy hermit to King Arthur\u2019s court. Then Sir Launcelot\nbeheld his son, and had great joy of him. And Sir Bohort told his\nfellows, \u201cUpon my life, this young knight shall come to great worship.\u201d\nThe noise was great in all the court, so that it came to the queen. And\nshe said, \u201cI would fain see him, for he must needs be a noble knight,\nfor so is his father.\u201d And the queen and her ladies all said that he\nresembled much unto his father; and he was seemly and demure as a dove,\nwith all manner of good features, that in the whole world men might not\nfind his match. And King Arthur said, \u201cGod make him a good man, for\nbeauty faileth him not, as any that liveth.\u201d\n\nThen the hermit led the young knight to the Siege Perilous; and he\nlifted up the cloth, and found there letters that said, \u201cThis is the\nseat of Sir Galahad, the good knight;\u201d and he made him sit in that seat.\nAnd all the knights of the Round Table marvelled greatly at Sir Galahad,\nseeing him sit securely in that seat, and said, \u201cThis is he by whom the\nSangreal shall be achieved, for there never sat one before in that seat\nwithout being mischieved.\u201d\n\nOn the next day the king said, \u201cNow, at this quest of the Sangreal shall\nall ye of the Round Table depart, and never shall I see you again\naltogether; therefore I will that ye all repair to the meadow of\nCamelot, for to just and tourney yet once more before ye depart.\u201d But\nall the meaning of the king was to see Sir Galahad proved. So then were\nthey all assembled in the meadow. Then Sir Galahad, by request of the\nking and queen, put on his harness and his helm, but shield would he\ntake none for any prayer of the king. And the queen was in a tower, with\nall her ladies, to behold that tournament. Then Sir Galahad rode into\nthe midst of the meadow; and there he began to break spears\nmarvellously, so that all men had wonder of him, for he surmounted all\nknights that encountered with him, except two, Sir Launcelot and Sir\nPerceval.\n\n \u201cSo many knights, that all the people cried,\n And almost burst the barriers in their heat,\n Shouting \u2018Sir Galahad and Sir Perceval!\u2019\u201d\n \u2014_Sir Galahad._\n\nThen the king, at the queen\u2019s request, made him to alight, and presented\nhim to the queen; and she said, \u201cNever two men resembled one another\nmore than he and Sir Launcelot, and therefore it is no marvel that he is\nlike him in prowess.\u201d\n\nThen the king and the queen went to the minster, and the knights\nfollowed them. And after the service was done they put on their helms\nand departed, and there was great sorrow. They rode through the streets\nof Camelot, and there was weeping of the rich and poor; and the king\nturned away, and might not speak for weeping. And so they departed, and\nevery knight took the way that him best liked.\n\nSir Galahad rode forth without shield, and rode four days, and found no\nadventure. And on the fourth day he came to a white abbey; and there he\nwas received with great reverence, and led to a chamber. He met there\ntwo knights, King Bagdemagus and Sir Uwaine, and they made of him great\nsolace. \u201cSirs,\u201d said Sir Galahad, \u201cwhat adventure brought you hither?\u201d\n\u201cSir,\u201d said they, \u201cit is told us that within this place is a shield,\nwhich no man may bear unless he be worthy; and if one unworthy should\nattempt to bear it, it shall surely do him a mischief.\u201d Then King\nBagdemagus said, \u201cI fear not to bear it, and that shall ye see\nto-morrow.\u201d\n\nSo on the morrow they arose, and heard mass; then King Bagdemagus asked\nwhere the adventurous shield was. Anon a monk led him behind an altar,\nwhere the shield hung, as white as snow; but in the midst there was a\nred cross. Then King Bagdemagus took the shield, and bare it out of the\nminster; and he said to Sir Galahad, \u201cIf it please you, abide here till\nye know how I shall speed.\u201d\n\nThen King Bagdemagus and his squire rode forth; and when they had ridden\na mile or two, they saw a goodly knight come towards them, in white\narmor, horse and all; and he came as fast as his horse might run, with\nhis spear in the rest; and King Bagdemagus directed his spear against\nhim, and broke it upon the white knight, but the other struck him so\nhard that he broke the mails, and thrust him through the right shoulder,\nfor the shield covered him not, and so he bare him from his horse. Then\nthe white knight turned his horse and rode away.\n\nThen the squire went to King Bagdemagus, and asked him whether he were\nsore wounded or not. \u201cI am sore wounded,\u201d said he, \u201cand full hardly\nshall I escape death.\u201d Then the squire set him on his horse, and brought\nhim to an abbey; and there he was taken down softly, and unarmed, and\nlaid in a bed, and his wound was looked to, for he lay there long, and\nhardly escaped with his life. And the squire brought the shield back to\nthe abbey.\n\nThe next day Sir Galahad took the shield, and within a while he came to\nthe hermitage, where he met the white knight, and each saluted the other\ncourteously. \u201cSir,\u201d said Sir Galahad, \u201ccan you tell me the marvel of the\nshield?\u201d \u201cSir,\u201d said the white knight, \u201cthat shield belonged of old to\nthe gentle knight, Joseph of Arimathea; and when he came to die he said,\n\u2018Never shall man bear this shield about his neck but he shall repent it,\nunto the time that Sir Galahad the good knight bear it, the last of my\nlineage, the which shall do many marvellous deeds.\u2019\u201d And then the white\nknight vanished away.\n\n SIR GAWAIN\n\nAfter Sir Gawain departed, he rode many days, both toward and forward,\nand at last he came to the abbey where Sir Galahad took the white\nshield. And they told Sir Gawain of the marvellous adventure that Sir\nGalahad had done. \u201cTruly,\u201d said Sir Gawain, \u201cI am not happy that I took\nnot the way that he went, for, if I may meet with him, I will not part\nfrom him lightly, that I may partake with him all the marvellous\nadventures which he shall achieve.\u201d \u201cSir,\u201d said one of the monks, \u201che\nwill not be of your fellowship.\u201d \u201cWhy?\u201d said Sir Gawain. \u201cSir,\u201d said he,\n\u201cbecause ye be sinful, and he is blissful.\u201d Then said the monk, \u201cSir\nGawain, thou must do penance for thy sins.\u201d \u201cSir, what penance shall I\ndo?\u201d \u201cSuch as I will show,\u201d said the good man. \u201cNay,\u201d said Sir Gawain,\n\u201cI will do no penance, for we knights adventurous often suffer great woe\nand pain.\u201d \u201cWell,\u201d said the good man; and he held his peace. And Sir\nGawain departed.\n\nNow it happened, not long after this, that Sir Gawain and Sir Hector\nrode together, and they came to a castle where was a great tournament.\nAnd Sir Gawain and Sir Hector joined themselves to the party that seemed\nthe weaker, and they drove before them the other party. Then suddenly\ncame into the lists a knight, bearing a white shield with a red cross,\nand by adventure he came by Sir Gawain, and he smote him so hard that he\nclave his helm and wounded his head, so that Sir Gawain fell to the\nearth. When Sir Hector saw that, he knew that the knight with the white\nshield was Sir Galahad, and he thought it no wisdom to abide him, and\nalso for natural love, that he was his uncle. Then Sir Galahad retired\nprivily, so that none knew where he had gone. And Sir Hector raised up\nSir Gawain, and said, \u201cSir, me seemeth your quest is done.\u201d \u201cIt is\ndone,\u201d said Sir Gawain; \u201cI shall seek no further.\u201d Then Gawain was borne\ninto the castle, and unarmed, and laid in a rich bed, and a leech found\nto search his wound. And Sir Gawain and Sir Hector abode together, for\nSir Hector would not away till Sir Gawain were whole.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XX\n\n THE SANGREAL (_Continued_)\n\n SIR LAUNCELOT\n\nSIR LAUNCELOT rode overthwart and endlong in a wide forest, and held no\npath but as wild adventure led him.\n\n \u201cMy golden spurs now bring to me,\n And bring to me my richest mail,\n For to-morrow I go over land and sea\n In search of the Holy, Holy Grail.\n Shall never a bed for me be spread,\n Nor shall a pillow be under my head,\n Till I begin my vow to keep.\n Here on the rushes will I sleep,\n And perchance there may come a vision true\n Ere day create the world anew.\u201d\n \u2014_Lowell\u2019s Holy Grail._\n\nAnd at last he came to a stone cross. Then Sir Launcelot looked round\nhim, and saw an old chapel. So he tied his horse to a tree, and put off\nhis shield, and hung it upon a tree; and then he went into the chapel,\nand looked through a place where the wall was broken. And within he saw\na fair altar, full richly arrayed with cloth of silk; and there stood a\nfair candlestick, which bare six great candles, and the candlestick was\nof silver. When Sir Launcelot saw this sight, he had a great wish to\nenter the chapel, but he could find no place where he might enter. Then\nwas he passing heavy and dismayed. And he returned and came again to his\nhorse, and took off his saddle and his bridle, and let him pasture; and\nunlaced his helm, and ungirded his sword, and laid him down to sleep\nupon his shield before the cross.\n\nAnd as he lay, half waking and half sleeping, he saw come by him two\npalfreys, both fair and white, which bare a litter, on which lay a sick\nknight. And when he was nigh the cross, he there abode still. And Sir\nLauncelot heard him say, \u201cO sweet Lord, when shall this sorrow leave me,\nand when shall the holy vessel come by me whereby I shall be healed?\u201d\nAnd thus a great while complained the knight, and Sir Launcelot heard\nit. Then Sir Launcelot saw the candlestick, with the lighted tapers,\ncome before the cross, but he could see nobody that brought it. Also\nthere came a salver of silver and the holy vessel of the Sangreal; and\ntherewithal the sick knight sat him upright, and held up both his hands,\nand said, \u201cFair, sweet Lord, which is here within the holy vessel, take\nheed to me, that I may be whole of this great malady.\u201d And therewith,\nupon his hands and upon his knees, he went so nigh that he touched the\nholy vessel and kissed it. And anon he was whole. Then the holy vessel\nwent into the chapel again, with the candlestick and the light, so that\nSir Launcelot wist not what became of it.\n\nThen the sick knight rose up and kissed the cross; and anon his squire\nbrought him his arms and asked his lord how he did. \u201cI thank God right\nheartily,\u201d said he, \u201cfor, through the holy vessel, I am healed. But I\nhave great marvel of this sleeping knight, who hath had neither grace\nnor power to awake during the time that the holy vessel hath been here\npresent.\u201d \u201cI dare it right well say,\u201d said the squire, \u201cthat this same\nknight is stained with some manner of deadly sin, whereof he was never\nconfessed.\u201d So they departed.\n\nThen anon Sir Launcelot waked, and set himself upright, and bethought\nhim of what he had seen and whether it were dreams or not. And he was\npassing heavy, and wist not what to do. And he said: \u201cMy sin and my\nwretchedness hath brought me into great dishonor. For when I sought\nworldly adventures and worldly desires, I ever achieved them, and had\nthe better in every place, and never was I discomfited in any quarrel,\nwere it right or wrong. And now I take upon me the adventure of holy\nthings, I see and understand that mine old sin hindereth me, so that I\nhad no power to stir nor to speak when the holy blood appeared before\nme.\u201d So thus he sorrowed till it was day, and heard the fowls of the air\nsing. Then was he somewhat comforted.\n\nThen he departed from the cross into the forest. And there he found a\nhermitage, and a hermit therein, who was going to mass. So when mass was\ndone Sir Launcelot called the hermit to him, and prayed him for charity\nto hear his confession. \u201cWith a good will,\u201d said the good man. And then\nhe told that good man all his life, and how he had loved a queen\nunmeasurably many years. \u201cAnd all my great deeds of arms that I have\ndone I did the most part for the queen\u2019s sake, and for her sake would I\ndo battle, were it right or wrong, and never did I battle all only for\nGod\u2019s sake, but for to win worship, and to cause me to be better\nbeloved; and little or naught I thanked God for it. I pray you counsel\nme.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will counsel you,\u201d said the hermit, \u201cif ye will insure me that ye\nwill never come in that queen\u2019s fellowship as much as ye may forbear.\u201d\nAnd then Sir Launcelot promised the hermit, by his faith, that he would\nno more come in her company. \u201cLook that your heart and your mouth\naccord,\u201d said the good man, \u201cand I shall insure you that ye shall have\nmore worship than ever ye had.\u201d\n\nThen the good man enjoined Sir Launcelot such penance as he might do,\nand he assailed Sir Launcelot and made him abide with him all that day.\nAnd Sir Launcelot repented him greatly.\n\n SIR PERCEVAL\n\nSir Perceval departed and rode till the hour of noon; and he met in a\nvalley about twenty men of arms. And when they saw Sir Perceval, they\nasked him whence he was; and he answered: \u201cOf the court of King Arthur.\u201d\nThen they cried all at once, \u201cSlay him.\u201d But Sir Perceval smote the\nfirst to the earth, and his horse upon him. Then seven of the knights\nsmote upon his shield all at once, and the remnant slew his horse, so\nthat he fell to the earth. So had they slain him or taken him, had not\nthe good knight Sir Galahad, with the red cross, come there by\nadventure. And when he saw all the knights upon one, he cried out, \u201cSave\nme that knight\u2019s life.\u201d Then he rode toward the twenty men of arms as\nfast as his horse might drive, with his spear in the rest, and smote the\nforemost horse and man to the earth. And when his spear was broken, he\nset his hand to his sword, and smote on the right hand and on the left,\nthat it was marvel to see; and at every stroke he smote down one, or put\nhim to rebuke, so that they would fight no more, but fled to a thick\nforest, and Sir Galahad followed them. And when Sir Perceval saw him\nchase them so, he made great sorrow that his horse was slain. And he\nwist well it was Sir Galahad. Then he cried aloud, \u201cAh, fair knight,\nabide, and suffer me to do thanks unto thee; for right well have ye done\nfor me.\u201d But Sir Galahad rode so fast that at last he passed out of his\nsight. When Sir Perceval saw that he would not turn, he said, \u201cNow am I\na very wretch, and most unhappy above all other knights.\u201d So in his\nsorrow he abode all that day till it was night; and then he was faint,\nand laid him down and slept till midnight; and then he awaked and saw\nbefore him a woman, who said unto him, \u201cSir Perceval, what dost thou\nhere?\u201d He answered, \u201cI do neither good, nor great ill.\u201d \u201cIf thou wilt\npromise me,\u201d said she, \u201cthat thou wilt fulfil my will when I summon\nthee, I will lend thee my own horse, which shall bear thee whither thou\nwilt.\u201d Sir Perceval was glad of her proffer, and insured her to fulfil\nall her desire. \u201cThen abide me here, and I will go fetch you a horse.\u201d\nAnd so she soon came again, and brought a horse with her that was inky\nblack. When Perceval beheld that horse he marvelled, it was so great and\nso well apparelled. And he leapt upon him and took no heed of himself.\nAnd he thrust him with his spurs, and within an hour and less he bare\nhim four days\u2019 journey thence, until he came to a rough water, which\nroared, and his horse would have borne him into it. And when Sir\nPerceval came nigh the brim and saw the water so boisterous he doubted\nto overpass it. And then he made the sign of the cross on his forehead.\nWhen the fiend felt him so charged, he shook off Sir Perceval, and went\ninto the water crying and roaring; and it seemed unto him that the water\nburned. Then Sir Perceval perceived it was a fiend that would have\nbrought him unto his perdition. Then he commended himself unto God, and\nprayed our Lord to keep him from all such temptations; and so he prayed\nall that night till it was day. Then he saw that he was in a wild place,\nthat was closed with the sea nigh all about. And Sir Perceval looked\nforth over the sea, and saw a ship come sailing towards him; and it came\nand stood still under the rock. And when Sir Perceval saw this, he hied\nhim thither, and found the ship covered with silk; and therein was a\nlady of great beauty, and clothed so richly that none might be better.\n\nAnd when she saw Sir Perceval, she saluted him, and Sir Perceval\nreturned her salutation. Then he asked her of her country and her\nlineage. And she said, \u201cI am a gentlewoman that am disinherited, and was\nonce the richest woman of the world.\u201d \u201cDamsel,\u201d said Sir Perceval, \u201cwho\nhath disinherited you? for I have great pity of you.\u201d \u201cSir,\u201d said she,\n\u201cmy enemy is a great and powerful lord, and aforetime he made much of\nme, so that of his favor and of my beauty I had a little pride more than\nI ought to have had. Also I said a word that pleased him not. So he\ndrove me from his company and from mine heritage. Therefore I know no\ngood knight nor good man, but I get him on my side if I may. And for\nthat I know that thou art a good knight, I beseech thee to help me.\u201d\n\nThen Sir Perceval promised her all the help that he might, and she\nthanked him.\n\nAnd at that time the weather was hot, and she called to her a\ngentlewoman, and bade her bring forth a pavilion. And she did so, and\npitched it upon the gravel. \u201cSir,\u201d said she, \u201cnow may ye rest you in\nthis heat of the day.\u201d Then he thanked her, and she put off his helm and\nhis shield, and there he slept a great while. Then he awoke, and asked\nher if she had any meat, and she said yea, and so there was set upon the\ntable all manner of meats that he could think on. Also he drank there\nthe strongest wine that ever he drank, and therewith he was a little\nchafed more than he ought to be. With that he beheld the lady, and he\nthought she was the fairest creature that ever he saw. And then Sir\nPerceval proffered her love, and prayed her that she would be his. Then\nshe refused him in a manner, for the cause he should be the more ardent\non her, and ever he ceased not to pray her of love. And when she saw him\nwell enchafed, then she said, \u201cSir Perceval, wit you well I shall not\ngive ye my love, unless you swear from henceforth you will be my true\nservant, and do no thing but that I shall command you. Will you insure\nme this, as ye be a true knight?\u201d \u201cYea,\u201d said he, \u201cfair lady, by the\nfaith of my body.\u201d And as he said this, by adventure and grace, he saw\nhis sword lie on the ground naked, in whose pommel was a red cross, and\nthe sign of the crucifix thereon. Then he made the sign of the cross on\nhis forehead, and therewith the pavilion shrivelled up, and changed into\na smoke and a black cloud. And the damsel cried aloud, and hasted into\nthe ship, and so she went with the wind roaring and yelling that it\nseemed all the water burned after her. Then Sir Perceval made great\nsorrow, and called himself a wretch, saying, \u201cHow nigh was I lost!\u201d Then\nhe took his arms, and departed thence.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XXI\n\n THE SANGREAL (_Continued_)\n\n SIR BOHORT\n\nWHEN Sir Bohort departed from Camelot he met with a religious man,\nriding upon an ass; and Sir Bohort saluted him. \u201cWhat are ye?\u201d said the\ngood man. \u201cSir,\u201d said Sir Bohort, \u201cI am a knight that fain would be\ncounselled in the quest of the Sangreal.\u201d So rode they both together\ntill they came to a hermitage; and there he prayed Sir Bohort to dwell\nthat night with him. So he alighted, and put away his armor, and prayed\nhim that he might be confessed. And they went both into the chapel, and\nthere he was clean confessed. And they ate bread and drank water\ntogether. \u201cNow,\u201d said the good man, \u201cI pray thee that thou eat none\nother till thou sit at the table where the Sangreal shall be.\u201d \u201cSir,\u201d\nsaid Sir Bohort, \u201cbut how know ye that I shall sit there?\u201d \u201cYea,\u201d said\nthe good man, \u201cthat I know well; but there shall be few of your fellows\nwith you.\u201d Then said Sir Bohort, \u201cI agree me thereto.\u201d And the good man\nwhen he had heard his confession found him in so pure a life and so\nstable that he marvelled thereof.\n\nOn the morrow, as soon as the day appeared, Sir Bohort departed thence,\nand rode into a forest unto the hour of midday. And there befell him a\nmarvellous adventure. For he met, at the parting of two ways, two\nknights that led Sir Lionel, his brother, all naked, bound upon a strong\nhackney, and his hands bound before his breast; and each of them held in\nhis hand thorns wherewith they went beating him, so that he was all\nbloody before and behind; but he said never a word, but, as he was great\nof heart, he suffered all that they did to him as though he had felt\nnone anguish. Sir Bohort prepared to rescue his brother. But he looked\non the other side of him, and saw a knight dragging along a fair\ngentlewoman, who cried out, \u201cSaint Mary! succor your maid!\u201d And when she\nsaw Sir Bohort, she called to him, and said, \u201cBy the faith that ye owe\nto knighthood, help me!\u201d When Sir Bohort heard her say thus he had such\nsorrow that he wist not what to do. \u201cFor if I let my brother be he must\nbe slain, and that would I not for all the earth; and if I help not the\nmaid I am shamed for ever.\u201d Then lift he up his eyes and said, weeping,\n\u201cFair Lord, whose liegeman I am, keep Sir Lionel, my brother, that none\nof these knights slay him, and for pity of you, and our Lady\u2019s sake, I\nshall succor this maid.\u201d\n\nThen he cried out to the knight, \u201cSir knight, lay your hand off that\nmaid, or else ye be but dead.\u201d Then the knight set down the maid, and\ntook his shield, and drew out his sword. And Sir Bohort smote him so\nhard that it went through his shield and habergeon, on the left\nshoulder, and he fell down to the earth. Then came Sir Bohort to the\nmaid, \u201cYe be delivered of this knight this time.\u201d \u201cNow,\u201d said she, \u201cI\npray you lead me there where this knight took me.\u201d \u201cI shall gladly do\nit,\u201d said Sir Bohort. So he took the horse of the wounded knight, and\nset the gentlewoman upon it, and brought her there where she desired to\nbe. And there he found twelve knights seeking after her; and when she\ntold them how Sir Bohort had delivered her, they made great joy, and\nbesought him to come to her father, a great lord, and he should be right\nwelcomed. \u201cTruly,\u201d said Sir Bohort, \u201cthat may not be; for I have a great\nadventure to do.\u201d So he commended them to God and departed.\n\nThen Sir Bohort rode after Sir Lionel, his brother, by the trace of\ntheir horses. Thus he rode seeking, a great while. Then he overtook a\nman clothed in a religious clothing, who said, \u201cSir Knight, what seek\nye?\u201d \u201cSir,\u201d said Sir Bohort, \u201cI seek my brother, that I saw within a\nlittle space beaten of two knights.\u201d \u201cAh, Sir Bohort, trouble not\nthyself to seek for him, for truly he is dead.\u201d Then he showed him a\nnew-slain body, lying in a thick bush; and it seemed him that it was the\nbody of Sir Lionel. And then he made such sorrow that he fell to the\nground in a swoon, and lay there long. And when he came to himself\nagain, he said, \u201cFair brother, since the fellowship of you and me is\nsundered, shall I never have joy again; and now He that I have taken for\nmy Master, He be my help!\u201d And when he had said thus he took up the body\nin his arms, and put it upon the horse. And then he said to the man,\n\u201cCanst thou tell me the way to some chapel, where I may bury this body?\u201d\n\u201cCome on,\u201d said the man, \u201chere is one fast by.\u201d And so they rode till\nthey saw a fair tower, and beside it a chapel. Then they alighted both,\nand put the body into a tomb of marble.\n\nThen Sir Bohort commended the good man unto God, and departed. And he\nrode all that day, and harbored with an old lady. And on the morrow he\nrode unto the castle in a valley, and there he met with a yeoman. \u201cTell\nme,\u201d said Sir Bohort, \u201cknowest thou of any adventure?\u201d \u201cSir,\u201d said he,\n\u201chere shall be, under this castle, a great and marvellous tournament.\u201d\nThen Sir Bohort thought to be there, if he might meet with any of the\nfellowship that were in quest of the Sangreal; so he turned to a\nhermitage that was on the border of the forest. And when he was come\nhither, he found there Sir Lionel his brother, who sat all armed at the\nentry of the chapel door. And when Sir Bohort saw him, he had great joy,\nand he alighted off his horse, and said, \u201cFair brother, when came ye\nhither?\u201d As soon as Sir Lionel saw him he said, \u201cAh, Sir Bohort, make ye\nno false show, for, as for you, I might have been slain, for ye left me\nin peril of death to go succor a gentlewoman; and for that misdeed I now\nassure you but death, for ye have right well deserved it.\u201d When Sir\nBohort perceived his brother\u2019s wrath he kneeled down to the earth and\ncried him mercy, holding up both his hands, and prayed him to forgive\nhim. \u201cNay,\u201d said Sir Lionel, \u201cthou shalt have but death for it, if I\nhave the upper hand; therefore leap upon thy horse and keep thyself, and\nif thou do not I will run upon thee there as thou standest on foot, and\nso the shame shall be mine, and the harm thine, but of that I reck not.\u201d\nWhen Sir Bohort saw that he must fight with his brother or else die, he\nwist not what to do. Then his heart counselled him not so to do,\ninasmuch as Sir Lionel was his elder brother, wherefore he ought to bear\nhim reverence. Yet kneeled he down before Sir Lionel\u2019s horse\u2019s feet, and\nsaid, \u201cFair brother, have mercy upon me and slay me not.\u201d But Sir Lionel\ncared not, for the fiend had brought him in such a will that he should\nslay him. When he saw that Sir Bohort would not rise to give him battle,\nhe rushed over him, so that he smote him with his horse\u2019s feet to the\nearth, and hurt him sore, that he swooned of distress. When Sir Lionel\nsaw this he alighted from his horse for to have smitten off his head;\nand so he took him by the helm, and would have rent it from his head.\nBut it happened that Sir Colgrevance, a knight of the Round Table, came\nat that time thither, as it was our Lord\u2019s will; and then he beheld how\nSir Lionel would have slain his brother, and he knew Sir Bohort, whom he\nloved right well.\n\nThen leapt he down from his horse and took Sir Lionel by the shoulders,\nand drew him strongly back from Sir Bohort, and said, \u201cSir Lionel, will\nye slay your brother?\u201d \u201cWhy,\u201d said Sir Lionel, \u201cwill ye stay me? If ye\ninterfere in this I will slay you, and him after.\u201d Then he ran upon Sir\nBohort, and would have smitten him; but Sir Colgrevance ran between\nthem, and said, \u201cIf ye persist to do so any more, we two shall meddle\ntogether.\u201d Then Sir Lionel defied him, and gave him a great stroke\nthrough the helm. Then he drew his sword, for he was a passing good\nknight, and defended himself right manfully. So long endured the battle,\nthat Sir Bohort rose up all anguishly, and beheld Sir Colgrevance, the\ngood knight, fight with his brother for his quarrel. Then was he full\nsorry and heavy, and thought that if Sir Colgrevance slew him that was\nhis brother he should never have joy, and if his brother slew Sir\nColgrevance the shame should ever be his.\n\nThen would he have risen for to have parted them, but he had not so much\nstrength to stand on his feet; so he staid so long that Sir Colgrevance\nhad the worse; for Sir Lionel was of great chivalry and right hardy.\nThen cried Sir Colgrevance, \u201cAh, Sir Bohort, why come ye not to bring me\nout of peril of death, wherein I have put me to succor you?\u201d With that,\nSir Lionel smote off his helm and bore him to the earth. And when he had\nslain Sir Colgrevance he ran upon his brother as a fiendly man, and gave\nhim such a stroke that he made him stoop. And he that was full of\nhumility prayed him, \u201cfor God\u2019s sake leave this battle, for if it\nbefell, fair brother, that I slew you, or ye me, we should be dead of\nthat sin.\u201d \u201cPray ye not me for mercy,\u201d said Sir Lionel. Then Sir Bohort,\nall weeping, drew his sword, and said, \u201cNow God have mercy upon me,\nthough I defend my life against my brother.\u201d With that Sir Bohort lifted\nup his sword, and would have smitten his brother. Then he heard a voice\nthat said, \u201cFlee, Sir Bohort, and touch him not.\u201d Right so alighted a\ncloud between them, in the likeness of a fire and a marvellous flame, so\nthat they both fell to the earth, and lay there a great while in a\nswoon. And when they came to themselves, Sir Bohort saw that his brother\nhad no harm; and he was right glad, for he dread sore that God had taken\nvengeance upon him. Then Sir Lionel said to his brother, \u201cBrother,\nforgive me, for God\u2019s sake, all that I have trespassed against you.\u201d And\nSir Bohort answered, \u201cGod forgive it thee, and I do.\u201d\n\nWith that Sir Bohort heard a voice say, \u201cSir Bohort, take thy way anon,\nright to the sea, for Sir Perceval abideth thee there.\u201d So Sir Bohort\ndeparted, and rode the nearest way to the sea. And at last he came to an\nabbey that was nigh the sea. That night he rested him there, and in his\nsleep there came a voice unto him and bade him go to the sea-shore. He\nstarted up, and made a sign of the cross on his forehead, and armed\nhimself, and made ready his horse and mounted him, and at a broken wall\nhe rode out, and came to the sea-shore. And there he found a ship,\ncovered all with white samite. And he entered into the ship; but it was\nanon so dark that he might see no man, and he laid him down and slept\ntill it was day. Then he awaked, and saw in the middle of the ship a\nknight all armed, save his helm. And then he knew it was Sir Perceval de\nGalis, and each made of other right great joy. Then said Sir Perceval,\n\u201cWe lack nothing now but the good knight Sir Galahad.\u201d\n\n SIR LAUNCELOT (_Resumed_)\n\nIt befell upon a night Sir Launcelot arrived before a castle, which was\nrich and fair. And there was a postern that was opened toward the sea,\nand was open without any keeping, save two lions kept the entry; and the\nmoon shined clear. Anon Sir Launcelot heard a voice that said,\n\u201cLauncelot, enter into the castle, where thou shalt see a great part of\nthy desire.\u201d So he went unto the gate, and saw the two lions; then he\nset hands to his sword, and drew it. Then there came suddenly as it were\na stroke upon the arm, so sore that the sword fell out of his hand, and\nhe heard a voice that said, \u201cO man of evil faith, wherefore believest\nthou more in thy armor than in thy Maker?\u201d Then said Sir Launcelot,\n\u201cFair Lord, I thank thee of thy great mercy, that thou reprovest me of\nmy misdeed; now see I well that thou holdest me for thy servant.\u201d Then\nhe made a cross on his forehead, and came to the lions; and they made\nsemblance to do him harm, but he passed them without hurt, and entered\ninto the castle, and he found no gate nor door but it was open. But at\nthe last he found a chamber whereof the door was shut; and he set his\nhand thereto, to have opened it, but he might not. Then he listened, and\nheard a voice which sung so sweetly that it seemed none earthly thing;\nand the voice said, \u201cJoy and honor be to the Father of heaven.\u201d Then Sir\nLauncelot kneeled down before the chamber, for well he wist that there\nwas the Sangreal in that chamber. Then said he, \u201cFair, sweet Lord, if\never I did anything that pleased thee, for thy pity show me something of\nthat which I seek.\u201d And with that he saw the chamber door open, and\nthere came out a great clearness, that the house was as bright as though\nall the torches of the world had been there. So he came to the chamber\ndoor, and would have entered; and anon a voice said unto him, \u201cStay, Sir\nLauncelot, and enter not.\u201d And he withdrew him back, and was right heavy\nin his mind. Then looked he in the midst of the chamber, and saw a table\nof silver, and the holy vessel, covered with red samite, and many angels\nabout it; whereof one held a candle of wax burning, and another held a\ncross, and the ornaments of the altar.\n\n \u201cO, yet methought I saw the Holy Grail,\n All pall\u2019d in crimson samite, and around\n Great angels, awful shapes, and wings and eyes.\u201d\n \u2014_The Holy Grail._\n\nThen for very wonder and thankfulness Sir Launcelot forgot himself and\nhe stepped forward and entered the chamber. And suddenly a breath that\nseemed intermixed with fire smote him so sore in the visage that\ntherewith he fell to the ground, and had no power to rise. Then felt he\nmany hands about him, which took him up and bare him out of the chamber,\nwithout any amending of his swoon, and left him there, seeming dead to\nall the people. So on the morrow, when it was fair daylight, and they\nwithin were arisen, they found Sir Launcelot lying before the chamber\ndoor. And they looked upon him and felt his pulse, to know if there were\nany life in him. And they found life in him, but he might neither stand\nnor stir any member that he had. So they took him and bare him into a\nchamber, and laid him upon a bed, far from all folk, and there he lay\nmany days. Then the one said he was alive, and the others said nay. But\nsaid an old man, \u201cHe is as full of life as the mightiest of you all, and\ntherefore I counsel you that he be well kept till God bring him back\nagain.\u201d And after twenty-four days he opened his eyes; and when he saw\nfolk he made great sorrow, and said, \u201cWhy have ye wakened me? for I was\nbetter at ease than I am now.\u201d \u201cWhat have ye seen?\u201d said they about him.\n\u201cI have seen,\u201d said he, \u201cgreat marvels that no tongue can tell, and more\nthan any heart can think.\u201d Then they said, \u201cSir, the quest of the\nSangreal is achieved right now in you, and never shall ye see more of it\nthan ye have seen.\u201d \u201cI thank God,\u201d said Sir Launcelot, \u201cof his great\nmercy, for that I have seen, for it sufficeth me.\u201d Then he rose up and\nclothed himself; and when he was so arrayed they marvelled all, for they\nknew it was Sir Launcelot the good knight. And after four days he took\nhis leave of the lord of the castle, and of all the fellowship that were\nthere, and thanked them for their great labor and care of him. Then he\ndeparted, and turned to Camelot, where he found King Arthur and Queen\nGuenever; but many of the knights of the Round Table were slain and\ndestroyed, more than half. Then all the court was passing glad of Sir\nLauncelot; and he told the king all his adventures that had befallen him\nsince he departed.\n\n SIR GALAHAD\n\nNow, when Sir Galahad had rescued Perceval from the twenty knights, he\nrode into a vast forest, wherein he abode many days. Then he took his\nway to the sea, and it befell him that he was benighted in a hermitage.\nAnd the good man was glad when he saw he was a knight-errant. And when\nthey were at rest, there came a gentlewoman knocking at the door; and\nthe good man came to the door to wit what she would. Then she said, \u201cI\nwould speak with the knight which is with you.\u201d Then Galahad went to\nher, and asked her what she would. \u201cSir Galahad,\u201d said she, \u201cI will that\nye arm you, and mount upon your horse, and follow me; for I will show\nyou the highest adventure that ever knight saw.\u201d Then Galahad armed\nhimself and commended himself to God, and bade the damsel go before, and\nhe would follow where she led.\n\nSo she rode as fast as her palfrey might bear her, till she came to the\nsea; and there they found the ship where Sir Bohort and Sir Perceval\nwere, who cried from the ship, \u201cSir Galahad, you are welcome; we have\nwaited you long.\u201d And when he heard them, he asked the damsel who they\nwere. \u201cSir,\u201d said she, \u201cleave your horse here, and I shall leave mine,\nand we will join ourselves to their company.\u201d So they entered into the\nship, and the two knights received them both with great joy. For they\nknew the damsel, that she was Sir Perceval\u2019s sister. Then the wind arose\nand drove them through the sea all that day and the next, till the ship\narrived between two rocks, passing great and marvellous; but there they\nmight not land, for there was a whirlpool; but there was another ship,\nand upon it they might go without danger. \u201cGo we thither,\u201d said the\ngentlewoman, \u201cand there we shall see adventures, for such is our Lord\u2019s\nwill.\u201d Then Sir Galahad blessed him, and entered therein, and then next\nthe gentlewoman, and then Sir Bohort and Sir Perceval. And when they\ncame on board they found there the table of silver, and the Sangreal,\nwhich was covered with red samite. And they made great reverence\nthereto, and Sir Galahad prayed a long time to our Lord, that at what\ntime he should ask to pass out of this world he should do so; and a\nvoice said to him, \u201cGalahad, thou shalt have thy request; and when thou\naskest the death of they body, thou shalt have it, and then shalt thou\nfind the life of thy soul.\u201d\n\nAnd anon the wind drove them across the sea, till they came to the city\nof Sarras. Then took they out of the ship the table of silver, and Sir\nPerceval and Sir Bohort took it before, and Sir Galahad came behind, and\nright so they went to the city. And at the gate of the city they saw an\nold man, a cripple.\n\n \u201cAnd Sir Launfal said, \u2018I behold in thee\n An image of Him who died on the tree.\n Thou also hast had thy crown of thorns,\n Thou also hast had the world\u2019s buffets and scorns;\n And to thy life were not denied\n The wounds in thy hands and feet and side.\n Mild Mary\u2019s son, acknowledge me;\n Behold, through Him I give to thee!\u2019\u201d\n \u2014_Lowell\u2019s Holy Grail._\n\nThen Galahad called him, and bade him help to bear this heavy thing.\n\u201cTruly,\u201d said the old man, \u201cit is ten years since I could not go but\nwith crutches.\u201d \u201cCare thou not,\u201d said Sir Galahad, \u201cbut arise up, and\nshow thy good will.\u201d Then the old man rose up, and assayed, and found\nhimself as whole as ever he was; and he ran to the table, and took one\npart with Sir Galahad.\n\nWhen they came to the city it chanced that the king was just dead, and\nall the city was dismayed, and wist not who might be their king. Right\nso, as they were in counsel, there came a voice among them, and bade\nthem choose the youngest knight of those three to be their king. So they\nmade Sir Galahad king, by all the assent of the city. And when he was\nmade king, he commanded to make a chest of gold and of precious stones\nto hold the holy vessel. And every day the three companions would come\nbefore it and make their prayers.\n\nNow at the year\u2019s end, and the same day of the year that Sir Galahad\nreceived the crown, he got up early, and, with his fellows, came to\nwhere the holy vessel was; and they saw one kneeling before it that had\nabout him a great fellowship of angels; and he called Sir Galahad, and\nsaid, \u201cCome, thou servant of the Lord, and thou shalt see what thou hast\nmuch desired to see.\u201d And Sir Galahad\u2019s mortal flesh trembled right hard\nwhen he began to behold the spiritual things. Then said the good man,\n\u201cNow wottest thou who I am?\u201d \u201cNay,\u201d said Sir Galahad. \u201cI am Joseph of\nArimathea, whom our Lord hath sent here to thee, to bear thee\nfellowship.\u201d Then Sir Galahad held up his hands toward heaven, and said,\n\u201cNow, blessed Lord, would I not longer live, if it might please thee.\u201d\nAnd when he had said these words, Sir Galahad went to Sir Perceval and\nto Sir Bohort and kissed them, and commended them to God. And then he\nkneeled down before the table, and made his prayers, and suddenly his\nsoul departed, and a great multitude of angels bare his soul up to\nheaven, so as the two fellows could well behold it. Also they saw come\nfrom heaven a hand, but they saw not the body; and the hand came right\nto the vessel and bare it up to heaven. Since then was there never one\nso hardy as to say that he had seen the Sangreal on earth any more.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XXII\n\n SIR AGRIVAIN\u2019S TREASON\n\nWHEN Sir Perceval and Sir Bohort saw Sir Galahad dead they made as much\nsorrow as ever did two men. And if they had not been good men they might\nhave fallen into despair. As soon as Sir Galahad was buried Sir Perceval\nretired to a hermitage out of the city, and took a religious clothing;\nand Sir Bohort was always with him, but did not change his secular\nclothing, because he purposed to return to the realm of Loegria. Thus a\nyear and two months lived Sir Perceval in the hermitage a full holy\nlife, and then passed out of this world, and Sir Bohort buried him by\nhis sister and Sir Galahad. Then Sir Bohort armed himself and departed\nfrom Sarras, and entered into a ship, and sailed to the kingdom of\nLoegria, and in due time arrived safe at Camelot, where the king was.\nThen was there great joy made of him in the whole court, for they feared\nhe had been dead. Then the king made great clerks to come before him,\nthat they should chronicle of the high adventures of the good knights.\nAnd Sir Bohort told him of the adventures that had befallen him, and his\ntwo fellows, Sir Perceval and Sir Galahad. And Sir Launcelot told the\nadventures of the Sangreal that he had seen. All this was made in great\nbooks, and put up in the church at Salisbury.\n\nSo King Arthur and Queen Guenever made great joy of the remnant that\nwere come home, and chiefly of Sir Launcelot and Sir Bohort. Then Sir\nLauncelot began to resort unto Queen Guenever again, and forgot the\npromise that he made in the quest; so that many in the court spoke of\nit, and in especial Sir Agrivain, Sir Gawain\u2019s brother, for he was ever\nopen-mouthed. So it happened Sir Gawain and all his brothers were in\nKing Arthur\u2019s chamber, and then Sir Agrivain said thus openly, \u201cI marvel\nthat we all are not ashamed to see and to know so noble a knight as King\nArthur so to be shamed by the conduct of Sir Launcelot and the queen.\u201d\nThen spoke Sir Gawain, and said, \u201cBrother, Sir Agrivain, I pray you and\ncharge you move not such matters any more before me, for be ye assured I\nwill not be of your counsel.\u201d \u201cNeither will we,\u201d said Sir Gaheris and\nSir Gareth. \u201cThen will I,\u201d said Sir Modred. \u201cI doubt you not,\u201d said Sir\nGawain, \u201cfor to all mischief ever were ye prone; yet I would that ye\nleft all this, for I know what will come of it.\u201d\n\n \u201cModred\u2019s narrow foxy face,\n Heart-hiding smile, and gray persistent eye:\n Henceforward, too, the Powers that tend the soul\n To help it from the death that cannot die,\n And save it even in extremes, began\n To vex and plague.\u201d\n \u2014_Guinevere._\n\n\u201cFall of it what fall may,\u201d said Sir Agrivain, \u201cI will disclose it to\nthe king.\u201d With that came to them King Arthur. \u201cNow, brothers, hold your\npeace,\u201d said Sir Gawain. \u201cWe will not,\u201d said Sir Agrivain. Then said Sir\nGawain, \u201cI will not hear your tales nor be of your counsel.\u201d \u201cNo more\nwill I,\u201d said Sir Gareth and Sir Gaheris, and therewith they departed,\nmaking great sorrow.\n\nThen Sir Agrivain told the king all that was said in the court of the\nconduct of Sir Launcelot and the queen, and it grieved the king very\nmuch. But he would not believe it to be true without proof. So Sir\nAgrivain laid a plot to entrap Sir Launcelot and the queen, intending to\ntake them together unawares. Sir Agrivain and Sir Modred led a party for\nthis purpose, but Sir Launcelot escaped from them, having slain Sir\nAgrivain and wounded Sir Modred. Then Sir Launcelot hastened to his\nfriends, and told them what had happened, and withdrew with them to the\nforest; but he left spies to bring him tidings of whatever might be\ndone.\n\nSo Sir Launcelot escaped, but the queen remained in the king\u2019s power,\nand Arthur could no longer doubt of her guilt. And the law was such in\nthose days that they who committed such crimes, of what estate or\ncondition soever they were, must be burned to death, and so it was\nordained for Queen Guenever. Then said King Arthur to Sir Gawain, \u201cI\npray you make you ready, in your best armor, with your brethren, Sir\nGaheris and Sir Gareth, to bring my queen to the fire, there to receive\nher death.\u201d \u201cNay, my most noble lord,\u201d said Sir Gawain, \u201cthat will I\nnever do; for know thou well, my heart will never serve me to see her\ndie, and it shall never be said that I was of your counsel in her\ndeath.\u201d Then the king commanded Sir Gaheris and Sir Gareth to be there,\nand they said, \u201cWe will be there, as ye command us, sire, but in\npeaceable wise, and bear no armor upon us.\u201d\n\nSo the queen was led forth, and her ghostly father was brought to her to\nshrive her, and there was weeping and wailing of many lords and ladies.\nAnd one went and told Sir Launcelot that the queen was led forth to her\ndeath. Then Sir Launcelot and the knights that were with him fell upon\nthe troop that guarded the queen, and dispersed them, and slew all who\nwithstood them. And in the confusion Sir Gareth and Sir Gaheris were\nslain, for they were unarmed and defenceless. And Sir Launcelot carried\naway the queen to his castle of La Joyeuse Garde.\n\nThen there came one to Sir Gawain and told him how that Sir Launcelot\nhad slain the knights and carried away the queen. \u201cO Lord, defend my\nbrethren!\u201d said Sir Gawain. \u201cTruly,\u201d said the man, \u201cSir Gareth and Sir\nGaheris are slain.\u201d \u201cAlas!\u201d said Sir Gawain, \u201cnow is my joy gone.\u201d And\nthen he fell down and swooned, and long he lay there as he had been\ndead.\n\nWhen he arose out of his swoon Sir Gawain ran to the king, crying, \u201cO\nKing Arthur, mine uncle, my brothers are slain.\u201d Then the king wept and\nhe both. \u201cMy king, my lord, and mine uncle,\u201d said Sir Gawain, \u201cbear\nwitness now that I make you a promise that I shall hold by my\nknighthood, and from this day I will never fail Sir Launcelot until the\none of us have slain the other. I will seek Sir Launcelot throughout\nseven kings\u2019 realms, but I shall slay him or he shall slay me.\u201d \u201cYe\nshall not need to seek him,\u201d said the king, \u201cfor as I hear, Sir\nLauncelot will abide me and you in the Joyeuse Garde; and much people\ndraweth unto him, as I hear say.\u201d \u201cThat may I believe,\u201d said Sir Gawain;\n\u201cbut, my lord, summon your friends, and I will summon mine.\u201d \u201cIt shall\nbe done,\u201d said the king. So then the king sent letters and writs\nthroughout all England, both in the length and breadth, to summon all\nhis knights. And unto Arthur drew many knights, dukes, and earls, so\nthat he had a great host. Thereof heard Sir Launcelot, and collected all\nwhom he could; and many good knights held with him, both for his sake\nand for the queen\u2019s sake. But King Arthur\u2019s host was too great for Sir\nLauncelot to abide him in the field; and he was full loath to do battle\nagainst the king. So Sir Launcelot drew him to his strong castle, with\nall manner of provisions. Then came King Arthur with Sir Gawain, and\nlaid siege all about La Joyeuse Garde, both the town and the castle; but\nin no wise would Sir Launcelot ride out of his castle, neither suffer\nany of his knights to issue out, until many weeks were past.\n\nThen it befell upon a day in harvest-time, Sir Launcelot looked over the\nwall, and spoke aloud to King Arthur and Sir Gawain, \u201cMy lords both, all\nis in vain that ye do at this siege, for here ye shall win no worship,\nbut only dishonor; for if I list to come out, and my good knights, I\nshall soon make an end of this war.\u201d \u201cCome forth,\u201d said Arthur, \u201cif thou\ndarest, and I promise thee I shall meet thee in the midst of the field.\u201d\n\u201cGod forbid me,\u201d said Sir Launcelot, \u201cthat I should encounter with the\nmost noble king that made me knight.\u201d \u201cFie upon thy fair language,\u201d said\nthe king, \u201cfor know thou well I am thy mortal foe, and ever will be to\nmy dying day.\u201d And Sir Gawain said, \u201cWhat cause hadst thou to slay my\nbrother, Sir Gaheris, who bore no arms against thee, and Sir Gareth,\nwhom thou madest knight, and who loved thee more than all my kin?\nTherefore know thou well I shall make war to thee all the while that I\nmay live.\u201d\n\nWhen Sir Bohort, and Sir Hector de Marys, and Sir Lionel heard this\noutcry, they called to them Sir Palamedes, and Sir Saffire his brother,\nand Sir Lawayn, with many more, and all went to Sir Launcelot. And they\nsaid, \u201cMy lord, Sir Launcelot, we pray you, if you will have our service\nkeep us no longer within these walls, for know well all your fair speech\nand forbearance will not avail you.\u201d \u201cAlas!\u201d said Sir Launcelot, \u201cto\nride forth and to do battle I am full loath.\u201d Then he spake again unto\nthe king and Sir Gawain, and willed them to keep out of the battle; but\nthey despised his words. So then Sir Launcelot\u2019s fellowship came out of\nthe castle in full good array. And always Sir Launcelot charged all his\nknights, in any wise, to save King Arthur and Sir Gawain.\n\nThen came forth Sir Gawain from the king\u2019s host and offered combat, and\nSir Lionel encountered with him, and there Sir Gawain smote Sir Lionel\nthrough the body, that he fell to the earth as if dead. Then there began\na great conflict, and much people were slain; but ever Sir Launcelot did\nwhat he might to save the people on King Arthur\u2019s party, and ever King\nArthur followed Sir Launcelot to slay him; but Sir Launcelot suffered\nhim, and would not strike again. Then Sir Bohort encountered with King\nArthur, and smote him down; and he alighted and drew his sword, and said\nto Sir Launcelot, \u201cShall I make an end of this war?\u201d for he meant to\nhave slain King Arthur. \u201cNot so,\u201d said Sir Launcelot, \u201ctouch him no\nmore, for I will never see that most noble king that made me knight\neither slain or shamed;\u201d and therewith Sir Launcelot alighted off his\nhorse, and took up the king, and horsed him again, and said thus: \u201cMy\nlord Arthur, for God\u2019s love, cease this strife.\u201d And King Arthur looked\nupon Sir Launcelot, and the tears burst from his eyes, thinking on the\ngreat courtesy that was in Sir Launcelot more than in any other man; and\ntherewith the king rode his way. Then anon both parties withdrew to\nrepose them, and buried the dead.\n\nBut the war continued, and it was noised abroad through all Christendom,\nand at last it was told afore the pope; and he, considering the great\ngoodness of King Arthur, and of Sir Launcelot, called unto him a noble\nclerk, which was the Bishop of Rochester, who was then in his dominions,\nand sent him to King Arthur, charging him that he take his queen, dame\nGuenever, unto him again, and make peace with Sir Launcelot.\n\nSo, by means of this bishop, peace was made for the space of one year;\nand King Arthur received back the queen, and Sir Launcelot departed from\nthe kingdom with all his knights, and went to his own country. So they\nshipped at Cardiff, and sailed unto Benwick, which some men call\nBayonne. And all the people of those lands came to Sir Launcelot, and\nreceived him home right joyfully. And Sir Launcelot stablished and\ngarnished all his towns and castles, and he greatly advanced all his\nnoble knights, Sir Lionel and Sir Bohort, and Sir Hector de Marys, Sir\nBlamor, Sir Lawayne, and many others, and made them lords of lands and\ncastles; till he left himself no more than any one of them.\n\n \u201cThen Arthur made vast banquets, and strange knights\n From the four winds came in: and each one sat,\n Tho\u2019 served with choice from air, land, stream and sea,\n Oft in mid-banquet measuring with his eyes\n His neighbor\u2019s make and might.\u201d\n \u2014_Pelleas and Ettarre._\n\nBut when the year was passed, King Arthur and Sir Gawain came with a\ngreat host, and landed upon Sir Launcelot\u2019s lands, and burned and wasted\nall that they might overrun. Then spake Sir Bohort and said, \u201cMy lord,\nSir Launcelot, give us leave to meet them in the field, and we shall\nmake them rue the time that ever they came to this country.\u201d Then said\nSir Launcelot, \u201cI am full loath to ride out with my knights for shedding\nof Christian blood; so we will yet a while keep our walls, and I will\nsend a messenger unto my lord Arthur, to propose a treaty; for better is\npeace than always war.\u201d So Sir Launcelot sent forth a damsel, and a\ndwarf with her, requiring King Arthur to leave his warring upon his\nlands; and so she started on a palfrey, and the dwarf ran by her side.\nAnd when she came to the pavilion of King Arthur, she alighted, and\nthere met her a gentle knight, Sir Lucan, the butler, and said, \u201cFair\ndamsel, come ye from Sir Launcelot du Lac?\u201d \u201cYea, sir,\u201d she said, \u201cI\ncome hither to speak with the king.\u201d \u201cAlas!\u201d said Sir Lucan, \u201cmy lord\nArthur would be reconciled to Sir Launcelot, but Sir Gawain will not\nsuffer him.\u201d And with this Sir Lucan led the damsel to the king, where\nhe sat with Sir Gawain, to hear what she would say. So when she had told\nher tale, the tears ran out of the king\u2019s eyes; and all the lords were\nforward to advise the king to be accorded with Sir Launcelot, save only\nSir Gawain; and he said, \u201cMy lord, mine uncle, what will ye do? Will you\nnow turn back, now you are so far advanced upon your journey? If ye do\nall the world will speak shame of you.\u201d \u201cNay,\u201d said King Arthur, \u201cI will\ndo as ye advise me; but do thou give the damsel her answer, for I may\nnot speak to her for pity.\u201d\n\nThen said Sir Gawain, \u201cDamsel, say ye to Sir Launcelot, that it is waste\nlabor to sue to mine uncle for peace, and say that I, Sir Gawain, send\nhim word that I promise him, by the faith I owe unto God and to\nknighthood, I shall never leave him till he have slain me or I him.\u201d So\nthe damsel returned; and when Sir Launcelot had heard this answer the\ntears ran down his cheeks.\n\nThen it befell on a day Sir Gawain came before the gates, armed at all\npoints, and cried with a loud voice, \u201cWhere art thou now, thou false\ntraitor, Sir Launcelot? Why hidest thou thyself within holes and walls\nlike a coward? Look out now, thou traitor knight, and I will avenge upon\nthy body the death of my three brethren.\u201d All this language heard Sir\nLauncelot, and the knights which were about him; and they said to him,\n\u201cSir Launcelot, now must ye defend you like a knight, or else be shamed\nfor ever, for you have slept overlong and suffered overmuch.\u201d Then Sir\nLauncelot spake on high unto King Arthur, and said, \u201cMy lord Arthur, now\nI have forborne long, and suffered you and Sir Gawain to do what ye\nwould, and now must I needs defend myself, inasmuch as Sir Gawain hath\nappealed me of treason.\u201d Then Sir Launcelot armed him and mounted upon\nhis horse, and the noble knights came out of the city, and the host\nwithout stood all apart; and so the covenant was made that no man should\ncome near the two knights, nor deal with them, till one were dead or\nyielded.\n\nThen Sir Launcelot and Sir Gawain departed a great way asunder, and then\nthey came together with all their horses\u2019 might, and each smote the\nother in the middle of their shields, but neither of them was unhorsed,\nbut their horses fell to the earth. And then they leapt from their\nhorses, and drew their swords, and gave many sad strokes, so that the\nblood burst out in many places. Now Sir Gawain had this gift from a holy\nman, that every day in the year, from morning to noon, his strength was\nincreased threefold, and then it fell again to its natural measure. Sir\nLauncelot was aware of this, and therefore, during the three hours that\nSir Gawain\u2019s strength was at the height, Sir Launcelot covered himself\nwith his shield, and kept his might in reserve. And during that time Sir\nGawain gave him many sad brunts, that all the knights that looked on\nmarvelled how Sir Launcelot might endure them. Then, when it was past\nnoon, Sir Gawain had only his own might; and when Sir Launcelot felt him\nso brought down he stretched himself up, and doubled his strokes, and\ngave Sir Gawain such a buffet that he fell down on his side; and Sir\nLauncelot drew back and would strike no more. \u201cWhy withdrawest thou,\nfalse traitor?\u201d then said Sir Gawain; \u201cnow turn again and slay me, for\nif thou leave me thus when I am whole again, I shall do battle with thee\nagain.\u201d \u201cI shall endure you, sir, by God\u2019s grace,\u201d said Sir Launcelot,\n\u201cbut know thou well Sir Gawain, I will never smite a felled knight.\u201d And\nso Sir Launcelot went into the city, and Sir Gawain was borne into King\nArthur\u2019s pavilion, and his wounds were looked to.\n\nThus the siege endured, and Sir Gawain lay helpless near a month; and\nwhen he was near recovered came tidings unto King Arthur that made him\nreturn with all his host to England.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XXIII\n\n MORTE D\u2019ARTHUR\n\nSIR MODRED was left ruler of all England, and he caused letters to be\nwritten, as if from beyond sea, that King Arthur was slain in battle. So\nhe called a Parliament, and made himself be crowned king; and he took\nthe queen Guenever, and said plainly that he would wed her, but she\nescaped from him and took refuge in the Tower of London. And Sir Modred\nwent and laid siege about the Tower of London, and made great assaults\nthereat, but all might not avail him. Then came word to Sir Modred that\nKing Arthur had raised the siege of Sir Launcelot, and was coming home.\nThen Sir Modred summoned all the barony of the land; and much people\ndrew unto Sir Modred, and said they would abide with him for better and\nfor worse; and he drew a great host to Dover, for there he heard say\nthat King Arthur would arrive.\n\n \u201cI hear the steps of Modred in the west,\n And with him many of thy people, and knights\n Once thine, whom thou hast loved, but grosser grown\n Than heathen, spitting at their vows and thee.\u201d\n \u2014_The Passing of Arthur._\n\nAnd as Sir Modred was at Dover with his host, came King Arthur, with a\ngreat number of ships and galleys, and there was Sir Modred awaiting\nupon the landing. Then was there launching of great boats and small,\nfull of noble men of arms, and there was much slaughter of gentle\nknights on both parts. But King Arthur was so courageous, there might no\nmanner of knights prevent him to land, and his knights fiercely followed\nhim; and so they landed, and put Sir Modred aback so that he fled, and\nall his people. And when the battle was done, King Arthur commanded to\nbury his people that were dead. And then was noble Sir Gawain found, in\na great boat, lying more than half dead. And King Arthur went to him,\nand made sorrow out of measure. \u201cMine uncle,\u201d said Sir Gawain, \u201cknow\nthou well my death-day is come, and all is through mine own hastiness\nand wilfulness, for I am smitten upon the old wound which Sir Launcelot\ngave me, of which I feel I must die. And had Sir Launcelot been with you\nas of old, this war had never begun, and of all this I am the cause.\u201d\nThen Sir Gawain prayed the king to send for Sir Launcelot, and to\ncherish him above all other knights. And so at the hour of noon Sir\nGawain yielded up his spirit, and then the king bade inter him in a\nchapel within Dover Castle; and there all men may see the skull of him,\nand the same wound is seen that Sir Launcelot gave him in battle.\n\nThen was it told the king that Sir Modred had pitched his camp upon\nBarrendown; and the king rode thither, and there was a great battle\nbetwixt them, and King Arthur\u2019s party stood best, and Sir Modred and his\nparty fled unto Canterbury.\n\nAnd there was a day assigned betwixt King Arthur and Sir Modred that\nthey should meet upon a down beside Salisbury, and not far from the\nsea-side, to do battle yet again. And at night, as the king slept, he\ndreamed a wonderful dream. It seemed him verily that there came Sir\nGawain unto him, with a number of fair ladies with him. And when King\nArthur saw him, he said, \u201cWelcome, my sister\u2019s son; I weened thou hadst\nbeen dead; and now I see thee alive great is my joy. But, O fair nephew,\nwhat be these ladies that hither be come with you?\u201d \u201cSir,\u201d said Sir\nGawain, \u201call these be ladies for whom I have fought when I was a living\nman; and because I did battle for them in righteous quarrel they have\ngiven me grace to bring me hither unto you to warn you of your death, if\nye fight to-morrow with Sir Modred. Therefore take ye treaty, and\nproffer you largely for a month\u2019s delay; for within a month shall come\nSir Launcelot and all his noble knights, and rescue you worshipfully,\nand slay Sir Modred and all that hold with him.\u201d And then Sir Gawain and\nall the ladies vanished. And anon the king called to fetch his noble\nlords and wise bishops unto him. And when they were come, the king told\nthem his vision, and what Sir Gawain had told him. Then the king sent\nSir Lucan, the butler, and Sir Bedivere, with two bishops, and charged\nthem in any wise to take a treaty for a month and a day with Sir Modred.\nSo they departed, and came to Sir Modred; and so, at the last, Sir\nModred was agreed to have Cornwall and Kent during Arthur\u2019s life, and\nall England after his death.\n\n \u201cSir Modred; he the nearest to the king,\n His nephew, ever like a subtle beast\n Lay couchant with his eyes upon the throne,\n Ready to spring, waiting a chance.\u201d\n \u2014_Guinevere._\n\nThen was it agreed that King Arthur and Sir Modred should meet betwixt\nboth their hosts, and each of them should bring fourteen persons, and\nthen and there they should sign the treaty. And when King Arthur and his\nknights were prepared to go forth, he warned all his host, \u201cIf so be ye\nsee any sword drawn, look ye come on fiercely, and slay whomsoever\nwithstandeth, for I in no wise trust that traitor, Sir Modred.\u201d In like\nwise Sir Modred warned his host. So they met, and were agreed and\naccorded thoroughly. And wine was brought, and they drank. Right then\ncame an adder out of a little heath-bush, and stung a knight on the\nfoot. And when the knight felt him sting, he looked down and saw the\nadder, and then he drew his sword to slay the adder, and thought of no\nother harm. And when the host on both sides saw that sword drawn, they\nblew trumpets and horns, and shouted greatly. And King Arthur took his\nhorse, and rode to his party, saying, \u201cAlas, this unhappy day!\u201d And Sir\nModred did in like wise. And never was there a more doleful battle in\nChristian land. And ever King Arthur rode throughout the battle, and did\nfull nobly, as a worthy king should, and Sir Modred that day did his\ndevoir, and put himself in great peril. And thus they fought all the\nlong day, till the most of all the noble knights lay dead upon the\nground. Then the king looked about him, and saw of all his host were\nleft alive but two knights, Sir Lucan, the butler, and Sir Bedivere, his\nbrother, and they were full sore wounded.\n\nThen King Arthur saw where Sir Modred leaned upon his sword among a\ngreat heap of dead men. \u201cNow give me my spear,\u201d said Arthur unto Sir\nLucan; \u201cfor yonder I espy the traitor that hast wrought all this woe.\u201d\n\u201cSir, let him be,\u201d said Sir Lucan; \u201cfor if ye pass this unhappy day, ye\nshall be right well revenged upon him. Remember what the sprite of Sir\nGawain told you, and leave off now, for ye have won the field; and if ye\nleave off now this evil day of destiny is past.\u201d \u201cBetide me life, betide\nme death,\u201d said King Arthur, \u201che shall not now escape my hands.\u201d Then\nthe king took his spear in both hands, and ran toward Sir Modred,\ncrying, \u201cTraitor, now is thy death-day come.\u201d And there King Arthur\nsmote Sir Modred under the shield, with a thrust of his spear through\nthe body. And when Sir Modred felt that he had his death-wound, with the\nmight that he had he smote King Arthur, with his sword holden in both\nhis hands, on the side of the head, that the sword pierced the helmet\nand the brain-pan; and then Sir Modred fell stark dead upon the earth.\nAnd the noble Arthur fell in a swoon to the earth. And Sir Lucan, the\nbutler, and Sir Bedivere raised him up, and gently led him betwixt them\nboth to a little chapel not far from the sea-side. And when the king was\nthere he thought him well eased. Then heard they people cry in the\nfield. And Sir Lucan went to see what that cry betokened; and he saw by\nthe moonlight that pillers and robbers were come to rob the dead. And he\nreturned, and said to the king, \u201cBy my rede, it is best that we bring\nyou to some town.\u201d \u201cI would it were so,\u201d said the king. And when the\nking tried to go he fainted. Then Sir Lucan took up the king on the one\npart, and Sir Bedivere on the other part; and in the lifting, Sir Lucan\nfell in a swoon to the earth, for he was grievously wounded. And then\nthe noble knight\u2019s heart burst. And when the king awoke he beheld Sir\nLucan how he lay foaming at the mouth, and speechless. \u201cAlas!\u201d said the\nking, \u201cthis is to me a full heavy sight, to see this noble duke so die\nfor my sake; for he would have holpen me that had more need of help than\nI, and he would not complain, his heart was so set to help me.\u201d Then Sir\nBedivere wept for his brother. \u201cLeave this mourning and weeping,\u201d said\nthe king, \u201cfor wilt thou well, if I might live myself, the death of Sir\nLucan would grieve me evermore; but my time hieth fast. Therefore,\u201d said\nArthur unto Sir Bedivere, \u201ctake thou Excalibar, my good sword, and go\nwith it to yonder water-side; and when thou comest there I charge thee\nthrow my sword in that water, and come again and tell me what thou there\nseest.\u201d \u201cMy lord,\u201d said Sir Bedivere, \u201cyour commandment shall be done.\u201d\nSo Sir Bedivere departed, and by the way he beheld that noble sword,\nthat the pommel and the haft were all of precious stones; and then he\nsaid to himself, \u201cIf I throw this rich sword into the water no good\nshall come thereof, but only harm and loss.\u201d And then Sir Bedivere hid\nExcalibar under a tree. And so, as soon as he might, he came again to\nthe king. \u201cWhat sawest thou there?\u201d said the king. \u201cSir,\u201d he said, \u201cI\nsaw nothing.\u201d \u201cAlas! thou hast deceived me,\u201d said the king. \u201cGo thou\nlightly again, and as thou love me, spare not to throw it in.\u201d Then Sir\nBedivere went again, and took the sword in his hand to throw it; but\nagain it beseemed him but sin and shame to throw away that noble sword,\nand he hid it away again, and returned, and told the king he had done\nhis commandment. \u201cWhat sawest thou there?\u201d said the king. \u201cSir,\u201d he\nsaid, \u201cI saw nothing but waters deep and waves wan.\u201d \u201cAh, traitor\nuntrue!\u201d said King Arthur, \u201cnow hast thou betrayed me twice. And yet\nthou art named a noble knight, and hast been lief and dear to me. But\nnow go again, and do as I bid thee, for thy long tarrying putteth me in\njeopardy of my life.\u201d Then Sir Bedivere went to the sword, and lightly\ntook it up, and went to the water-side, and he bound the girdle about\nthe hilt, and then he threw the sword as far into the water as he might.\nAnd there came an arm and a hand out of the water, and met it, and\ncaught it, and shook it thrice and brandished it, and then vanished away\nthe hand with the sword in the water.\n\nThen Sir Bedivere came again to the king, and told him what he saw.\n\u201cHelp me hence,\u201d said the king, \u201cfor I fear I have tarried too long.\u201d\nThen Sir Bedivere took the king on his back, and so went with him to\nthat water-side; and when they came there, even fast by the bank there\nrode a little barge with many fair ladies in it, and among them was a\nqueen; and all had black hoods, and they wept and shrieked when they saw\nKing Arthur.\n\n\u201cNow put me in the barge,\u201d said the king. And there received him three\nqueens with great mourning, and in one of their laps King Arthur laid\nhis head. And the queen said, \u201cAh, dear brother, why have ye tarried so\nlong? Alas! this wound on your head hath caught overmuch cold.\u201d And then\nthey rowed from the land, and Sir Bedivere beheld them go from him. Then\nhe cried: \u201cAh, my lord Arthur, will ye leave me here alone among mine\nenemies?\u201d \u201cComfort thyself,\u201d said the king, \u201cfor in me is no further\nhelp; for I will to the Isle of Avalon, to heal me of my grievous\nwound.\u201d And as soon as Sir Bedivere had lost sight of the barge, he wept\nand wailed; then he took the forest, and went all that night, and in the\nmorning he was ware of a chapel and a hermitage.\n\nThen went Sir Bedivere thither; and when he came into the chapel, he saw\nwhere lay an hermit on the ground, near a tomb that was newly graven.\n\u201cSir,\u201d said Sir Bedivere, \u201cwhat man is there buried that ye pray so near\nunto?\u201d \u201cFair son,\u201d said the hermit, \u201cI know not verily. But this night\nthere came a number of ladies, and brought hither one dead, and prayed\nme to bury him.\u201d \u201cAlas!\u201d said Sir Bedivere, \u201cthat was my lord, King\nArthur.\u201d Then Sir Bedivere swooned; and when he awoke he prayed the\nhermit he might abide with him, to live with fasting and prayers. \u201cYe\nare welcome,\u201d said the hermit. So there bode Sir Bedivere with the\nhermit; and he put on poor clothes, and served the hermit full lowly in\nfasting and in prayers.\n\nThus of Arthur I find never more written in books that be authorized,\nnor more of the very certainty of his death; but thus was he led away in\na ship, wherein were three queens; the one was King Arthur\u2019s sister,\nQueen Morgane le Fay; the other was Viviane, the Lady of the Lake; and\nthe third was the queen of North Galis. And this tale Sir Bedivere,\nknight of the Table Round, made to be written.\n\nYet some men say that King Arthur is not dead, but hid away into another\nplace, and men say that he shall come again and reign over England. But\nmany say that there is written on his tomb this verse:\n\n \u201c_Hie jacet Arthurus, Rex quondam, Rexque futurus._\u201d\n Here Arthur lies, King once and King to be.\n\nAnd when Queen Guenever understood that King Arthur was slain, and all\nthe noble knights with him, she stole away, and five ladies with her;\nand so she went to Almesbury, and made herself a nun, and ware white\nclothes and black, and took great penance as ever did sinful lady, and\nlived in fasting, prayers, and alms-deeds. And there she was abbess and\nruler of the nuns.\n\n \u201cAnd when she came to Almesbury she spake\n There to the nuns, and said, \u2018Mine enemies\n Pursue me, but, O peaceful Sisterhood,\n Receive, and yield me sanctuary, nor ask\n Her name to whom ye yield it, till her time\n To tell you:\u2019 and her beauty, grace and power\n Wrought as a charm upon them, and they spared\n To ask it.\u201d\n \u2014_Guinevere._\n\nNow turn we from her, and speak of Sir Launcelot of the Lake.\n\nWhen Sir Launcelot heard in his country that Sir Modred was crowned king\nof England, and made war against his own uncle, King Arthur, then was\nSir Launcelot wroth out of measure, and said to his kinsmen: \u201cAlas, that\ndouble traitor, Sir Modred! now it repenteth me that ever he escaped out\nof my hands.\u201d Then Sir Launcelot and his fellows made ready in all\nhaste, with ships and galleys, to pass into England; and so he passed\nover till he came to Dover, and there he landed with a great army. Then\nSir Launcelot was told that King Arthur was slain. \u201cAlas!\u201d said Sir\nLauncelot, \u201cthis is the heaviest tidings that ever came to me.\u201d Then he\ncalled the kings, dukes, barons, and knights, and said thus: \u201cMy fair\nlords, I thank you all for coming into this country with me, but we came\ntoo late, and that shall repent me while I live. But since it is so,\u201d\nsaid Sir Launcelot, \u201cI will myself ride and seek my lady, Queen\nGuenever, for I have heard say she hath fled into the west; therefore ye\nshall abide me here fifteen days, and if I come not within that time,\nthen take your ships and your host, and depart into your country.\u201d\n\nSo Sir Launcelot departed and rode westerly, and there he sought many\ndays; and at last he came to a nunnery, and was seen of Queen Guenever\nas he walked in the cloister; and when she saw him she swooned away. And\nwhen she might speak she bade him to be called to her. And when Sir\nLauncelot was brought to her she said: \u201cSir Launcelot, I require thee\nand beseech thee, for all the love that ever was betwixt us, that thou\nnever see me more, but return to thy kingdom and take thee a wife, and\nlive with her with joy and bliss; and pray for me to my Lord, that I may\nget my soul\u2019s health.\u201d \u201cNay, madam,\u201d said Sir Launcelot, \u201cwit you well\nthat I shall never do; but the same destiny that ye have taken you to\nwill I take me unto, for to please and serve God.\u201d And so they parted,\nwith tears and much lamentation; and the ladies bare the queen to her\nchamber, and Sir Launcelot took his horse and rode away, weeping.\n\nAnd at last Sir Launcelot was ware of a hermitage and a chapel, and then\nhe heard a little bell ring to mass; and thither he rode and alighted,\nand tied his horse to the gate, and heard mass. And he that sang the\nmass was the hermit with whom Sir Bedivere had taken up his abode; and\nSir Bedivere knew Sir Launcelot, and they spake together after mass. But\nwhen Sir Bedivere had told his tale, Sir Launcelot\u2019s heart almost burst\nfor sorrow. Then he kneeled down, and prayed the hermit to shrive him,\nand besought that he might be his brother. Then the hermit said, \u201cI will\ngladly;\u201d and then he put a habit upon Sir Launcelot, and there he served\nGod day and night, with prayers and fastings.\n\nAnd the great host abode at Dover till the end of the fifteen days set\nby Sir Launcelot, and then Sir Bohort made them to go home again to\ntheir own country; and Sir Bohort, Sir Hector de Marys, Sir Blamor, and\nmany others, took on them to ride through all England to seek Sir\nLauncelot. So Sir Bohort by fortune rode until he came to the same\nchapel where Sir Launcelot was; and when he saw Sir Launcelot in that\nmanner of clothing he prayed the hermit that he might be in that same.\nAnd so there was an habit put upon him, and there he lived in prayers\nand fasting. And within half a year came others of the knights, their\nfellows, and took such a habit as Sir Launcelot and Sir Bohort had. Thus\nthey endured in great penance six years.\n\nAnd upon a night there came a vision to Sir Launcelot, and charged him\nto haste toward Almesbury, and \u201cby the time thou come there, thou shalt\nfind Queen Guenever dead.\u201d Then Sir Launcelot rose up early and told the\nhermit thereof. Then said the hermit, \u201cIt were well that ye disobey not\nthis vision.\u201d And Sir Launcelot took his seven companions with him, and\non foot they went from Glastonbury to Almesbury, which is more than\nthirty miles. And when they were come to Almesbury, they found that\nQueen Guenever died but half an hour before. Then Sir Launcelot saw her\nvisage, but he wept not greatly, but sighed. And so he did all the\nobservance of the service himself, both the \u201cdirige\u201d at night, and at\nmorn he sang mass. And there was prepared an horse-bier, and Sir\nLauncelot and his fellows followed the bier on foot from Almesbury until\nthey came to Glastonbury; and she was wrapped in cered clothes, and laid\nin a coffin of marble. And when she was put in the earth Sir Launcelot\nswooned, and lay long as one dead.\n\nAnd Sir Launcelot never after ate but little meat, nor drank; but\ncontinually mourned. And within six weeks Sir Launcelot fell sick; and\nhe sent for the hermit and all his true fellows, and said, \u201cSir hermit,\nI pray you give me all my rights that a Christian man ought to have.\u201d\n\u201cIt shall not need,\u201d said the hermit and all his fellows; \u201cit is but\nheaviness of your blood, and to-morrow morn you shall be well.\u201d \u201cMy fair\nlords,\u201d said Sir Launcelot, \u201cmy careful body will into the earth; I have\nwarning more than now I will say; therefore give me my rights.\u201d So when\nhe was houseled and aneled, and had all that a Christian man ought to\nhave, he prayed the hermit that his fellows might bear his body to\nJoyous Garde. (Some men say it was Alnwick, and some say it was\nBamborough.) \u201cIt repenteth me sore,\u201d said Sir Launcelot, \u201cbut I made a\nvow aforetime that in Joyous Garde I would be buried.\u201d Then there was\nweeping and wringing of hands among his fellows. And that night Sir\nLauncelot died; and when Sir Bohort and his fellows came to his bedside\nthe next morning they found him stark dead; and he lay as if he had\nsmiled, and the sweetest savor all about him that ever they knew.\n\nAnd they put Sir Launcelot into the same horse-bier that Queen Guenever\nwas laid in, and the hermit and they altogether went with the body till\nthey came to Joyous Garde. And there they laid his corpse in the body of\nthe quire, and sang and read many psalms and prayers over him. And ever\nhis visage was laid open and naked, that all folks might behold him. And\nright thus, as they were at their service, there came Sir Hector de\nMaris, that had seven years sought Sir Launcelot, his brother, through\nall England, Scotland and Wales. And when Sir Hector heard such sounds\nin the chapel of Joyous Garde he alighted and came into the quire. And\nall they knew Sir Hector. Then went Sir Bohort, and told him how there\nlay Sir Launcelot, his brother, dead. Then Sir Hector threw his shield,\nhis sword, and helm from him. And when he beheld Sir Launcelot\u2019s visage\nit were hard for any tongue to tell the doleful complaints he made for\nhis brother. \u201cAh, Sir Launcelot!\u201d he said, \u201cthere thou liest. And now I\ndare to say thou wert never matched of none earthly knight\u2019s hand. And\nthou wert the courteousest knight that ever bare shield; and thou wert\nthe truest friend to thy lover that ever bestrode horse; and thou wert\nthe truest lover, of a sinful man, that ever loved woman; and thou wert\nthe kindest man that ever struck with sword. And thou wert the goodliest\nperson that ever came among press of knights. And thou wert the meekest\nman, and the gentlest, that ever ate in hall among ladies. And thou wert\nthe sternest knight to thy mortal foe that ever put spear in the rest.\u201d\nThen there was weeping and dolor out of measure. Thus they kept Sir\nLauncelot\u2019s corpse fifteen days, and then they buried it with great\ndevotion.\n\nThen they went back with the hermit to his hermitage. And Sir Bedivere\nwas there ever still hermit to his life\u2019s end. And Sir Bohort, Sir\nHector, Sir Blamor, and Sir Bleoberis went into the Holy Land. And these\nfour knights did many battles upon the miscreants, the Turks; and there\nthey died upon a Good Friday, as it pleased God.\n\n\n\nThus endeth this noble and joyous book, entitled \u201cLa Morte d\u2019Arthur;\u201d\nnotwithstanding it treateth of the birth, life, and acts of the said\nKing Arthur, and of his noble Knights of the Round Table, their\nmarvellous enquests and adventures, the achieving of the Sangreal, and,\nin the end, le Morte d\u2019Arthur, with the dolorous death and departing out\nof this world of them all. Which book was reduced into English by Sir\nThomas Mallory, Knight, and divided into twenty-one books, chaptered and\nimprinted and finished in the Abbey Westmestre, the last day of July,\nthe year of our Lord MCCCCLXXXV.\n\nCaxton me fieri fecit.\n\n\n\n\n [BLANK PAGE]\n\n\n\n\n THE MABINOGEON\n\n\n INTRODUCTORY NOTE\n\nIT has been well known to the literati and antiquarians of Europe that\nthere exist in the great public libraries voluminous manuscripts of\nromances and tales once popular, but which on the invention of printing\nhad already become antiquated, and fallen into neglect. They were\ntherefore never printed, and seldom perused even by the learned, until\nabout half a century ago, when attention was again directed to them, and\nthey were found very curious monuments of ancient manners, habits, and\nmodes of thinking. Several have since been edited, some by individuals,\nas Sir Walter Scott and the poet Southey, others by antiquarian\nsocieties. The class of readers which could be counted on for such\npublications was so small that no inducement of profit could be found to\ntempt editors and publishers to give them to the world. It was therefore\nonly a few, and those the most accessible, which were put in print.\nThere was a class of manuscripts of this kind which were known, or\nrather suspected, to be both curious and valuable, but which it seemed\nalmost hopeless to expect ever to see in fair printed English. These\nwere the Welsh popular tales called _Mabinogeon_, a plural word, the\nsingular being _Mabinogi_, a tale. Manuscripts of these were contained\nin the Bodleian Library at Oxford and elsewhere, but the difficulty was\nto find translators and editors. The Welsh is a spoken language among\nthe peasantry of Wales, but is entirely neglected by the learned, unless\nthey are natives of the principality. Of the few Welsh scholars none\nwere found who took sufficient interest in this branch of learning to\ngive these productions to the English public. Southey and Scott, and\nothers, who, like them, loved the old romantic legends of their country,\noften urged upon the Welsh literati the duty of reproducing the\nMabinogeon. Southey, in the preface of his edition of \u201cMorte d\u2019Arthur,\u201d\nsays: \u201cThe specimens which I have seen are exceedingly curious; nor is\nthere a greater desideratum in British literature than an edition of\nthese tales, with a literal version, and such comments as Mr. Davies of\nall men is best qualified to give. Certain it is that many of the round\ntable fictions originated in Wales, or in Bretagne, and probably might\nstill be traced there.\u201d\n\nAgain, in a letter to Sir Charles W. W. Wynn, dated 1819, he says:\n\n\u201cI begin almost to despair of ever seeing more of the Mabinogeon; and\nyet if some competent Welshman could be found to edit it carefully, with\nas literal a version as possible, I am sure it might be made worth his\nwhile by a subscription, printing a small edition at a high price,\nperhaps two hundred at five guineas. I myself would gladly subscribe at\nthat price per volume for such an edition of the whole of your genuine\nremains in prose and verse. Till some such collection is made, the\n\u2018gentlemen of Wales\u2019 ought to be prohibited from wearing a leek; ay, and\ninterdicted from toasted cheese also. Your bards would have met with\nbetter usage if they had been Scotchmen.\u201d\n\nSharon Turner and Sir Walter Scott also expressed a similar wish for the\npublication of the Welsh manuscripts. The former took part in an attempt\nto effect it, through the instrumentality of a Mr. Owen, a Welshman,\nbut, we judge, by what Southey says of him, imperfectly acquainted with\nEnglish. Southey\u2019s language is \u201cWilliam Owen lent me three parts of the\nMabinogeon, delightfully translated into so Welsh an idiom and syntax\nthat such a translation is as instructive as an original.\u201d In another\nletter he adds, \u201cLet Sharon make his language grammatical, but not alter\ntheir idiom in the slightest point.\u201d\n\nIt is probable Mr. Owen did not proceed far in an undertaking which, so\nexecuted, could expect but little popular patronage. It was not till an\nindividual should appear possessed of the requisite knowledge of the two\nlanguages, of enthusiasm sufficient for the task, and of pecuniary\nresources sufficient to be independent of the booksellers and of the\nreading public, that such a work could be confidently expected. Such an\nindividual has, since Southey\u2019s day and Scott\u2019s, appeared in the person\nof Lady Charlotte Guest, an English lady united to a gentleman of\nproperty in Wales, who, having acquired the language of the\nprincipality, and become enthusiastically fond of its literary\ntreasures, has given them to the English reader, in a dress which the\nprinter\u2019s and the engraver\u2019s arts have done their best to adorn. In four\nroyal octavo volumes containing the Welsh originals, the translation,\nand ample illustrations from French, German, and other contemporary and\naffiliated literature, the Mabinogeon is spread before us. To the\nantiquarian and the student of language and ethnology an invaluable\ntreasure, it yet can hardly in such a form win its way to popular\nacquaintance. We claim no other merit than that of bringing it to the\nknowledge of our readers, of abridging its details, of selecting its\nmost attractive portions, and of faithfully preserving throughout the\nstyle in which Lady Guest has clothed her legends. For this service we\nhope that our readers will confess we have laid them under no light\nobligation.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER I\n\n THE BRITONS\n\nTHE earliest inhabitants of Britain are supposed to have been a branch\nof that great family known in history by the designation of Celts.\nCambria, which is a frequent name for Wales, is thought to be derived\nfrom Cymri, the name which the Welsh traditions apply to an immigrant\npeople who entered the island from the adjacent continent. This name is\nthought to be identical with those of Cimmerians and Cimbri, under which\nthe Greek and Roman historians describe a barbarous people, who spread\nthemselves from the north of the Euxine over the whole of Northwestern\nEurope.\n\nThe origin of the names _Wales_ and _Welsh_ has been much canvassed.\nSome writers make them a derivation from Gael or Gaul, which names are\nsaid to signify \u201cwoodlanders;\u201d others observe that _Walsh_, in the\nnorthern languages, signifies a _stranger_, and that the aboriginal\nBritons were so called by those who at a later era invaded the island\nand possessed the greater part of it, the Saxons and Angles.\n\nThe Romans held Britain from the invasion of Julius C\u00e6sar till their\nvoluntary withdrawal from the island, A.D. 420,\u2014that is, about five\nhundred years. In that time there must have been a wide diffusion of\ntheir arts and institutions among the natives. The remains of roads,\ncities, and fortifications show that they did much to develop and\nimprove the country, while those of their villas and castles prove that\nmany of the settlers possessed wealth and taste for the ornamental arts.\nYet the Roman sway was sustained chiefly by force, and never extended\nover the entire island. The northern portion, now Scotland, remained\nindependent, and the western portion, constituting Wales and Cornwall,\nwas only nominally subjected.\n\nNeither did the later invading hordes succeed in subduing the remoter\nsections of the island. For ages after the arrival of the Saxons under\nHengist and Horsa, A.D. 449, the whole western coast of Britain was\npossessed by the aboriginal inhabitants, engaged in constant warfare\nwith the invaders.\n\nIt has, therefore, been a favorite boast of the people of Wales and\nCornwall that the original British stock flourishes in its unmixed\npurity only among them. We see this notion flashing out in poetry\noccasionally, as when Gray, in \u201cThe Bard,\u201d prophetically describing\nQueen Elizabeth, who was of the Tudor, a Welsh race, says:\n\n \u201cHer eye proclaims her of the Briton line;\u201d\n\nand, contrasting the princes of the Tudor with those of the Norman race,\nhe exclaims:\n\n \u201cAll hail, ye genuine kings, Britannia\u2019s issue, hail!\u201d\n\n THE WELSH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE\n\nThe Welsh language is one of the oldest in Europe. It possesses poems\nthe origin of which is referred with probability to the sixth century.\nThe language of some of these is so antiquated that the best scholars\ndiffer about the interpretation of many passages; but, generally\nspeaking, the body of poetry which the Welsh possess, from the year 1000\ndownwards, is intelligible to those who are acquainted with the modern\nlanguage.\n\nTill within the last half-century these compositions remained buried in\nthe libraries of colleges or of individuals, and so difficult of access\nthat no successful attempt was made to give them to the world. This\nreproach was removed after ineffectual appeals to the patriotism of the\ngentry of Wales, by Owen Jones, a furrier of London, who at his own\nexpense collected and published the chief productions of Welsh\nliterature, under the title of the Myvyrian Arch\u00e6ology of Wales. In this\ntask he was assisted by Dr. Owen and other Welsh scholars.\n\nAfter the cessation of Jones\u2019 exertions the old apathy returned, and\ncontinued till within a few years. Dr. Owen exerted himself to obtain\nsupport for the publication of the Mabinogeon or Prose Tales of the\nWelsh, but died without accomplishing his purpose, which has since been\ncarried into execution by Lady Charlotte Guest. The legends which fill\nthe remainder of this volume are taken from this work, of which we have\nalready spoken more fully in the introductory chapter to the First Part.\n\n THE WELSH BARDS\n\nThe authors to whom the oldest Welsh poems are attributed are Aneurin,\nwho is supposed to have lived A.D. 500 to 550, and Taliesin, Llywarch\nHen (Llywarch the Aged), and Myrddin or Merlin, who were a few years\nlater. The authenticity of the poems which bear their names has been\nassailed, and it is still an open question how many and which of them\nare authentic, though it is hardly to be doubted that some are so. The\npoem of Aneurin entitled the \u201cGododin,\u201d bears very strong marks of\nauthenticity. Aneurin was one of the Northern Britons of Strath-Clyde,\nwho have left to that part of the district they inhabited the name of\nCumberland, or Land of the Cymri. In this poem he laments the defeat of\nhis countrymen by the Saxons at the battle of Cattraeth, in consequence\nof having partaken too freely of the mead before joining in combat. The\nbard himself and two of his fellow-warriors were all who escaped from\nthe field. A portion of this poem has been translated by Gray, of which\nthe following is an extract:\n\n \u201cTo Cattraeth\u2019s vale, in glittering row,\n Twice two hundred warriors go;\n Every warrior\u2019s manly neck\n Chains of regal honor deck,\n Wreathed in many a golden link;\n From the golden cup they drink\n Nectar that the bees produce,\n Or the grape\u2019s exalted juice.\n Flushed with mirth and hope they burn,\n But none to Cattraeth\u2019s vale return,\n Save A\u00ebron brave, and Conan strong,\n Bursting through the bloody throng,\n And I, the meanest of them all,\n That live to weep, and sing their fall.\u201d\n\nThe works of Taliesin are of much more questionable authenticity. There\nis a story of the adventures of Taliesin so strongly marked with\nmythical traits as to cast suspicion on the writings attributed to him.\nThis story will be found in the subsequent pages.\n\n THE TRIADS\n\nThe Triads are a peculiar species of poetical composition, of which the\nWelsh bards have left numerous examples. They are enumerations of a\ntriad of persons, or events, or observations, strung together in one\nshort sentence. This form of composition, originally invented, in all\nlikelihood, to assist the memory, has been raised by the Welsh to a\ndegree of elegance of which it hardly at first sight appears\nsusceptible. The Triads are of all ages, some of them probably as old as\nanything in the language. Short as they are individually, the collection\nin the Myvyrian Arch\u00e6ology occupies more than one hundred and seventy\npages of double columns. We will give some specimens, beginning with\npersonal triads, and giving the first place to one of King Arthur\u2019s own\ncomposition:\n\n \u201cI have three heroes in battle:\n Mael the tall, and Llyr, with his army,\n And Caradoc, the pillar of Wales.\u201d\n\n \u201cThe three principal bards of the island of Britain:\u2014\n Merlin Ambrose\n Merlin the son of Morfyn, called also Merlin the Wild,\n And Taliesin, the chief of the bards.\u201d\n\n \u201cThe three golden-tongued knights of the court of Arthur:\u2014\n Gawain, son of Gwyar,\n Drydvas, son of Tryphin,\n And Eliwlod, son of Madag, ap Uther.\u201d\n\n \u201cThe three honorable feasts of the island of Britain:\u2014\n The feast of Caswallaun, after repelling Julius C\u00e6sar from this isle;\n The feast of Aurelius Ambrosius, after he had conquered the Saxons;\n And the feast of King Arthur, at Carleon upon Usk.\u201d\n\n \u201cGuenever, the daughter of Laodegan the giant,\n Bad when little, worse when great.\u201d\n\nNext follow some moral triads:\n\n \u201cHast thou heard what Dremhidydd sung,\n An ancient watchman on the castle walls?\n A refusal is better than a promise unperformed.\u201d\n\n \u201cHast thou heard what Llenleawg sung,\n The noble chief wearing the golden torques?\n The grave is better than a life of want.\u201d\n\n \u201cHast thou heard what Garselit sung,\n The Irishman whom it is safe to follow?\n Sin is bad, if long pursued.\u201d\n\n \u201cHast thou heard what Avaon sung,\n The son of Taliesin, of the recording verse?\n The cheek will not conceal the anguish of the heart.\u201d\n\n \u201cDidst thou hear what Llywarch sung,\n The intrepid and brave old man?\n Greet kindly, though there be no acquaintance.\u201d\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER II\n\n THE LADY OF THE FOUNTAIN\n\n KYNON\u2019S ADVENTURE\n\nKING ARTHUR was at Caerleon upon Usk; and one day he sat in his chamber,\nand with him were Owain, the son of Urien, and Kynon, the son of Clydno,\nand Kay, the son of Kyner, and Guenever and her handmaidens at\nneedlework by the window. In the centre of the chamber King Arthur sat,\nupon a seat of green rushes,[56] over which was spread a covering of\nflame-covered satin, and a cushion of red satin was under his elbow.\n\nThen Arthur spoke. \u201cIf I thought you would not disparage me,\u201d said he,\n\u201cI would sleep while I wait for my repast; and you can entertain one\nanother with relating tales, and can obtain a flagon of mead and some\nmeat from Kay.\u201d And the king went to sleep. And Kynon the son of Clydno\nasked Kay for that which Arthur had promised them. \u201cI too will have the\ngood tale which he promised me,\u201d said Kay. \u201cNay,\u201d answered Kynon;\n\u201cfairer will it be for thee to fulfil Arthur\u2019s behest in the first\nplace, and then we will tell thee the best tale that we know.\u201d So Kay\nwent to the kitchen and to the mead-cellar, and returned, bearing a\nflagon of mead, and a golden goblet, and a handful of skewers, upon\nwhich were broiled collops of meat. Then they ate the collops, and began\nto drink the mead. \u201cNow,\u201d said Kay, \u201cit is time for you to give me my\nstory.\u201d \u201cKynon,\u201d said Owain, \u201cdo thou pay to Kay the tale that is his\ndue.\u201d \u201cI will do so,\u201d answered Kynon.\n\n\u201cI was the only son of my mother and father, and I was exceedingly\naspiring, and my daring was very great. I thought there was no\nenterprise in the world too mighty for me: and after I had achieved all\nthe adventures that were in my own country, I equipped myself, and set\nforth to journey through deserts and distant regions. And at length it\nchanced that I came to the fairest valley in the world, wherein were\ntrees all of equal growth; and a river ran through the valley, and a\npath was by the side of the river. And I followed the path until midday,\nand continued my journey along the remainder of the valley until the\nevening; and at the extremity of the plain I came to a large and\nlustrous castle, at the foot of which was a torrent. And I approached\nthe castle, and there I beheld two youths with yellow curling hair, each\nwith a frontlet of gold upon his head, and clad in a garment of yellow\nsatin; and they had gold clasps upon their insteps. In the hand of each\nof them was an ivory bow, strung with the sinews of the stag, and their\narrows and their shafts were of the bone of the whale, and were winged\nwith peacock\u2019s feathers. The shafts also had golden heads. And they had\ndaggers with blades of gold, and with hilts of the bone of the whale.\nAnd they were shooting at a mark.\n\n\u201cAnd a little away from them I saw a man in the prime of life, with his\nbeard newly shorn, clad in a robe and mantle of yellow satin, and round\nthe top of his mantle was a band of gold lace. On his feet were shoes of\nvariegated leather,[57] fastened by two bosses of gold. When I saw him I\nwent towards him and saluted him; and such was his courtesy, that he no\nsooner received my greeting than he returned it. And he went with me\ntowards the castle. Now there were no dwellers in the castle, except\nthose who were in one hall. And there I saw four and twenty damsels,\nembroidering satin at a window. And this I tell thee, Kay, that the\nleast fair of them was fairer than the fairest maid thou didst ever\nbehold in the island of Britain; and the least lovely of them was more\nlovely than Guenever, the wife of Arthur, when she appeared loveliest,\nat the feast of Easter. They rose up at my coming, and six of them took\nmy horse, and divested me of my armor, and six others took my arms and\nwashed them in a vessel till they were perfectly bright. And the third\nsix spread cloths upon the tables and prepared meat. And the fourth six\ntook off my soiled garments and placed others upon me, namely, an under\nvest and a doublet of fine linen, and a robe and a surcoat, and a mantle\nof yellow satin, with a broad gold band upon the mantle. And they placed\ncushions both beneath and around me, with coverings of red linen, and I\nsat down. Now the six maidens who had taken my horse unharnessed him as\nwell as if they had been the best squires in the island of Britain.\n\n\u201cThen behold they brought bowls of silver, wherein was water to wash and\ntowels of linen, some green and some white; and I washed. And in a\nlittle while the man sat down at the table. And I sat next to him, and\nbelow me sat all the maidens, except those who waited on us. And the\ntable was of silver, and the cloths upon the table were of linen. And no\nvessel was served upon the table that was not either of gold or of\nsilver or of buffalo horn. And our meat was brought to us. And verily,\nKay, I saw there every sort of meat, and every sort of liquor that I\never saw elsewhere; but the meat and the liquor were better served there\nthan I ever saw them in any other place.\n\n\u201cUntil the repast was half over, neither the man nor any one of the\ndamsels spoke a single word to me; but when the man perceived that it\nwould be more agreeable for me to converse than to eat any more, he\nbegan to inquire of me who I was. Then I told the man who I was and what\nwas the cause of my journey, and said that I was seeking whether any one\nwas superior to me, or whether I could gain mastery over all. The man\nlooked upon me, and he smiled and said, \u2018If I did not fear to do thee a\nmischief, I would show thee that which thou seekest.\u2019 Then I desired him\nto speak freely. And he said: \u2018Sleep here to-night, and in the morning\narise early, and take the road upwards through the valley, until thou\nreachest the wood. A little way within the wood thou wilt come to a\nlarge sheltered glade, with a mound in the centre. And thou wilt see a\nblack man of great stature on the top of the mound. He has but one foot,\nand one eye in the middle of his forehead. He is the wood-ward of that\nwood. And thou wilt see a thousand wild animals grazing around him.\nInquire of him the way out of the glade, and he will reply to thee\nbriefly, and will point out the road by which thou shalt find that which\nthou art in quest of.\u2019\n\n\u201cAnd long seemed that night to me. And the next morning I arose and\nequipped myself, and mounted my horse, and proceeded straight through\nthe valley to the wood, and at length I arrived at the glade. And the\nblack man was there, sitting upon the top of the mound; and I was three\ntimes more astonished at the number of wild animals that I beheld than\nthe man had said I should be. Then I inquired of him the way and he\nasked me roughly whither I would go. And when I had told him who I was\nand what I sought, \u2018Take,\u2019 said he, \u2018that path that leads toward the\nhead of the glade, and there thou wilt find an open space like to a\nlarge valley, and in the midst of it a tall tree. Under this tree is a\nfountain, and by the side of the fountain a marble slab, and on the\nmarble slab a silver bowl, attached by a chain of silver, that it may\nnot be carried away. Take the bowl and throw a bowlful of water on the\nslab. And if thou dost not find trouble in that adventure, thou needest\nnot seek it during the rest of thy life.\u2019\n\n\u201cSo I journeyed on until I reached the summit of the steep. And there I\nfound everything as the black man had described it to me. And I went up\nto the tree, and beneath it I saw the fountain, and by its side the\nmarble slab, and the silver bowl fastened by the chain. Then I took the\nbowl, and cast a bowlful of water upon the slab, and immediately I heard\na mighty peal of thunder, so that heaven and earth seemed to tremble\nwith its fury. And after the thunder came a shower; and of a truth I\ntell thee, Kay, that it was such a shower as neither man nor beast could\nendure and live. I turned my horse\u2019s flank toward the shower, and placed\nthe beak of my shield over his head and neck, while I held the upper\npart of it over my own neck. And thus I withstood the shower. And\npresently the sky became clear, and with that, behold, the birds lighted\nupon the tree, and sang. And truly, Kay, I never heard any melody equal\nto that, either before or since. And when I was most charmed with\nlistening to the birds, lo! a chiding voice was heard of one approaching\nme and saying: \u2018O knight, what has brought thee hither? What evil have I\ndone to thee that thou shouldst act towards me and my possessions as\nthou hast this day? Dost thou not know that the shower to-day has left\nin my dominions neither man nor beast alive that was exposed to it?\u2019 And\nthereupon, behold, a knight on a black horse appeared, clothed in\njet-black velvet, and with a tabard of black linen about him. And we\ncharged each other, and, as the onset was furious, it was not long\nbefore I was overthrown. Then the knight passed the shaft of his lance\nthrough the bridle-rein of my horse, and rode off with the two horses,\nleaving me where I was. And he did not even bestow so much notice upon\nme as to imprison me, nor did he despoil me of my arms. So I returned\nalong the road by which I had come. And when I reached the glade where\nthe black man was, I confess to thee, Kay, it is a marvel that I did not\nmelt down into a liquid pool, through the shame that I felt at the black\nman\u2019s derision. And that night I came to the same castle where I had\nspent the night preceding. And I was more agreeably entertained that\nnight than I had been the night before. And I conversed freely with the\ninmates of the castle; and none of them alluded to my expedition to the\nfountain, neither did I mention it to any. And I remained there that\nnight. When I arose on the morrow I found ready saddled a dark bay\npalfrey, with nostrils as red as scarlet. And after putting on my armor,\nand leaving there my blessing, I returned to my own court. And that\nhorse I still possess, and he is in the stable yonder. And I declare\nthat I would not part with him for the best palfrey in the island of\nBritain.\n\n\u201cNow, of a truth, Kay, no man ever before confessed to an adventure so\nmuch to his own discredit; and verily it seems strange to me that\nneither before nor since have I heard of any person who knew of this\nadventure, and that the subject of it should exist within King Arthur\u2019s\ndominions without any other person lighting upon it.\u201d\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER III\n\n THE LADY OF THE FOUNTAIN (_Continued_)\n\n OWAIN\u2019S ADVENTURE[58]\n\n\u201cNOW,\u201d quoth Owain, \u201cwould it not be well to go and endeavor to discover\nthat place?\u201d\n\n\u201cBy the hand of my friend,\u201d said Kay, \u201coften dost thou utter that with\nthy tongue which thou wouldest not make good with thy deeds.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn very truth,\u201d said Guenever, \u201cit were better thou wert hanged, Kay,\nthan to use such uncourteous speech towards a man like Owain.\u201d\n\n\u201cBy the hand of my friend, good lady,\u201d said Kay, \u201cthy praise of Owain is\nnot greater than mine.\u201d\n\nWith that Arthur awoke, and asked if he had not been sleeping a little.\n\n\u201cYes, lord,\u201d answered Owain, \u201cthou hast slept awhile.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs it time for us to go to meat?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is, lord,\u201d said Owain.\n\nThen the horn for washing was sounded, and the king and all his\nhousehold sat down to eat. And when the meal was ended Owain withdrew to\nhis lodging, and made ready his horse and his arms.\n\nOn the morrow with the dawn of day he put on his armor, and mounted his\ncharger, and travelled through distant lands, and over desert mountains.\nAnd at length he arrived at the valley which Kynon had described to him,\nand he was certain that it was the same that he sought. And journeying\nalong the valley, by the side of the river, he followed its course till\nhe came to the plain, and within sight of the castle. When he approached\nthe castle he saw the youths shooting with their bows, in the place\nwhere Kynon had seen them, and the yellow man, to whom the castle\nbelonged, standing hard by. And no sooner had Owain saluted the yellow\nman, than he was saluted by him in return.\n\nAnd he went forward towards the castle, and there he saw the chamber;\nand when he had entered the chamber, he beheld the maidens working at\nsatin embroidery, in chains of gold. And their beauty and their\ncomeliness seemed to Owain far greater than Kynon had represented to\nhim. And they arose to wait upon Owain, as they had done to Kynon. And\nthe meal which they set before him gave even more satisfaction to Owain\nthan it had done to Kynon.\n\nAbout the middle of the repast the yellow man asked Owain the object of\nhis journey. And Owain made it known to him, and said, \u201cI am in quest of\nthe knight who guards the fountain.\u201d Upon this the yellow man smiled,\nand said that he was as loth to point out that adventure to him as he\nhad been to Kynon. However, he described the whole to Owain, and they\nretired to rest.\n\nThe next morning Owain found his horse made ready for him by the\ndamsels, and he set forward and came to the glade where the black man\nwas. And the stature of the black man seemed more wonderful to Owain\nthan it had done to Kynon; and Owain asked of him his road, and he\nshowed it to him. And Owain followed the road till he came to the green\ntree; and he beheld the fountain, and the slab beside the fountain, with\nthe bowl upon it. And Owain took the bowl and threw a bowlful of water\nupon the slab. And, lo! the thunder was heard, and after the thunder\ncame the shower, more violent than Kynon had described, and after the\nshower the sky became bright. And immediately the birds came and settled\nupon the tree and sang. And when their song was most pleasing to Owain\nhe beheld a knight coming towards him through the valley; and he\nprepared to receive him, and encountered him violently. Having broken\nboth their lances, they drew their swords and fought blade to blade.\nThen Owain struck the knight a blow through his helmet, head-piece, and\nvisor, and through the skin, and the flesh, and the bone, until it\nwounded the very brain. Then the black knight felt that he had received\na mortal wound, upon which he turned his horse\u2019s head and fled. And\nOwain pursued him and followed close upon him, although he was not near\nenough to strike him with his sword. Then Owain descried a vast and\nresplendent castle; and they came to the castle gate. And the black\nknight was allowed to enter, and the portcullis was let fall upon Owain;\nand it struck his horse behind the saddle, and cut him in two, and\ncarried away the rowels of the spurs that were upon Owain\u2019s heels. And\nthe portcullis descended to the floor. And the rowels of the spurs and\npart of the horse were without, and Owain with the other part of the\nhorse remained between the two gates, and the inner gate was closed, so\nthat Owain could not go thence; and Owain was in a perplexing situation.\nAnd while he was in this state, he could see through an aperture in the\ngate a street facing him, with a row of houses on each side. And he\nbeheld a maiden, with yellow, curling hair, and a frontlet of gold upon\nher head; and she was clad in a dress of yellow satin, and on her feet\nwere shoes of variegated leather. And she approached the gate, and\ndesired that it should be opened. \u201cHeaven knows, lady,\u201d said Owain, \u201cit\nis no more possible for me to open to thee from hence, than it is for\nthee to set me free.\u201d And he told her his name, and who he was. \u201cTruly,\u201d\nsaid the damsel, \u201cit is very sad that thou canst not be released; and\nevery woman ought to succor thee, for I know there is no one more\nfaithful in the service of ladies than thou. Therefore,\u201d quoth she,\n\u201cwhatever is in my power to do for thy release, I will do it. Take this\nring and put it on thy finger, with the stone inside thy hand, and close\nthy hand upon the stone. And as long as thou concealest it, it will\nconceal thee. When they come forth to fetch thee, they will be much\ngrieved that they cannot find thee. And I will await thee on the\nhorseblock yonder, and thou wilt be able to see me, though I cannot see\nthee. Therefore come and place thy hand upon my shoulder, that I may\nknow that thou art near me. And by the way that I go hence do thou\naccompany me.\u201d\n\nThen the maiden went away from Owain, and he did all that she had told\nhim. And the people of the castle came to seek Owain to put him to\ndeath; and when they found nothing but the half of his horse, they were\nsorely grieved.\n\nAnd Owain vanished from among them, and went to the maiden, and placed\nhis hand upon her shoulder; whereupon she set off, and Owain followed\nher, until they came to the door of a large and beautiful chamber, and\nthe maiden opened it, and they went in. And Owain looked around the\nchamber, and behold there was not a single nail in it that was not\npainted with gorgeous colors, and there was not a single panel that had\nnot sundry images in gold portrayed upon it.\n\nThe maiden kindled a fire, and took water in a silver bowl, and gave\nOwain water to wash. Then she placed before him a silver table, inlaid\nwith gold; upon which was a cloth of yellow linen, and she brought him\nfood. And, of a truth, Owain never saw any kind of meat that was not\nthere in abundance, but it was better cooked there than he had ever\nfound it in any other place. And there was not one vessel from which he\nwas served that was not of gold or of silver. And Owain ate and drank\nuntil late in the afternoon, when lo! they heard a mighty clamor in the\ncastle, and Owain asked the maiden what it was. \u201cThey are administering\nextreme unction,\u201d said she, \u201cto the nobleman who owns the castle.\u201d And\nshe prepared a couch for Owain which was meet for Arthur himself, and\nOwain went to sleep.\n\nAnd a little after daybreak he heard an exceeding loud clamor and\nwailing, and he asked the maiden what was the cause of it. \u201cThey are\nbearing to the church the body of the nobleman who owned the castle.\u201d\n\nAnd Owain rose up, and clothed himself, and opened a window of the\nchamber, and looked towards the castle; and he could see neither the\nbounds nor the extent of the hosts that filled the streets. And they\nwere fully armed; and a vast number of women were with them, both on\nhorseback and on foot, and all the ecclesiastics in the city singing. In\nthe midst of the throng he beheld the bier, over which was a veil of\nwhite linen; and wax tapers were burning beside and around it; and none\nthat supported the bier was lower in rank than a powerful baron.\n\nNever did Owain see an assemblage so gorgeous with silk[59] and satin.\nAnd, following the train, he beheld a lady with yellow hair falling over\nher shoulders, and stained with blood; and about her a dress of yellow\nsatin, which was torn. Upon her feet were shoes of variegated leather.\nAnd it was a marvel that the ends of her fingers were not bruised from\nthe violence with which she smote her hands together. Truly she would\nhave been the fairest lady Owain ever saw, had she been in her usual\nguise. And her cry was louder than the shout of the men or the clamor of\nthe trumpets. No sooner had he beheld the lady than he became inflamed\nwith her love, so that it took entire possession of him.\n\nThen he inquired of the maiden who the lady was. \u201cHeaven knows,\u201d replied\nthe maiden, \u201cshe is the fairest and the most chaste, and the most\nliberal, and the most noble of women. She is my mistress, and she is\ncalled the Countess of the Fountain, the wife of him whom thou didst\nslay yesterday.\u201d \u201cVerily,\u201d said Owain, \u201cshe is the woman that I love\nbest.\u201d \u201cVerily,\u201d said the maiden, \u201cshe shall also love thee, not a\nlittle.\u201d\n\nThen the maiden prepared a repast for Owain, and truly he thought he had\nnever before so good a meal, nor was he ever so well served. Then she\nleft him, and went towards the castle. When she came there, she found\nnothing but mourning and sorrow; and the Countess in her chamber could\nnot bear the sight of any one through grief. Luned, for that was the\nname of the maiden, saluted her, but the Countess answered her not. And\nthe maiden bent down towards her, and said, \u201cWhat aileth thee, that thou\nanswereth no one to-day?\u201d \u201cLuned,\u201d said the Countess, \u201cwhat change hath\nbefallen thee, that thou hast not come to visit me in my grief. It was\nwrong in thee, and I so sorely afflicted.\u201d \u201cTruly,\u201d said Luned, \u201cI\nthought thy good sense was greater than I find it to be. Is it well for\nthee to mourn after that good man, or for anything else that thou canst\nnot have?\u201d \u201cI declare to Heaven,\u201d said the Countess, \u201cthat in the whole\nworld there is not a man equal to him.\u201d \u201cNot so,\u201d said Luned, \u201cfor an\nugly man would be as good as or better than he.\u201d \u201cI declare to Heaven,\u201d\nsaid the Countess, \u201cthat were it not repugnant to me to put to death one\nwhom I have brought up, I would have thee executed for making such a\ncomparison to me. As it is, I will banish thee.\u201d \u201cI am glad,\u201d said\nLuned, \u201cthat thou hast no other cause to do so than that I would have\nbeen of service to thee, where thou didst not know what was to thine\nadvantage. Henceforth, evil betide whichever of us shall make the first\nadvance towards reconciliation to the other, whether I should seek an\ninvitation from thee, or thou of thine own accord should send to\ninvite.\u201d\n\nWith that Luned went forth; and the Countess arose and followed her to\nthe door of the chamber, and began coughing loudly. And when Luned\nlooked back, the Countess beckoned to her, and she returned to the\nCountess. \u201cIn truth,\u201d said the Countess, \u201cevil is thy disposition; but\nif thou knowest what is to my advantage, declare it to me.\u201d \u201cI will do\nso,\u201d said she.\n\n\u201cThou knowest that, except by warfare and arms, it is impossible for\nthee to preserve thy possessions; delay not, therefore, to seek some one\nwho can defend them.\u201d \u201cAnd how can I do that?\u201d said the Countess. \u201cI\nwill tell thee,\u201d said Luned; \u201cunless thou canst defend the fountain,\nthou canst not maintain thy dominions; and no one can defend the\nfountain except it be a knight of Arthur\u2019s household. I will go to\nArthur\u2019s court, and ill betide me if I return not thence with a warrior\nwho can guard the fountain as well as, or even better than, he who\ndefended it formerly.\u201d \u201cThat will be hard to perform,\u201d said the\nCountess. \u201cGo, however, and make proof of that which thou hast\npromised.\u201d\n\nLuned set out under the pretence of going to Arthur\u2019s court; but she\nwent back to the mansion where she had left Owain, and she tarried there\nas long as it might have taken her to travel to the court of King Arthur\nand back. And at the end of that time she apparelled herself, and went\nto visit the Countess. And the Countess was much rejoiced when she saw\nher, and inquired what news she brought from the court. \u201cI bring thee\nthe best of news,\u201d said Luned, \u201cfor I have compassed the object of my\nmission. When wilt thou that I should present to thee the chieftain who\nhas come with me hither?\u201d \u201cBring him here to visit me to-morrow,\u201d said\nthe Countess, \u201cand I will cause the town to be assembled by that time.\u201d\n\nAnd Luned returned home. And the next day at noon, Owain arrayed himself\nin a coat and a surcoat, and a mantle of yellow satin, upon which was a\nbroad band of gold lace; and on his feet were high shoes of variegated\nleather, which were fastened by golden clasps, in the form of lions. And\nthey proceeded to the chamber of the Countess.\n\nRight glad was the Countess of their coming. And she gazed steadfastly\nupon Owain, and said, \u201cLuned, this knight has not the look of a\ntraveller.\u201d \u201cWhat harm is there in that, lady?\u201d said Luned. \u201cI am\ncertain,\u201d said the Countess, \u201cthat no other man than this chased the\nsoul from the body of my lord.\u201d \u201cSo much the better for thee, lady,\u201d\nsaid Luned, \u201cfor had he not been stronger than thy lord, he could not\nhave deprived him of life. There is no remedy for that which is past, be\nit as it may.\u201d \u201cGo back to thine abode,\u201d said the Countess, \u201cand I will\ntake counsel.\u201d\n\nThe next day the Countess caused all her subjects to assemble, and\nshowed them that her earldom was left defenceless, and that it could not\nbe protected but with horse and arms, and military skill. \u201cTherefore,\u201d\nsaid she, \u201cthis is what I offer for your choice: either let one of you\ntake me, or give your consent for me to take a husband from elsewhere,\nto defend my dominions.\u201d\n\nSo they came to the determination that it was better that she should\nhave permission to marry some one from elsewhere; and thereupon she sent\nfor the bishops and archbishops, to celebrate her nuptials with Owain.\nAnd the men of the earldom did Owain homage.\n\nAnd Owain defended the fountain with lance and sword. And this is the\nmanner in which he defended it. Whensoever a knight came there, he\noverthrew him, and sold him for his full worth. And what he thus gained\nhe divided among his barons and his knights, and no man in the whole\nworld could be more beloved than he was by his subjects. And it was thus\nfor the space of three years.[60]\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER IV\n\n THE LADY OF THE FOUNTAIN (_Continued_)\n\n GAWAIN\u2019S ADVENTURE\n\nIT befell that, as Gawain went forth one day with King Arthur, he\nperceived him to be very sad and sorrowful. And Gawain was much grieved\nto see Arthur in his state, and he questioned him, saying, \u201cO my lord,\nwhat has befallen thee?\u201d \u201cIn sooth, Gawain,\u201d said Arthur, \u201cI am grieved\nconcerning Owain, whom I have lost these three years; and I shall\ncertainly die if the fourth year pass without my seeing him. Now I am\nsure that it is through the tale which Kynon, the son of Clydno,\nrelated, that I have lost Owain.\u201d \u201cThere is no need for thee,\u201d said\nGawain, \u201cto summon to arms thy whole dominions on this account, for thou\nthyself, and the men of thy household, will be able to avenge Owain if\nhe be slain or to set him free if he be in prison; and, if alive, to\nbring him back with thee.\u201d And it was settled according to what Gawain\nhad said.\n\nThen Arthur and the men of his household prepared to go and seek Owain.\nAnd Kynon, the son of Clydno, acted as their guide. And Arthur came to\nthe castle where Kynon had been before. And when he came there, the\nyouths were shooting in the same place, and the yellow man was standing\nhard by. When the yellow man saw Arthur, he greeted him, and invited him\nto the castle. And Arthur accepted his invitation, and they entered the\ncastle together. And great as was the number of his retinue, their\npresence was scarcely observed in the castle, so vast was its extent.\nAnd the maidens rose up to wait on them. And the service of the maidens\nappeared to them all to excel any attendance they had ever met with; and\neven the pages, who had charge of the horses, were no worse served that\nnight than Arthur himself would have been in his own palace.\n\nThe next morning Arthur set out thence, with Kynon for his guide, and\ncame to the place where the black man was. And the stature of the black\nman was more surprising to Arthur than it had been represented to him.\nAnd they came to the top of the wooded steep, and traversed the valley,\ntill they reached the green tree, where they saw the fountain and the\nbowl and the slab. And upon that Kay came to Arthur, and spoke to him.\n\u201cMy lord,\u201d said he, \u201cI know the meaning of all this, and my request is\nthat thou wilt permit me to throw the water on the slab, and to receive\nthe first adventure that may befall.\u201d And Arthur gave him leave.\n\nThen Kay threw a bowlful of water upon the slab, and immediately there\ncame the thunder, and after the thunder the shower. And such a\nthunder-storm they had never known before. After the shower had ceased,\nthe sky became clear, and on looking at the tree, they beheld it\ncompletely leafless. Then the birds descended upon the tree. And the\nsong of the birds was far sweeter than any strain they had ever heard\nbefore. Then they beheld a knight, on a coal-black horse, clothed in\nblack satin, coming rapidly towards them. And Kay met him and\nencountered him, and it was not long before Kay was overthrown. And the\nknight withdrew. And Arthur and his host encamped for the night.\n\nAnd when they arose in the morning, they perceived the signal of combat\nupon the lance of the knight. Then, one by one, all the household of\nArthur went forth to combat the knight, until there was not one that was\nnot overthrown by him, except Arthur and Gawain. And Arthur armed\nhimself to encounter the knight. \u201cO my lord,\u201d said Gawain, \u201cpermit me to\nfight with him first.\u201d And Arthur permitted him. And he went forth to\nmeet the knight, having over himself and his horse a satin robe of\nhonor, which had been sent him by the daughter of the Earl of Rhangyr,\nand in this dress he was not known by any of the host. And they charged\neach other, and fought all that day until the evening. And neither of\nthem was able to unhorse the other. And so it was the next day; they\nbroke their lances in the shock, but neither of them could obtain the\nmastery.\n\nAnd the third day they fought with exceeding strong lances. And they\nwere incensed with rage, and fought furiously, even until noon. And they\ngave each other such a shock that the girths of their horses were\nbroken, so that they fell over their horses\u2019 cruppers to the ground. And\nthey rose up speedily and drew their swords, and resumed the combat. And\nall they that witnessed their encounter felt assured that they had never\nbefore seen two men so valiant or so powerful. And had it been midnight,\nit would have been light, from the fire that flashed from their weapons.\nAnd the knight gave Gawain a blow that turned his helmet from off his\nface, so that the knight saw that it was Gawain. Then Owain said, \u201cMy\nlord Gawain, I did not know thee for my cousin, owing to the robe of\nhonor that enveloped thee; take my sword and my arms.\u201d Said Gawain,\n\u201cThou, Owain, art the victor; take thou my sword.\u201d And with that Arthur\nsaw that they were conversing, and advanced toward them. \u201cMy lord\nArthur,\u201d said Gawain, \u201chere is Owain who has vanquished me, and will not\ntake my arms.\u201d \u201cMy lord,\u201d said Owain, \u201cit is he that has vanquished me,\nand he will not take my sword.\u201d \u201cGive me your swords,\u201d said Arthur, \u201cand\nthen neither of you has vanquished the other.\u201d Then Owain put his arms\naround Arthur\u2019s neck, and they embraced. And all the host hurried\nforward to see Owain, and to embrace him. And there was nigh being a\nloss of life, so great was the press.\n\nAnd they retired that night, and the next day Arthur prepared to depart.\n\u201cMy lord,\u201d said Owain, \u201cthis is not well of thee. For I have been absent\nfrom thee these three years, and during all that time, up to this very\nday, I have been preparing a banquet for thee, knowing that thou wouldst\ncome to seek me. Tarry with me, therefore, until thou and thy attendants\nhave recovered the fatigues of the journey, and have been anointed.\u201d\n\nAnd they all proceeded to the castle of the Countess of the Fountain,\nand the banquet which had been three years preparing was consumed in\nthree months. Never had they a more delicious or agreeable banquet. And\nArthur prepared to depart. Then he sent an embassy to the Countess to\nbeseech her to permit Owain to go with him, for the space of three\nmonths, that he might show him to the nobles and the fair dames of the\nisland of Britain. And the Countess gave her consent, although it was\nvery painful to her. So Owain came with Arthur to the island of Britain.\nAnd when he was once more amongst his kindred and friends, he remained\nthree years, instead of three months, with them.\n\n THE ADVENTURE OF THE LION\n\nAnd as Owain one day sat at meat, in the city of Caerleon upon Usk,\nbehold a damsel entered the hall, upon a bay horse,[61] with a curling\nmane, and covered with foam; and the bridle, and as much as was seen of\nthe saddle, were of gold. And the damsel was arrayed in a dress of\nyellow satin. And she came up to Owain, and took the ring from off his\nhand. \u201cThus,\u201d said she, \u201cshall be treated the deceiver, the traitor, the\nfaithless, the disgraced, and the beardless.\u201d And she turned her horse\u2019s\nhead and departed.\n\nThen his adventure came to Owain\u2019s remembrance, and he was sorrowful.\nAnd having finished eating, he went to his own abode, and made\npreparations that night. And the next day he arose, but did not go to\nthe court, nor did he return to the Countess of the Fountain, but\nwandered to the distant parts of the earth and to uncultivated\nmountains. And he remained there until all his apparel was worn out, and\nhis body was wasted away, and his hair was grown long. And he went about\nwith the wild beasts, and fed with them, until they became familiar with\nhim. But at length he became so weak that he could no longer bear them\ncompany. Then he descended from the mountains to the valley, and came to\na park, that was the fairest in the world, and belonged to a charitable\nlady.\n\nOne day the lady and her attendants went forth to walk by a lake that\nwas in the middle of the park. And they saw the form of a man, lying as\nif dead. And they were terrified. Nevertheless they went near him, and\ntouched him, and they saw that there was life in him. And the lady\nreturned to the castle, and took a flask full of precious ointment and\ngave it to one of her maidens. \u201cGo with this,\u201d said she, \u201cand take with\nthee yonder horse, and clothing, and place them near the man we saw just\nnow; and anoint him with this balsam near his heart; and if there is\nlife in him, he will revive, through the efficiency of this balsam. Then\nwatch what he will do.\u201d\n\nAnd the maiden departed from her, and went and poured of the balsam upon\nOwain, and left the horse and the garments hard by, and went a little\nway off and hid herself to watch him. In a short time, she saw him begin\nto move; and he rose up, and looked at his person, and became ashamed of\nthe unseemliness of his appearance. Then he perceived the horse and the\ngarments that were near him. And he clothed himself, and with difficulty\nmounted the horse. Then the damsel discovered herself to him, and\nsaluted him. And he and the maiden proceeded to the castle, and the\nmaiden conducted him to a pleasant chamber, and kindled a fire, and left\nhim.\n\nAnd he stayed at the castle three months, till he was restored to his\nformer guise, and became even more comely than he had ever been before.\nAnd Owain rendered signal service to the lady, in a controversy with a\npowerful neighbor, so that he made ample requital to her for her\nhospitality; and he took his departure.\n\nAnd as he journeyed he heard a loud yelling in a wood. And it was\nrepeated a second and a third time. And Owain went towards the spot, and\nbeheld a huge craggy mound, in the middle of the wood, on the side of\nwhich was a gray rock. And there was a cleft in the rock, and a serpent\nwas within the cleft. And near the rock stood a black lion, and every\ntime the lion sought to go thence the serpent darted towards him to\nattack him. And Owain unsheathed his sword, and drew near to the rock;\nand as the serpent sprung out he struck him with his sword and cut him\nin two. And he dried his sword, and went on his way as before. But\nbehold the lion followed him, and played about him, as though it had\nbeen a greyhound that he had reared.\n\nThey proceeded thus throughout the day, until the evening. And when it\nwas time for Owain to take his rest he dismounted, and turned his horse\nloose in a flat and wooded meadow. And he struck fire, and when the fire\nwas kindled, the lion brought him fuel enough to last for three nights.\nAnd the lion disappeared. And presently the lion returned, bearing a\nfine large roebuck. And he threw it down before Owain, who went towards\nthe fire with it.\n\nAnd Owain took the roebuck, and skinned it, and placed collops of its\nflesh upon skewers round the fire. The rest of the buck he gave to the\nlion to devour. While he was so employed, he heard a deep groan near\nhim, and a second, and a third. And the place whence the groans\nproceeded was a cave in the rock; and Owain went near, and called out to\nknow who it was that groaned so piteously. And a voice answered, \u201cI am\nLuned, the hand-maiden of the Countess of the Fountain.\u201d \u201cAnd what dost\nthou here?\u201d said he. \u201cI am imprisoned,\u201d said she, \u201con account of the\nknight who came from Arthur\u2019s court, and married the Countess. And he\nstaid a short time with her, but he afterwards departed for the court of\nArthur, and has not returned since. And two of the Countess\u2019s pages\ntraduced him, and called him a deceiver. And because I said I would\nvouch for it he would come before long and maintain his cause against\nboth of them, they imprisoned me in this cave, and said that I should be\nput to death, unless he came to deliver me, by a certain day; and that\nis no further off than to-morrow, and I have no one to send to seek him\nfor me. His name is Owain, the son of Urien.\u201d \u201cAnd art thou certain that\nif that knight knew all this, he would come to thy rescue?\u201d \u201cI am most\ncertain of it,\u201d said she.\n\nWhen the collops were cooked, Owain divided them into two parts, between\nhimself and the maiden, and then Owain laid himself down to sleep; and\nnever did sentinel keep stricter watch over his lord than the lion that\nnight over Owain.\n\nAnd the next day there came the two pages with a great troop of\nattendants to take Luned from her cell, and put her to death. And Owain\nasked them what charge they had against her. And they told him of the\ncompact that was between them; as the maiden had done the night before.\n\u201cAnd,\u201d said they, \u201cOwain has failed her, therefore we are taking her to\nbe burnt.\u201d \u201cTruly,\u201d said Owain, \u201che is a good knight; and if he knew\nthat the maiden was in such peril, I marvel that he came not to her\nrescue. But if you will accept me in his stead, I will do battle with\nyou.\u201d \u201cWe will,\u201d said the youth.\n\nAnd they attacked Owain, and he was hard beset by them. And with that,\nthe lion came to Owain\u2019s assistance, and they two got the better of the\nyoung men. And they said to him, \u201cChieftain, it was not agreed that we\nshould fight save with thyself alone, and it is harder for us to contend\nwith yonder animal than with thee.\u201d And Owain put the lion in the place\nwhere Luned had been imprisoned, and blocked up the door with stones.\nAnd he went to fight with the young men as before. But Owain had not his\nusual strength, and the two youths pressed hard upon him. And the lion\nroared incessantly at seeing Owain in trouble. And he brust through the\nwall, until he found a way out, and rushed upon the young men and\ninstantly slew them. So Luned was saved from being burned.\n\nThen Owain returned with Luned to the castle of the Lady of the\nFountain. And when he went thence, he took the Countess with him to\nArthur\u2019s court, and she was his wife as long as she lived.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER V\n\n GERAINT, THE SON OF ERBIN\n\nARTHUR was accustomed to hold his court at Caerleon upon Usk. And there\nhe held it seven Easters and five Christmases. And once upon a time he\nheld his court there at Whitsuntide. For Caerleon was the place most\neasy of access in his dominions, both by sea and by land. And there were\nassembled nine crowned kings, who were his tributaries, and likewise\nearls and barons. For they were his invited guests at all the high\nfestivals, unless they were prevented by any great hinderance. And when\nhe was at Caerleon holding his court, thirteen churches were set apart\nfor mass. And thus they were appointed: one church for Arthur and his\nkings, and his guests; and the second for Guenever and her ladies; and\nthe third for the steward of the household and the suitors; and the\nfourth for the Franks and the other officers; and the other nine\nchurches were for the nine masters of the household, and chiefly for\nGawain, for he, from the eminence of his warlike fame, and from the\nnobleness of his birth, was the most exalted of the nine. And there was\nno other arrangement respecting the churches than that which we have\nhere mentioned.\n\nAnd on Whit-Tuesday, as the king sat at the banquet, lo, there entered a\ntall, fair-headed youth, clad in a coat and surcoat of satin, and a\ngolden-hilted sword about his neck, and low shoes of leather upon his\nfeet. And he came and stood before Arthur. \u201cHail to thee, lord,\u201d said\nhe. \u201cHeaven prosper thee,\u201d he answered, \u201cand be thou welcome. Dost thou\nbring any new tidings?\u201d \u201cI do, lord,\u201d he said. \u201cI am one of thy\nforesters, lord, in the forest of Dean, and my name is Madoc, son of\nTurgadarn. In the forest I saw a stag, the like of which beheld I never\nyet.\u201d \u201cWhat is there about him,\u201d asked Arthur, \u201cthat thou never yet\ndidst see his like?\u201d \u201cHe is of pure white, lord, and he does not herd\nwith any other animal, through stateliness and pride, so royal is his\nbearing. And I come to seek thy counsel, lord, and to know thy will\nconcerning him.\u201d \u201cIt seems best to me,\u201d said Arthur, \u201cto go and hunt him\nto-morrow at break of day, and to cause general notice thereof to be\ngiven to-night, in all quarters of the court.\u201d\n\n \u201cFor Arthur on the Whitsuntide before\n Held court at old Caerleon upon Usk.\n There on a day, he sitting high in hall,\n Before him came a forester of Dean,\n Wet from the woods, with notice of a hart\n Taller than all his fellows, milky-white,\n First seen that day: these things he told the king.\n Then the good king gave order to let blow\n His horns for hunting on the morrow morn.\u201d\n \u2014_Enid._\n\nAnd Arryfuerys was Arthur\u2019s chief huntsman, and Arelivri his chief page.\nAnd all received notice; and thus it was arranged.\n\nThen Guenever said to Arthur, \u201cWilt thou permit me, lord, to go\nto-morrow to see and hear the hunt of the stag of which the young man\nspoke?\u201d \u201cI will gladly,\u201d said Arthur. And Gawain said to Arthur, \u201cLord,\nif it seem well to thee, permit that into whose hunt soever the stag\nshall come, that one, be he a knight or one on foot, may cut off his\nhead, and give it to whom he pleases, whether to his own lady-love, or\nto the lady of his friend.\u201d \u201cI grant it gladly,\u201d said Arthur, \u201cand let\nthe steward of the household be chastised, if all things are not ready\nto-morrow for the chase.\u201d\n\nAnd they passed the night with songs, and diversions, and discourse, and\nample entertainment. And when it was time for them all to go to sleep,\nthey went. And when the next day came, they arose. And Arthur called the\nattendants who guarded his couch. And there were four pages whose names\nwere Cadyrnerth, the son of Gandwy, and Ambreu, the son of Bedwor and\nAmhar, the son of Arthur and Goreu, the son of Custennin. And these men\ncame to Arthur and saluted him, and arrayed him in his garments. And\nArthur wondered that Guenever did not awake, and the attendants wished\nto awaken her. \u201cDisturb her not,\u201d said Arthur, \u201cfor she had rather sleep\nthan go to see the hunting.\u201d\n\nThen Arthur went forth, and he heard two horns sounding, one from near\nthe lodging of the chief huntsman, and the other from near that of the\nchief page. And the whole assembly of the multitudes came to Arthur, and\nthey took the road to the forest.\n\nAnd after Arthur had gone forth from the palace, Guenever awoke, and\ncalled to her maidens, and apparalled herself. \u201cMaidens,\u201d said she, \u201cI\nhad leave last night to go and see the hunt. Go one of you to the\nstable, and order hither a horse such as a woman may ride.\u201d And one of\nthem went, and she found but two horses in the stable; and Guenever and\none of her maidens mounted them, and went through the Usk, and followed\nthe track of the men and the horses. And as they rode thus, they heard a\nloud and rushing sound; and they looked behind them, and beheld a knight\nupon a hunter foal of mighty size. And the rider was a fair-haired\nyouth, bare-legged, and of princely mien; and a golden-hilted sword was\nat his side, and a robe and a surcoat of satin were upon him, and two\nlow shoes of leather upon his feet; and around him was a scarf of blue\npurple, at each corner of which was a golden apple.\n\n \u201cFor Prince Geraint,\n Late also, wearing neither hunting-dress\n Nor weapon, save a golden-hilted brand,\n Came quickly flashing through the shallow ford.\u201d\n \u2014_Enid._\n\nAnd his horse stepped stately, and swift, and proud; and he overtook\nGuenever, and saluted her. \u201cHeaven prosper thee, Geraint,\u201d said she;\n\u201cand why didst thou not go with thy lord to hunt?\u201d \u201cBecause I knew not\nwhen he went,\u201d said he. \u201cI marvel too,\u201d said she, \u201chow he could go,\nunknown to me. But thou, O young man, art the most agreeable companion I\ncould have in the whole kingdom; and it may be I shall be more amused\nwith the hunting than they; for we shall hear the horns when they sound\nand we shall hear the dogs when they are let loose and begin to cry.\u201d\n\nSo they went to the edge of the forest, and there they stood. \u201cFrom this\nplace,\u201d said she, \u201cwe shall hear when the dogs are let loose.\u201d And\nthereupon they heard a loud noise; and they looked towards the spot\nwhence it came, and they beheld a dwarf riding upon a horse, stately and\nfoaming and prancing and strong and spirited. And in the hand of the\ndwarf was a whip. And near the dwarf they saw a lady upon a beautiful\nwhite horse, of steady and stately pace; and she was clothed in a\ngarment of gold brocade. And near her was a knight upon a war-horse of\nlarge size, with heavy and bright armor both upon himself and upon his\nhorse. And truly they never before saw a knight, or a horse, or armor,\nof such remarkable size.\n\n\u201cGeraint,\u201d said Guenever, \u201cknowest thou the name of that tall knight\nyonder?\u201d \u201cI know him not,\u201d said he, \u201cand the strange armor that he wears\nprevents my either seeing his face or his features.\u201d \u201cGo, maiden,\u201d said\nGuenever, \u201cand ask the dwarf who that knight is.\u201d Then the maiden went\nup to the dwarf; and she inquired of the dwarf who the knight was. \u201cI\nwill not tell thee,\u201d he answered. \u201cSince thou art so churlish,\u201d said\nshe, \u201cI will ask him, himself.\u201d \u201cThou shalt not ask him, by my faith,\u201d\nsaid he. \u201cWherefore not?\u201d said she. \u201cBecause thou art not of honor\nsufficient to befit thee to speak to my lord.\u201d Then the maiden turned\nher horse\u2019s head towards the knight, upon which the dwarf struck her\nwith the whip that was in his hand across the face and the eyes, so that\nthe blood flowed forth. And the maiden returned to Guenever, complaining\nof the hurt she had received. \u201cVery rudely has the dwarf treated thee,\u201d\nsaid Geraint, and he put his hand upon the hilt of his sword. But he\ntook counsel with himself, and considered that it would be no vengeance\nfor him to slay the dwarf, and to be attacked unarmed by the armed\nknight; so he refrained.\n\n\u201cLady,\u201d said he, \u201cI will follow him, with thy permission, and at last he\nwill come to some inhabited place, where I may have arms, either as a\nloan or for a pledge, so that I may encounter the knight.\u201d \u201cGo,\u201d said\nshe, \u201cand do not attack him until thou hast good arms; and I shall be\nvery anxious concerning thee, until I hear tidings of thee.\u201d \u201cIf I am\nalive,\u201d said he, \u201cthou shalt hear tidings of me by to-morrow afternoon;\u201d\nand with that he departed.\n\nAnd the road they took was below the palace of Caerleon, and across the\nford of the Usk; and they went along a fair and even and lofty ridge of\nground, until they came to a town, and at the extremity of the town they\nsaw a fortress and a castle. And as the knight passed through the town\nall the people arose and saluted him, and bade him welcome. And when\nGeraint came into the town, he looked at every house to see if he knew\nany of those whom he saw. But he knew none, and none knew him, to do him\nthe kindness to let him have arms, either as a loan or for a pledge. And\nevery house he saw was full of men, and arms, and horses. And they were\npolishing shields, and burnishing swords, and washing armor, and shoeing\nhorses. And the knight and the lady and the dwarf rode up to the castle,\nthat was in the town, and every one was glad in the castle. And from the\nbattlements and the gates they risked their necks, through their\neagerness to greet them, and to show their joy.\n\nGeraint stood there to see whether the knight would remain in the\ncastle; and when he was certain that he would do so, he looked around\nhim. And at a little distance from the town he saw an old palace in\nruins, wherein was a hall that was falling to decay.\n\n \u201cAnd high above a piece of turret-stair,\n Worn by the feet that now were silent, wound\n Bare to the sun.\u201d\n \u2014_Enid._\n\nAnd as he knew not any one in the town, he went towards the old palace.\nAnd when he came near to the palace, he saw a hoary-headed man, standing\nby it, in tattered garments. And Geraint gazed steadfastly upon him.\nThen the hoary-headed man said to him, \u201cYoung man, wherefore art thou\nthoughtful?\u201d \u201cI am thoughtful,\u201d said he, \u201cbecause I know not where to\npass the night.\u201d \u201cWilt thou come forward this way, chieftain,\u201d said he,\n\u201cand thou shalt have of the best that can be procured for thee.\u201d So\nGeraint went forward. And the hoary-headed man led the way into the\nhall. And in the hall he dismounted, and he left there his horse. Then\nhe went on to the upper chamber with the hoary-headed man. And in the\nchamber he beheld an old woman, sitting on a cushion, with old, worn-out\ngarments upon her; yet it seemed to him that she must have been comely\nwhen in the bloom of youth. And beside her was a maiden, upon whom were\na vest and a veil that were old and beginning to be worn out. And truly\nhe never saw a maiden more full of comeliness and grace and beauty than\nshe. And the hoary-headed man said to the maiden, \u201cThere is no attendant\nfor the horse of this youth but thyself.\u201d \u201cI will render the best\nservice I am able,\u201d said she, \u201cboth to him and to his horse.\u201d And the\nmaiden disarrayed the youth, and then she furnished his horse with straw\nand corn; and then she returned to the chamber. And the hoary-headed man\nsaid to the maiden, \u201cGo to the town and bring hither the best that thou\ncanst find, both of food and of liquor.\u201d \u201cI will gladly, lord,\u201d said\nshe. And to the town went the maiden. And they conversed together while\nthe maiden was at the town. And, behold, the maiden came back, and a\nyouth with her, bearing on his back a costrel full of good purchased\nmead, and a quarter of a young bullock. And in the hands of the maiden\nwas a quantity of white bread, and she had some manchet bread in her\nveil, and she came into the chamber. \u201cI would not obtain better than\nthis,\u201d said she, \u201cnor with better should I have been trusted.\u201d \u201cIt is\ngood enough,\u201d said Geraint. And they caused the meat to be boiled; and\nwhen their food was ready, they sat down. And it was in this wise.\nGeraint sat between the hoary-headed man and his wife, and the maiden\nserved them. And they ate and drank.\n\nAnd when they had finished eating, Geraint talked with the hoary-headed\nman, and he asked him in the first place to whom belonged the palace\nthat he was in. \u201cTruly,\u201d said he, \u201cit was I that built it, and to me\nalso belonged the city and the castle which thou sawest.\u201d \u201cAlas!\u201d said\nGeraint, \u201chow is it that thou hast lost them now?\u201d \u201cI lost a great\nearldom as well as these,\u201d said he, \u201cand this is how I lost them. I had\na nephew, the son of my brother, and I took care of his possessions; but\nhe was impatient to enter upon them, so he made war upon me, and wrested\nfrom me not only his own, but also my estates, except this castle.\u201d\n\u201cGood sir,\u201d said Geraint, \u201cwilt thou tell me wherefore came the knight\nand the lady and the dwarf just now into the town, and what is the\npreparation which I saw, and the putting of arms in order?\u201d \u201cI will do\nso,\u201d said he. \u201cThe preparations are for the game that is to be held\nto-morrow by the young earl, which will be on this wise. In the midst of\na meadow which is here, two forks will be set up, and upon the two forks\na silver rod, and upon the silver rod a sparrow-hawk, and for the\nsparrow-hawk there will be a tournament. And to the tournament will go\nall the array thou didst see in the city, of men and of horses and of\narms. And with each man will go the lady he loves best; and no man can\njoust for the sparrow-hawk, except the lady he loves best be with him.\nAnd the knight that thou sawest has gained the sparrow-hawk these two\nyears; and if he gains it the third year, he will be called the Knight\nof the Sparrow-hawk from that time forth.\u201d \u201cSir,\u201d said Geraint, \u201cwhat is\nthy counsel to me concerning this knight, on account of the insult which\nthe maiden of Guenever received from the dwarf?\u201d And Geraint told the\nhoary-headed man what the insult was that the maiden had received. \u201cIt\nis not easy to counsel thee, inasmuch as thou hast neither dame nor\nmaiden belonging to thee, for whom thou canst joust. Yet I have arms\nhere, which thou couldst have, and there is my horse also, if he seem to\nthee better than thine own.\u201d \u201cAh, sir,\u201d said he, \u201cHeaven reward thee!\nBut my own horse to which I am accustomed, together with thine arms,\nwill suffice me. And if, when the appointed time shall come to-morrow\nthou wilt permit me, sir, to challenge for yonder maiden that is thy\ndaughter, I will engage, if I escape from the tournament, to love the\nmaiden as long as I live.\u201d \u201cGladly will I permit thee,\u201d said the\nhoary-headed man; \u201cand since thou dost thus resolve, it is necessary\nthat thy horse and arms should be ready to-morrow at break of day. For\nthen the Knight of the Sparrow-hawk will make proclamation, and ask the\nlady he loves best to take the sparrow-hawk; and if any deny it to her,\nby force will he defend her claim. And therefore,\u201d said the hoary-headed\nman, \u201cit is needful for thee to be there at daybreak, and we three will\nbe with thee.\u201d And thus was it settled.\n\nAnd at night they went to sleep. And before the dawn they arose and\narrayed themselves; and by the time that it was day, they were all four\nin the meadow. And there was the Knight of the Sparrow-hawk making the\nproclamation, and asking his lady-love to take the sparrow-hawk. \u201cTake\nit not,\u201d said Geraint, \u201cfor here is a maiden who is fairer, and more\nnoble, and more comely, and who has a better claim to it than thou.\u201d\nThen said the knight, \u201cIf thou maintainest the sparrow-hawk to be due to\nher, come forward and do battle with me.\u201d And Geraint went forward to\nthe top of the meadow, having upon himself and upon his horse armor\nwhich was heavy and rusty, and of uncouth shape. Then they encountered\neach other, and they broke a set of lances; and they broke a second set,\nand a third. And when the earl and his company saw the Knight of the\nSparrow-hawk gaining the mastery, there was shouting and joy and mirth\namongst them; and the hoary-headed man and his wife and his daughter\nwere sorrowful. And the hoary-headed man served Geraint with lances as\noften as he broke them, and the dwarf served the Knight of the\nSparrow-hawk. Then the hoary-headed man said to Geraint, \u201cO chieftain,\nsince no other will hold with thee, behold, here is the lance which was\nin my hand on the day when I received the honor of knighthood, and from\nthat time to this I never broke it, and it has an excellent point.\u201d Then\nGeraint took the lance, thanking the hoary-headed man. And thereupon the\ndwarf also brought a lance to his lord. \u201cBehold, here is a lance for\nthee, not less good than his,\u201d said the dwarf. \u201cAnd bethink thee that no\nknight ever withstood thee so long as this one has done.\u201d \u201cI declare to\nHeaven,\u201d said Geraint, \u201cthat unless death takes me quickly hence, he\nshall fare never the better for thy service.\u201d And Geraint pricked his\nhorse towards him from afar, and, warning him, he rushed upon him, and\ngave him a blow so severe, and furious, and fierce, upon the face of his\nshield, that he cleft it in two, and broke his armor, and burst his\ngirths, so that both he and his saddle were borne to the ground over the\nhorse\u2019s crupper. And Geraint dismounted quickly. And he was wroth, and\nhe drew his sword, and rushed fiercely upon him. Then the knight also\narose, and drew his sword against Geraint. And they fought on foot with\ntheir swords until their arms struck sparks of fire like stars from one\nanother; and thus they continued fighting until the blood and sweat\nobscured the light from their eyes. At length Geraint called to him all\nhis strength, and struck the knight upon the crown of his head, so that\nhe broke all his head-armor, and cut through all the flesh and the skin,\neven to the skull, until he wounded the bone.\n\nThen the knight fell upon his knees, and cast his sword from his hand,\nand besought mercy from Geraint. \u201cOf a truth,\u201d said he, \u201cI relinquish my\noverdaring and my pride, and crave thy mercy; and unless I have time to\ncommit myself to Heaven for my sins, and to talk with a priest, thy\nmercy will avail me little.\u201d \u201cI will grant thee grace upon this\ncondition,\u201d said Geraint, \u201cthat thou go to Guenever, the wife of Arthur,\nto do her satisfaction for the insult which her maiden received from thy\ndwarf. Dismount not from the time thou goest hence until thou comest\ninto the presence of Guenever, to make her what atonement shall be\nadjudged at the court of Arthur.\u201d \u201cThis will I do gladly; and who art\nthou?\u201d \u201cI am Geraint, the son of Erbin; and declare thou also who thou\nart.\u201d \u201cI am Edeyrn, the son of Nudd.\u201d Then he threw himself upon his\nhorse, and went forward to Arthur\u2019s court; and the lady he loved best\nwent before him, and the dwarf, with much lamentation.\n\nThen came the young earl and his hosts to Geraint, and saluted him, and\nbade him to his castle. \u201cI may not go,\u201d said Geraint; \u201cbut where I was\nlast night, there will I be to-night also.\u201d \u201cSince thou wilt none of my\ninviting, thou shalt have abundance of all that I can command for thee;\nand I will order ointment for thee, to recover thee from thy fatigues,\nand from the weariness that is upon thee.\u201d \u201cHeaven reward thee,\u201d said\nGeraint, \u201cand I will go to my lodging.\u201d And thus went Geraint and Earl\nYnywl, and his wife and his daughter. And when they reached the old\nmansion, the household servants and attendants of the young earl had\narrived, and had arranged all the apartments, dressing them with straw\nand with fire; and in a short time the ointment was ready, and Geraint\ncame there, and they washed his head. Then came the young earl, with\nforty honorable knights from among his attendants, and those who were\nbidden to the tournament. And Geraint came from the anointing. And the\nearl asked him to go to the hall to eat. \u201cWhere is the Earl Ynywl,\u201d said\nGeraint, \u201cand his wife and his daughter?\u201d \u201cThey are in the chamber\nyonder,\u201d said the earl\u2019s chamberlain, \u201carraying themselves in garments\nwhich the earl has caused to be brought for them.\u201d \u201cLet not the damsel\narray herself,\u201d said he, \u201cexcept in her vest and her veil, until she\ncome to the court of Arthur, to be clad by Guenever in such garments as\nshe may choose.\u201d So the maiden did not array herself.\n\nThen they all entered the hall, and they washed, and sat down to meat.\nAnd thus were they seated. On one side of Geraint sat the young earl,\nand Earl Ynywl beyond him, and on the other side of Geraint was the\nmaiden and her mother. And after these all sat according to their\nprecedence in honor. And they ate. And they were served abundantly, and\nthey received a profusion of divers kinds of gifts. Then they conversed\ntogether. And the young earl invited Geraint to visit him next day. \u201cI\nwill not, by Heaven,\u201d said Geraint. \u201cTo the court of Arthur will I go\nwith this maiden to-morrow. And it is enough for me, as long as Earl\nYnywl is in poverty and trouble; and I go chiefly to seek to add to his\nmaintenance.\u201d \u201cAh, chieftain,\u201d said the young earl, \u201cit is not by my\nfault that Earl Ynywl is without his possessions.\u201d \u201cBy my faith,\u201d said\nGeraint, \u201che shall not remain without them, unless death quickly takes\nme hence.\u201d \u201cO chieftain,\u201d said he, \u201cwith regard to the disagreement\nbetween me and Ynywl, I will gladly abide by thy counsel, and agree to\nwhat thou mayest judge right between us.\u201d \u201cI but ask thee,\u201d said\nGeraint, \u201cto restore to him what is his, and what he should have\nreceived from the time he lost his possessions even until this day.\u201d\n\u201cThat will I do, gladly, for thee,\u201d answered he. \u201cThen,\u201d said Geraint,\n\u201cwhosoever is here who owes homage to Ynywl, let him come forward, and\nperform it on the spot.\u201d And all the men did so; and by that treaty they\nabided. And his castle and his town, and all his possessions, were\nrestored to Ynywl. And he received back all that he had lost, even to\nthe smallest jewel.\n\nThen spoke Earl Ynywl to Geraint. \u201cChieftain,\u201d said he, \u201cbehold the\nmaiden for whom thou didst challenge at the tournament; I bestow her\nupon thee.\u201d \u201cShe shall go with me,\u201d said Geraint, \u201cto the court of\nArthur, and Arthur and Guenever, they shall dispose of her as they\nwill.\u201d And the next day they proceeded to Arthur\u2019s court. So far\nconcerning Geraint.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER VI\n\n GERAINT, THE SON OF ERBIN (_Continued_)\n\nNOW this is how Arthur hunted the stag. The men and the dogs were\ndivided into hunting-parties, and the dogs were let loose upon the stag.\nAnd the last dog that was let loose was the favorite dog of Arthur;\nCavall was his name. And he left all the other dogs behind him and\nturned the stag. And at the second turn the stag came toward the\nhunting-party of Arthur. And Arthur set upon him; and before he could be\nslain by any other, Arthur cut off his head. Then they sounded the\ndeath-horn for slaying and they all gathered round.\n\nThen came Kadyriath to Arthur and spoke to him. \u201cLord,\u201d said he,\n\u201cbehold, yonder is Guenever, and none with her save only one maiden.\u201d\n\u201cCommand Gildas, the son of Caw, and all the scholars of the court,\u201d\nsaid Arthur, \u201cto attend Guenever to the palace.\u201d And they did so.\n\nThen they all set forth, holding converse together concerning the head\nof the stag, to whom it should be given. One wished that it should be\ngiven to the lady best beloved by him, and another to the lady whom he\nloved best. And so they came to the palace. And when Arthur and Guenever\nheard them disputing about the head of the stag, Guenever said to\nArthur: \u201cMy lord, this is my counsel concerning the stag\u2019s head; let it\nnot be given away until Geraint, the son of Erbin, shall return from the\nerrand he is upon.\u201d And Guenever told Arthur what that errand was.\n\u201cRight gladly shall it be so,\u201d said Arthur. And Guenever caused a watch\nto be set upon the ramparts for Geraint\u2019s coming. And after midday they\nbeheld an unshapely little man upon a horse, and after him a dame or a\ndamsel, also on horseback, and after her a knight of large stature,\nbowed down, and hanging his head low and sorrowfully, and clad in broken\nand worthless armor.\n\nAnd before they came near to the gate one of the watch went to Guenever,\nand told her what kind of people they saw, and what aspect they bore. \u201cI\nknow not who they are,\u201d said he, \u201cBut _I_ know,\u201d said Guenever; \u201cthis is\nthe knight whom Geraint pursued, and methinks that he comes not here by\nhis own free will. But Geraint has overtaken him, and avenged the insult\nto the maiden to the uttermost.\u201d And thereupon, behold, a porter came to\nthe spot where Guenever was. \u201cLady,\u201d said he, \u201cat the gate there is a\nknight, and I saw never a man of so pitiful an aspect to look upon as\nhe. Miserable and broken is the armor that he wears, and the hue of\nblood is more conspicuous upon it than its own color.\u201d \u201cKnowest thou his\nname?\u201d said she. \u201cI do,\u201d said he; \u201che tells me that he is Edeyrn, the\nson of Nudd.\u201d Then she replied, \u201cI know him not.\u201d\n\nSo Guenever went to the gate to meet him and he entered. And Guenever\nwas sorry when she saw the condition he was in, even though he was\naccompanied by the churlish dwarf. Then Edeyrn saluted Guenever. \u201cHeaven\nprotect thee,\u201d said she. \u201cLady,\u201d said he, \u201cGeraint, the son of Erbin,\nthy best and most valiant servant, greets thee.\u201d \u201cDid he meet with\nthee?\u201d she asked. \u201cYes,\u201d said he, \u201cand it was not to my advantage; and\nthat was not his fault, but mine, lady. And Geraint greets thee well;\nand in greeting thee he compelled me to come hither to do thy pleasure\nfor the insult which thy maiden received from the dwarf.\u201d \u201cNow where did\nhe overtake thee?\u201d \u201cAt the place where we were jousting and contending\nfor the sparrow-hawk, in the town which is now called Cardiff. And it\nwas for the avouchment of the love of the maiden, the daughter of Earl\nYnywl, that Geraint jousted at the tournament. And thereupon we\nencountered each other, and he left me, lady, as thou seest.\u201d \u201cSir,\u201d\nsaid she, \u201cwhen thinkest thou that Geraint will be here?\u201d \u201cTo-morrow,\nlady, I think he will be here with the maiden.\u201d\n\nThen Arthur came to them. And he saluted Arthur, and Arthur gazed a long\ntime upon him and was amazed to see him thus. And thinking that he knew\nhim, he inquired of him, \u201cArt thou Edeyrn, the son of Nudd?\u201d \u201cI am,\nlord,\u201d said he, \u201cand I have met with much trouble and received wounds\nunsupportable.\u201d Then he told Arthur all his adventure. \u201cWell,\u201d said\nArthur, \u201cfrom what I hear it behooves Guenever to be merciful towards\nthee.\u201d \u201cThe mercy which thou desirest, lord,\u201d said she, \u201cwill I grant to\nhim, since it is as insulting to thee that an insult should be offered\nto me as to thyself.\u201d \u201cThus will it be best to do,\u201d said Arthur; \u201clet\nthis man have medical care until it be known whether he may live. And if\nhe live, he shall do such satisfaction as shall be judged best by the\nmen of the court. And if he die, too much will be the death of such a\nyouth as Edeyrn for an insult to a maiden.\u201d \u201cThis pleases me,\u201d said\nGuenever. And Arthur caused Morgan Tud to be called to him. He was the\nchief physician. \u201cTake with thee Edeyrn, the son of Nudd, and cause a\nchamber to be prepared for him, and let him have the aid of medicine as\nthou wouldst do unto myself, if I were wounded; and let none into his\nchamber to molest him, but thyself and thy disciples, to administer to\nhim remedies.\u201d \u201cI will do so, gladly, lord,\u201d said Morgan Tud. Then said\nthe steward of the household, \u201cWhither is it right, lord, to order the\nmaiden?\u201d \u201cTo Guenever and her handmaidens,\u201d said he. And the steward of\nthe household so ordered her.\n\n \u201cAnd rising up, he rode to Arthur\u2019s court,\n And there the queen forgave him easily.\n And being young, he changed himself, and grew\n To hate the sin that seem\u2019d so like his own\n Of Modred, Arthur\u2019s nephew, and fell at last\n In the great battle fighting for the king.\u201d\n \u2014_Enid._\n\nThe next day came Geraint towards the court; and there was a watch set\non the ramparts by Guenever, lest he should arrive unawares. And one of\nthe watch came to Guenever. \u201cLady,\u201d said he, \u201cmethinks that I see\nGeraint, and a maiden with him. He is on horseback, but he has his\nwalking gear upon him, and the maiden appears to be in white, seeming to\nbe clad in a garment of linen.\u201d \u201cAssemble all the women,\u201d said Guenever,\n\u201cand come to meet Geraint, to welcome him, and wish him joy.\u201d And\nGuenever went to meet Geraint and the maiden. And when Geraint came to\nthe place where Guenever was, he saluted her. \u201cHeaven prosper thee,\u201d\nsaid she, \u201cand welcome to thee.\u201d \u201cLady,\u201d said he, \u201cI earnestly desired\nto obtain thee satisfaction, according to thy will; and, behold, here is\nthe maiden through whom thou hadst thy revenge.\u201d \u201cVerily,\u201d said\nGuenever, \u201cthe welcome of Heaven be unto her; and it is fitting that we\nshould receive her joyfully.\u201d Then they went in and dismounted. And\nGeraint came to where Arthur was, and saluted him. \u201cHeaven protect\nthee,\u201d said Arthur, \u201cand the welcome of Heaven be unto thee. And\ninasmuch as thou hast vanquished Edeyrn, the son of Nudd, thou hast had\na prosperous career.\u201d \u201cNot upon me be the blame,\u201d said Geraint; \u201cit was\nthrough the arrogance of Edeyrn, the son of Nudd, himself, that we were\nnot friends.\u201d \u201cNow,\u201d said Arthur, \u201cwhere is the maiden for whom I heard\nthou didst give challenge?\u201d \u201cShe is gone with Guenever to her chamber.\u201d\nThen went Arthur to see the maiden. And Arthur, and all his companions,\nand his whole court, were glad concerning the maiden. And certain were\nthey all, that, had her array been suitable to her beauty, they had\nnever seen a maid fairer than she. And Arthur gave away the maiden to\nGeraint. And the usual bond made between two persons was made between\nGeraint and the maiden, and the choicest of all Guenever\u2019s apparel was\ngiven to the maiden; and thus arrayed, she appeared comely and graceful\nto all who beheld her. And that day and the night were spent in\nabundance of minstrelsy, and ample gifts of liquor, and a multitude of\ngames. And when it was time for them to go to sleep they went. And in\nthe chamber where the couch of Arthur and Guenever was, the couch of\nGeraint and Enid was prepared. And from that time she became his wife.\nAnd the next day Arthur satisfied all the claimants upon Geraint with\nbountiful gifts. And the maiden took up her abode in the palace, and she\nhad many companions, both men and women, and there was no maiden more\nesteemed than she in the island of Britain.\n\nThen spake Guenever. \u201cRightly did I judge,\u201d said she, \u201cconcerning the\nhead of the stag, that it should not be given to any until Geraint\u2019s\nreturn; and behold, here is a fit occasion for bestowing it. Let it be\ngiven to Enid, the daughter of Ynywl, the most illustrious maiden. And\n_I_ do not believe that any will begrudge it her, for between her and\nevery one here there exists nothing but love and friendship.\u201d Much\napplauded was this by them all, and by Arthur also. And the head of the\nstag was given to Enid. And thereupon her fame increased, and her\nfriends became more in number than before. And Geraint from that time\nforth loved the hunt, and the tournament, and hard encounters; and he\ncame victorious from them all. And a year, and a second, and a third, he\nproceeded thus, until his fame had flown over the face of the kingdom.\n\nAnd, once upon a time, Arthur was holding his court at Caerleon upon\nUsk; and behold, there came to him ambassadors, wise and prudent, full\nof knowledge and eloquent of speech, and they saluted Arthur. \u201cHeaven\nprosper you!\u201d said Arthur; \u201cand whence do you come?\u201d \u201cWe come, lord,\u201d\nsaid they, \u201cfrom Cornwall; and we are ambassadors from Erbin, the son of\nCustennin, thy uncle, and our mission is unto thee. And he greets thee\nwell, as an uncle should greet his nephew, and as a vassal should greet\nhis lord. And he represents unto thee that he waxes heavy and feeble,\nand is advancing in years. And the neighboring chiefs, knowing this,\ngrow insolent towards him, and covet his land and possessions. And he\nearnestly beseeches thee, lord, to permit Geraint, his son, to return to\nhim, to protect his possessions, and to become acquainted with his\nboundaries. And unto him he represents that it were better for him to\nspend the flower of his youth and the prime of his age in preserving his\nown boundaries, than in tournaments which are productive of no profit,\nalthough he obtains glory in them.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said Arthur, \u201cgo and divest yourselves of your accoutrements,\nand take food, and refresh yourselves after your fatigues; and before\nyou go from hence you shall have an answer.\u201d And they went to eat. And\nArthur considered that it would go hard with him to let Geraint depart\nfrom him, and from his court; neither did he think it fair that his\ncousin should be restrained from going to protect his dominions and his\nboundaries, seeing that his father was unable to do so. No less was the\ngrief and regret of Guenever, and all her women, and all her damsels,\nthrough fear that the maiden would leave them. And that day and that\nnight were spent in abundance of feasting. And Arthur told Geraint the\ncause of the mission, and of the coming of the ambassadors to him out of\nCornwall. \u201cTruly,\u201d said Geraint, \u201cbe it to my advantage or disadvantage,\nlord, I will do according to thy will concerning this embassy.\u201d\n\u201cBehold,\u201d said Arthur, \u201cthough it grieves me to part with thee, it is my\ncounsel that thou go to dwell in thine own dominions, and to defend thy\nboundaries, and take with thee to accompany thee as many as thou wilt of\nthose thou lovest best among my faithful ones, and among thy friends,\nand among thy companions in arms.\u201d \u201cHeaven reward thee! and this will I\ndo,\u201d said Geraint. \u201cWhat discourse,\u201d said Guenever, \u201cdo I hear between\nyou? Is it of those who are to conduct Geraint to his country?\u201d \u201cIt is,\u201d\nsaid Arthur. \u201cThen is it needful for me to consider,\u201d said she,\n\u201cconcerning companions and a provision for the lady that is with me.\u201d\n\u201cThou wilt do well,\u201d said Arthur.\n\nAnd that night they went to sleep. And the next day the ambassadors were\npermitted to depart, and they were told that Geraint should follow them.\nAnd on the third day Geraint set forth, and many went with him\u2014Gawain,\nthe son of Gwyar, and Riogoned, the son of the king of Ireland, and\nOndyaw, the son of the Duke of Burgundy, Gwilim, the son of the ruler of\nthe Franks, Howel, the son of the Earl of Brittany, Perceval, the son of\nEvrawk, Gwyr, a judge in the court of Arthur, Bedwyr, the son of\nBedrawd, Kai, the son of Kyner, Odyar, the Frank, and Ederyn, the son of\nNudd. Said Geraint, \u201cI think I shall have enough of knighthood with me.\u201d\nAnd they set forth. And never was there seen a fairer host journeying\ntowards the Severn. And on the other side of the Severn were the nobles\nof Erbin, the son of Custennin, and his foster-father at their head, to\nwelcome Geraint with gladness; and many of the women of the court, with\nhis mother, came to receive Enid, the daughter of Ynywl, his wife. And\nthere was great rejoicing and gladness throughout the whole court, and\nthrough all the country, concerning Geraint, because of the greatness of\ntheir love to him, and of the greatness of the fame which he had gained\nsince he went from amongst them, and because he was come to take\npossession of his dominions, and to preserve his boundaries. And they\ncame to the court. And in the court they had ample entertainment, and a\nmultitude of gifts, and abundance of liquor, and a sufficiency of\nservice, and a variety of games. And to do honor to Geraint, all the\nchief men of the country were invited that night to visit him. And they\npassed that day and that night in the utmost enjoyment. And at dawn next\nday Erbin arose and summoned to him Geraint, and the noble persons who\nhad borne him company. And he said to Geraint: \u201cI am a feeble and an\naged man, and whilst I was able to maintain the dominion for thee and\nfor myself, I did so. But thou art young, and in the flower of thy vigor\nand of thy youth. Henceforth do thou preserve thy possessions.\u201d \u201cTruly,\u201d\nsaid Geraint, \u201cwith my consent thou shalt not give the power over thy\ndominions at this time into my hands, and thou shalt not take me from\nArthur\u2019s court.\u201d \u201cInto thy hands will I give them,\u201d said Erbin, \u201cand\nthis day also shalt thou receive the homage of thy subjects.\u201d\n\nThen said Gawain, \u201cIt were better for thee to satisfy those who have\nboons to ask, to-day, and to-morrow thou canst receive the homage of thy\ndominions.\u201d So all that had boons to ask were summoned into one place.\nAnd Kadyriath came to them to know what were their requests. And every\none asked that which he desired. And the followers of Arthur began to\nmake gifts, and immediately the men of Cornwall came, and gave also. And\nthey were not long in giving, so eager was every one to bestow gifts,\nand of those who came to ask gifts, none departed unsatisfied. And that\nday and that night were spent in the utmost enjoyment.\n\nAnd the next day at dawn, Erbin desired Geraint to send messengers to\nthe men to ask them whether it was displeasing to them that he should\ncome to receive their homage, and whether they had anything to object to\nhim. Then Geraint sent ambassadors to the men of Cornwall to ask them\nthis. And they all said that it would be the fulness of joy and honor to\nthem for Geraint to come and receive their homage. So he received the\nhomage of such as were there. And the day after the followers of Arthur\nintended to go away. \u201cIt is too soon for you to go away yet,\u201d said he;\n\u201cstay with me until I have finished receiving the homage of my chief\nmen, who have agreed to come to me.\u201d And they remained with him until he\nhad done so. Then they set forth towards the court of Arthur. And\nGeraint went to bear them company, and Enid also, as far as Diganwy;\nthere they parted. And Ondyaw, the son of the Duke of Burgundy, said to\nGeraint, \u201cGo, now, and visit the uttermost parts of thy dominions, and\nsee well to the boundaries of thy territories; and if thou hast any\ntrouble respecting them, send unto thy companions.\u201d \u201cHeaven reward\nthee!\u201d said Geraint; \u201cand this will I do.\u201d And Geraint journeyed to the\nuttermost parts of his dominions. And experienced guides, and the chief\nmen of his country, went with him. And the furthermost point that they\nshowed him he kept possession of.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER VII\n\n GERAINT, THE SON OF ERBIN (_Continued_)\n\nGERAINT, as he had been used to do when he was at Arthur\u2019s court,\nfrequented tournaments. And he became acquainted with valiant and mighty\nmen, until he had gained as much fame there as he had formerly done\nelsewhere. And he enriched his court, and his companions, and his\nnobles, with the best horses and the best arms, and with the best and\nmost valuable jewels, and he ceased not until his fame had flown over\nthe face of the whole kingdom.\n\n \u201cBefore Geraint, the scourge of the enemy,\n I saw steeds white with foam,\n And after the shout of battle a fearful torrent.\u201d\n \u2014_Hen._\n\nWhen he knew that it was thus, he began to love ease and pleasure, for\nthere was no one who was worth his opposing. And he loved his wife, and\nliked to continue in the palace with minstrelsy and diversions. So he\nbegan to shut himself up in the chamber of his wife, and he took no\ndelight in anything besides, insomuch that he gave up the friendship of\nhis nobles, together with his hunting and his amusements, and lost the\nhearts of all the host in his court. And there was murmuring and\nscoffing concerning him among the inhabitants of the palace, on account\nof his relinquishing so completely their companionship for the love of\nhis wife.\n\n \u201cThey\n Began to scoff and jeer and babble of him\n As of a prince whose manhood was all gone,\n And molten down in mere uxoriousness.\u201d\n\nThese tidings came to Erbin. And when Erbin had heard these things, he\nspoke unto Enid, and inquired of her whether it was she that had caused\nGeraint to act thus, and to forsake his people and his hosts. \u201cNot I, by\nmy confession unto Heaven,\u201d said she; \u201cthere is nothing more hateful\nunto me than this.\u201d And she knew not what she should do, for, although\nit was hard for her to own this to Geraint, yet was it not more easy for\nher to listen to what she heard, without warning Geraint concerning it.\nAnd she was very sorrowful.\n\nOne morning in the summer-time they were upon their couch, and Geraint\nlay upon the edge of it. And Enid was without sleep in the apartment,\nwhich had windows of glass;[62] and the sun shone upon the couch. And\nthe clothes had slipped from off his arms and his breast, and he was\nasleep. Then she gazed upon the marvellous beauty of his appearance, and\nshe said, \u201cAlas! and am I the cause that these arms and this breast have\nlost their glory, and the warlike fame which they once so richly\nenjoyed!\u201d As she said this the tears dropped from her eyes, and they\nfell upon his breast. And the tears she shed and the words she had\nspoken, awoke him. And another thing contributed to awaken him, and that\nwas the idea that it was not in thinking of him that she spoke thus, but\nthat it was because she loved some other man more than him, and that she\nwished for other society. Thereupon Geraint was troubled in his mind,\nand he called his squire; and when he came to him, \u201cGo quickly,\u201d said\nhe, \u201cand prepare my horse and my arms, and make them ready. And do thou\nrise,\u201d said he to Enid, \u201cand apparel thyself; and cause thy horse to be\naccoutred, and clothe thee in the worst riding-dress that thou hast in\nthy possession. And evil betide me,\u201d said he, \u201cif thou returnest here\nuntil thou knowest whether I have lost my strength so completely as thou\ndidst say. And if it be so, it will then be easy for thee to seek the\nsociety thou didst wish for of him of whom thou wast thinking.\u201d So she\narose, and clothed herself in her meanest garments. \u201cI know nothing,\nlord,\u201d said she, \u201cof thy meaning.\u201d \u201cNeither wilt thou know at this\ntime,\u201d said he.\n\nThen Geraint went to see Erbin. \u201cSir,\u201d said he, \u201cI am going upon a\nquest, and I am not certain when I may come back. Take heed, therefore,\nunto thy possessions until my return.\u201d \u201cI will do so,\u201d said he; \u201cbut it\nis strange to me that thou shouldst go so suddenly. And who will proceed\nwith thee, since thou art not strong enough to traverse the land of\nLoegyr alone?\u201d \u201cBut one person only will go with me.\u201d \u201cHeaven counsel\nthee, my son,\u201d said Erbin, \u201cand may many attach themselves to thee in\nLoegyr.\u201d Then went Geraint to the place where his horse was, and it was\nequipped with foreign armor, heavy and shining. And he desired Enid to\nmount her horse, and to ride forward, and to keep a long way before him.\n\u201cAnd whatever thou mayst see, and whatever thou mayst hear concerning\nme,\u201d said he, \u201cdo thou not turn back. And unless I speak unto thee, say\nnot thou one word, either.\u201d So they set forward. And he did not choose\nthe pleasantest and most frequented road, but that which was the wildest\nand most beset by thieves and robbers and venomous animals.\n\nAnd they came to a high road, which they followed till they saw a vast\nforest; and they saw four armed horsemen come forth from the forest.\nWhen the armed men saw them, they said one to another. \u201cHere is a good\noccasion for us to capture two horses and armor, and a lady likewise;\nfor this we shall have no difficulty in doing against yonder single\nknight who hangs his head so pensively and heavily.\u201d Enid heard this\ndiscourse, and she knew not what she should do through fear of Geraint,\nwho had told her to be silent. \u201cThe vengeance of Heaven be upon me,\u201d\nsaid she, \u201cif I would not rather receive my death from his hand than\nfrom the hand of any other; and though he should slay me, yet will I\nspeak to him, lest I should have the misery to witness his death.\u201d So\nshe waited for Geraint until he came near to her. \u201cLord,\u201d said she,\n\u201cdidst thou hear the words of those men concerning thee?\u201d Then he lifted\nup his eyes, and looked at her angrily. \u201cThou hadst only,\u201d said he, \u201cto\nhold thy peace as I bade thee. I wish but for silence, and not for\nwarning. And though thou shouldst desire to see my defeat and my death\nby the hands of those men, yet do I feel no dread.\u201d Then the foremost of\nthem couched his lance, and rushed upon Geraint. And he received him,\nand that not feebly. But he let the thrust go by him, while he struck\nthe horseman upon the centre of his shield, in such a manner that his\nshield was split, and his armor broken, so that a cubit\u2019s length of the\nshaft of Geraint\u2019s lance passed through his body, and sent him to the\nearth, the length of the lance over his horse\u2019s crupper. Then the second\nhorseman attacked him furiously, being wroth at the death of his\ncompanion. But with one thrust Geraint overthrew him also, and killed\nhim as he had done the other. Then the third set upon him, and he killed\nhim in like manner. And thus also he slew the fourth. Sad and sorrowful\nwas the maiden as she saw all this. Geraint dismounted his horse, and\ntook the arms of the men he had slain, and placed them upon their\nsaddles, and tied together the reins of their horses; and he mounted his\nhorse again. \u201cBehold what thou must do,\u201d said he; \u201ctake the four horses\nand drive them before thee, and proceed forward as I bade thee just now.\nAnd say not one word unto me, unless I speak first unto thee. And I\ndeclare unto Heaven,\u201d said he, \u201cif thou doest not thus, it will be to\nthy cost.\u201d \u201cI will do as far as I can, lord,\u201d said she, \u201caccording to\nthy desire.\u201d\n\nSo the maiden went forward, keeping in advance of Geraint, as he had\ndesired her; and it grieved him as much as his wrath would permit, to\nsee a maiden so illustrious as she having so much trouble with the care\nof the horses. Then they reached a wood, and it was both deep and vast,\nand in the wood night overtook them. \u201cAh, maiden,\u201d said he, \u201cit is vain\nto attempt proceeding forward.\u201d \u201cWell, lord,\u201d said she, \u201cwhatever thou\nwishest, we will do.\u201d \u201cIt will be best for us,\u201d he answered, \u201cto rest\nand wait for the day, in order to pursue our journey.\u201d \u201cThat we will,\ngladly,\u201d said she. And they did so. Having dismounted himself, he took\nher down from her horse. \u201cI cannot by any means refrain from sleep,\nthrough weariness,\u201d said he; \u201cdo thou therefore watch the horses, and\nsleep not.\u201d \u201cI will, lord,\u201d said she. Then he went to sleep in his\narmor, and thus passed the night, which was not long at that season. And\nwhen she saw the dawn of day appear, she looked around her to see if he\nwere waking, and thereupon he woke. Then he arose, and said unto her,\n\u201cTake the horses and ride on, and keep straight on as thou didst\nyesterday.\u201d And they left the wood, and they came to an open country,\nwith meadows on one hand, and mowers mowing the meadows. And there was a\nriver before them, and the horses bent down and drank of the water. And\nthey went up out of the river by a lofty steep; and there they met a\nslender stripling with a satchel about his neck, and they saw that there\nwas something in the satchel, but they knew not what it was. And he had\na small blue pitcher in his hand, and a bowl on the mouth of the\npitcher. And the youth saluted Geraint. \u201cHeaven prosper thee!\u201d said\nGeraint; \u201cand whence dost thou come?\u201d \u201cI come,\u201d said he, \u201cfrom the city\nthat lies before thee. My lord,\u201d he added, \u201cwill it be displeasing to\nthee if I ask whence thou comest also?\u201d \u201cBy no means; through yonder\nwood did I come.\u201d \u201cThou camest not through the wood to-day.\u201d \u201cNo,\u201d he\nreplied, \u201cwe were in the wood last night.\u201d \u201cI warrant,\u201d said the youth,\n\u201cthat thy condition there last night was not the most pleasant, and that\nthou hadst neither meat nor drink.\u201d \u201cNo, by my faith,\u201d said he. \u201cWilt\nthou follow my counsel,\u201d said the youth, \u201cand take thy meal from me?\u201d\n\u201cWhat sort of meal?\u201d he inquired. \u201cThe breakfast which is sent for\nyonder mowers, nothing less than bread and meat and wine, and if thou\nwilt, sir, they shall have none of it.\u201d \u201cI will,\u201d said he, \u201cand Heaven\nreward thee for it.\u201d\n\nSo Geraint alighted, and the youth took the maiden from off her horse.\nThen they washed, and took their repast. And the youth cut the bread in\nslices, and gave them drink, and served them withal. And when they had\nfinished, the youth arose and said to Geraint, \u201cMy lord, with thy\npermission, I will now go and fetch some food for the mowers.\u201d \u201cGo first\nto the town,\u201d said Geraint, \u201cand take a lodging for me in the best place\nthat thou knowest, and the most commodious one for the horses; and take\nthou whichever horse and arms thou choosest, in payment for thy service\nand thy gift.\u201d \u201cHeaven reward thee, lord!\u201d said the youth; \u201cand this\nwould be ample to repay services much greater than those I have rendered\nunto thee.\u201d And to the town went the youth, and he took the best and the\nmost pleasant lodgings that he knew; and after that he went to the\npalace, having the horse and armor with him, and proceeded to the place\nwhere the earl was, and told him all his adventure. \u201cI go now, lord,\u201d\nsaid he, \u201cto meet the knight, and to conduct him to his lodging.\u201d \u201cGo,\ngladly,\u201d said the earl; \u201cand right joyfully shall he be received here,\nif he so come.\u201d And the youth went to meet Geraint, and told him that he\nwould be received gladly by the earl in his own palace; but he would go\nonly to his lodgings. And he had a goodly chamber, in which was plenty\nof straw and drapery, and a spacious and commodious place he had for the\nhorses; and the youth prepared for them plenty of provender. After they\nhad disarrayed themselves, Geraint spoke thus to Enid: \u201cGo,\u201d said he,\n\u201cto the other side of the chamber, and come not to this side of the\nhouse; and thou mayst call to thee the woman of the house, if thou\nwilt.\u201d \u201cI will do, lord,\u201d said she, \u201cas thou sayest.\u201d Thereupon the man\nof the house came to Geraint and welcomed him. And after they had eaten\nand drank, Geraint went to sleep, and so did Enid also.\n\nIn the evening, behold, the earl came to visit Geraint, and his twelve\nhonorable knights with him. And Geraint rose up and welcomed him. Then\nthey all sat down according to their precedence in honor. And the earl\nconversed with Geraint, and inquired of him the object of his journey.\n\u201cI have none,\u201d he replied, \u201cbut to seek adventures and to follow mine\nown inclination.\u201d Then the earl cast his eye upon Enid, and he looked at\nher steadfastly. And he thought he had never seen a maiden fairer or\nmore comely than she. And he set all his thoughts and his affections\nupon her. Then he asked of Geraint, \u201cHave I thy permission to go and\nconverse with yonder maiden, for I see that she is apart from thee?\u201d\n\u201cThou hast it gladly,\u201d said he. So the earl went to the place where the\nmaiden was, and spake with her. \u201cAh! maiden,\u201d said he, \u201cit cannot be\npleasant to thee to journey with yonder man.\u201d \u201cIt is not unpleasant to\nme,\u201d said she. \u201cThou hast neither youths nor maidens to serve thee,\u201d\nsaid he. \u201cTruly,\u201d she replied, \u201cit is more pleasant for me to follow\nyonder man, than to be served by youths and maidens.\u201d \u201cI will give thee\ngood counsel,\u201d said he: \u201call my earldom will I place in thy possession,\nif thou wilt dwell with me.\u201d\n\n \u201cEnid, the pilot star of my lone life,\n Enid, my early and my only love.\u201d\n \u2014_Enid._\n\n\u201cThat will I not, by Heaven,\u201d she said; \u201cyonder man was the first to\nwhom my faith was ever pledged; and shall I prove inconstant to him?\u201d\n\u201cThou art in the wrong,\u201d said the earl; \u201cif I slay the man yonder, I can\nkeep thee with me as long as I choose; and when thou no longer pleasest\nme, I can turn thee away. But if thou goest with me by thy own\ngood-will, I protest that our union shall continue as long as I remain\nalive.\u201d Then she pondered those words of his, and she considered that it\nwas advisable to encourage him in his request. \u201cBehold then, chieftain,\nthis is most expedient for thee to do to save me from all reproach; come\nhere to-morrow and take me away as though I knew nothing thereof.\u201d \u201cI\nwill do so,\u201d said he. So he arose and took his leave, and went forth\nwith his attendants. And she told not then to Geraint any of the\nconversation which she had had with the earl, lest it should rouse his\nanger, and cause him uneasiness and care.\n\nAnd at the usual hour they went to sleep. And at the beginning of the\nnight Enid slept a little; and at midnight she arose, and placed all\nGeraint\u2019s armor together so that it might be ready to put on. And\nalthough fearful of her errand, she came to the side of Geraint\u2019s bed;\nand she spoke to him softly and gently, saying, \u201cMy lord, arise, and\nclothe thyself, for these were the words of the earl to me and his\nintention concerning me.\u201d So she told Geraint all that had passed. And\nalthough he was wroth with her, he took warning, and clothed himself.\nAnd she lighted a candle, that he might have light to do so. \u201cLeave\nthere the candle,\u201d said he, \u201cand desire the man of the house to come\nhere.\u201d Then she went, and the man of the house came to him. \u201cDost thou\nknow how much I owe thee?\u201d asked Geraint. \u201cI think thou owest but\nlittle.\u201d \u201cTake the three horses and the three suits of armor.\u201d \u201cHeaven\nreward thee, lord,\u201d said he, \u201cbut I spent not the value of one suit of\narmor upon thee.\u201d \u201cFor that reason,\u201d said he, \u201cthou wilt be the richer.\nAnd now, wilt thou come to guide me out of the town?\u201d \u201cI will gladly,\u201d\nsaid he; \u201cand in which direction dost thou intend to go?\u201d \u201cI wish to\nleave the town by a different way from that by which I entered it.\u201d So\nthe man of the lodgings accompanied him as far as he desired. Then he\nbade the maiden to go on before him, and she did so, and went straight\nforward, and his host returned home.\n\nAnd Geraint and the maiden went forward along the high-road. And as they\njourneyed thus, they heard an exceeding loud wailing near to them. \u201cStay\nthou here,\u201d said he, \u201cand I will go and see what is the cause of this\nwailing.\u201d \u201cI will,\u201d said she. Then he went forward into an open glade\nthat was near the road. And in the glade he saw two horses, one having a\nman\u2019s saddle, and the other a woman\u2019s saddle upon it. And behold there\nwas a knight lying dead in his armor, and a young damsel in a\nriding-dress standing over him lamenting. \u201cAh, lady,\u201d said Geraint,\n\u201cwhat hath befallen thee?\u201d \u201cBehold,\u201d she answered, \u201cI journeyed here\nwith my beloved husband, when lo! three giants came upon us, and without\nany cause in the world, they slew him.\u201d \u201cWhich way went they hence?\u201d\nsaid Geraint. \u201cYonder by the high-road,\u201d she replied. So he returned to\nEnid. \u201cGo,\u201d said he, \u201cto the lady that is below yonder, and await me\nthere till I come.\u201d She was sad when he ordered her to do thus, but\nnevertheless she went to the damsel, whom it was ruth to hear, and she\nfelt certain that Geraint would never return.\n\nMeanwhile Geraint followed the giants, and overtook them. And each of\nthem was greater in stature than three other men, and a huge club was on\nthe shoulder of each. Then he rushed upon one of them, and thrust his\nlance through his body. And having drawn it forth again, he pierced\nanother of them through likewise. But the third turned upon him and\nstruck him with his club so that he split his shield and crushed his\nshoulder. But Geraint drew his sword and gave the giant a blow on the\ncrown of his head, so severe, and fierce, and violent, that his head and\nhis neck were split down to his shoulders, and he fell dead. So Geraint\nleft him thus and returned to Enid. And when he reached the place where\nshe was he fell down lifeless from his horse. Piercing and loud and\nthrilling was the cry that Enid uttered. And she came and stood over him\nwhere he had fallen. And at the sound of her cries came the Earl of\nLimours, and they who journeyed with him, whom her lamentations brought\nout of their road. And the earl said to Enid, \u201cAlas, lady, what hath\nbefallen thee?\u201d \u201cAh, good sir,\u201d said she, \u201cthe only man I have loved, or\never shall love, is slain.\u201d Then he said to the other, \u201cAnd what is the\ncause of thy grief?\u201d \u201cThey have slain my beloved husband also,\u201d said\nshe. \u201cAnd who was it that slew them?\u201d \u201cSome giants,\u201d she answered, \u201cslew\nmy best-beloved, and the other knight went in pursuit of them, and came\nback in the state thou seest.\u201d The earl caused the knight that was dead\nto be buried, but he thought that there still remained some life in\nGeraint; and to see if he yet would live, he had him carried with him in\nthe hollow of his shield, and upon a bier. And the two damsels went to\nthe court; and when they arrived there, Geraint was placed upon a little\ncouch in front of the table that was in the hall. Then they all took off\ntheir traveling-gear, and the earl besought Enid to do the same, and to\nclothe herself in other garments. \u201cI will not, by Heaven,\u201d said she.\n\u201cAh, lady,\u201d said he, \u201cbe not so sorrowful for this matter.\u201d \u201cIt were\nhard to persuade me to be otherwise,\u201d said she. \u201cI will act towards thee\nin such wise that thou needest not be sorrowful, whether yonder knight\nlive or die. Behold, a good earldom, together with myself, will I bestow\nupon thee; be therefore happy and joyful.\u201d \u201cI declare to Heaven,\u201d said\nshe, \u201cthat henceforth I shall never be joyful while I live.\u201d \u201cCome,\u201d\nsaid he, \u201cand eat.\u201d \u201cNo, by Heaven, I will not.\u201d \u201cBut, by Heaven, thou\nshalt,\u201d said he. So he took her with him to the table against her will,\nand many times desired her to eat. \u201cI call Heaven to witness,\u201d said she,\n\u201cthat I will not until the man that is upon yonder bier shall eat\nlikewise.\u201d \u201cThou canst not fulfil that,\u201d said the earl, \u201cyonder man is\ndead already.\u201d \u201cI will prove that I can,\u201d said she. Then he offered her\na goblet of liquor. \u201cDrink this goblet,\u201d he said, \u201cand it will cause\nthee to change thy mind.\u201d \u201cEvil betide me,\u201d she answered, \u201cif I drink\naught until he drink also.\u201d \u201cTruly,\u201d said the earl, \u201cit is of no more\navail for me to be gentle with thee than ungentle.\u201d And he gave her a\nbox in the ear. Thereupon she raised a loud and piercing shriek, and her\nlamentations were much greater than they had been before; for she\nconsidered in her mind, that, had Geraint been alive, he durst not have\nstruck her thus. But, behold, at the sound of her cry, Geraint revived\nfrom his swoon, and he sat upon the bier; and finding his sword in the\nhollow of his shield, he rushed to the place where the earl was, and\nstruck him a fiercely-wounding, severely-venomous, and sternly-smiting\nblow upon the crown of his head, so that he clove him in twain, until\nhis sword was staid by the table. Then all left the board and fled away.\nAnd this was not so much through fear of the living, as through the\ndread they felt at seeing the dead man rise up to slay them. And Geraint\nlooked upon Enid, and he was grieved for two causes; one was to see that\nEnid had lost her color and her wonted aspect; and the other, to know\nthat she was in the right. \u201cLady,\u201d said he, \u201cknowest thou where our\nhorses are?\u201d \u201cI know, lord, where thy horse is,\u201d she replied, \u201cbut I\nknow not where is the other. Thy horse is in the house yonder.\u201d So he\nwent to the house, and brought forth his horse, and mounted him, and\ntook up Enid, and placed her upon the horse with him. And he rode\nforward. And their road lay between two hedges; and the night was\ngaining on the day. And lo! they saw behind them the shafts of spears\nbetwixt them and the sky, and they heard the tramping of horses, and the\nnoise of a host approaching. \u201cI hear something following us,\u201d said he,\n\u201cand I will put thee on the other side of the hedge.\u201d And thus he did.\nAnd thereupon, behold a knight pricked towards him, and couched his\nlance. When Enid saw this, she cried out, saying, \u201cO chieftain, whoever\nthou art, what renown wilt thou gain by slaying a dead man?\u201d \u201cO Heaven!\u201d\nsaid he, \u201cis it Geraint?\u201d \u201cYes, in truth,\u201d said she; \u201cand who art thou?\u201d\n\u201cI am Gwiffert Petit,\u201d said he, \u201cthy husband\u2019s ally, coming to thy\nassistance, for I heard that thou wast in trouble. Come with me to the\ncourt of a son-in-law of my sister, which is near here, and thou shalt\nhave the best medical assistance in the kingdom.\u201d \u201cI will do so gladly,\u201d\nsaid Geraint. And Enid was placed upon the horse of one of Gwiffert\u2019s\nsquires, and they went forward to the baron\u2019s palace. And they were\nreceived there with gladness, and they met with hospitality and\nattention. The next morning they went to seek physicians; and it was not\nlong before they came, and they attended Geraint until he was perfectly\nwell. And while Geraint was under medical care Gwiffert caused his armor\nto be repaired, until it was as good as it had ever been. And they\nremained there a month and a fortnight. Then they separated, and Geraint\nwent towards his own dominions, and thenceforth he reigned prosperously,\nand his warlike fame and splendor lasted with renown and honor, both to\nhim and to Enid,[63] from that time forward.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER VIII\n\n PWYLL, PRINCE OF DYVED\n\nONCE upon a time Pwyll was at Narberth, his chief palace, where a feast\nhad been prepared for him, and with him was a great host of men. And\nafter the first meal Pwyll arose to walk; and he went to the top of a\nmound that was above the palace, and was called Gorsedd Arberth. \u201cLord,\u201d\nsaid one of the court, \u201cit is peculiar to the mound that whosoever sits\nupon it cannot go thence without either receiving wounds or blows, or\nelse seeing a wonder.\u201d \u201cI fear not to receive wounds or blows,\u201d said\nPwyll; \u201cbut as to the wonder, gladly would I see it. I will therefore go\nand sit upon the mound.\u201d\n\nAnd upon the mound he sat. And while he sat there, they saw a lady, on a\npure white horse of large size, with a garment of shining gold around\nher, coming along the highway that led from the mound. \u201cMy men,\u201d said\nPwyll, \u201cis there any among you who knows yonder lady?\u201d \u201cThere is not,\nlord,\u201d said they. \u201cGo one of you and meet her, that we may know who she\nis.\u201d And one of them arose, and as he came upon the road to meet her,\nshe passed by; and he followed as fast as he could, being on foot, and\nthe greater was his speed, the further was she from him. And when he saw\nthat it profited him nothing to follow her, he returned to Pwyll, and\nsaid unto him, \u201cLord, it is idle for any one in the world to follow her\non foot.\u201d \u201cVerily,\u201d said Pwyll, \u201cgo unto the palace, and take the\nfleetest horse that thou seest, and go after her.\u201d\n\nAnd he took a horse and went forward. And he came to an open, level\nplain, and put spurs to his horse; and the more he urged his horse, the\nfurther was she from him. And he returned to the place where Pwyll was,\nand said, \u201cLord, it will avail nothing for any one to follow yonder\nlady. I know of no horse in these realms swifter than this, and it\navailed me not to pursue her.\u201d \u201cOf a truth,\u201d said Pwyll, \u201cthere must be\nsome illusion here; let us go towards the palace.\u201d So to the palace they\nwent, and spent the day.\n\nAnd the next day they amused themselves until it was time to go to meat.\nAnd when meat was ended, Pwyll said, \u201cWhere are the hosts that went\nyesterday to the top of the mound?\u201d \u201cBehold, lord, we are here,\u201d said\nthey. \u201cLet us go,\u201d said he, \u201cto the mound, and sit there. And do thou,\u201d\nsaid he to the page who tended his horse, \u201csaddle my horse well, and\nhasten with him to the road, and bring also my spurs with thee.\u201d And the\nyouth did thus. And they went and sat upon the mound; and ere they had\nbeen there but a short time, they beheld the lady coming by the same\nroad, and in the same manner, and at the same pace. \u201cYoung man,\u201d said\nPwyll, \u201cI see the lady coming; give me my horse.\u201d And before he had\nmounted his horse she passed him. And he turned after her and followed\nher. And he let his horse go bounding playfully, and thought that he\nshould soon come up with her. But he came no nearer to her than at\nfirst. Then he urged his horse to his utmost speed, yet he found that it\navailed not. Then said Pwyll, \u201cO maiden, for the sake of him whom thou\nbest lovest, stay for me.\u201d \u201cI will stay gladly,\u201d said she; \u201cand it were\nbetter for thy horse hadst thou asked it long since.\u201d So the maiden\nstopped; and she threw back that part of her head-dress which covered\nher face. Then he thought that the beauty of all the maidens and all the\nladies that he had ever seen was as nothing compared to her beauty.\n\u201cLady,\u201d he said, \u201cwilt thou tell me aught concerning thy purpose?\u201d \u201cI\nwill tell thee,\u201d said she; \u201cmy chief quest was to see thee.\u201d \u201cTruly,\u201d\nsaid Pwyll, \u201cthis is to me the most pleasing quest on which thou couldst\nhave come; and wilt thou tell me who thou art?\u201d \u201cI will tell thee,\nlord,\u201d said she. \u201cI am Rhiannon, the daughter of Heveydd, and they\nsought to give me a husband against my will. But no husband would I\nhave, and that because of my love for thee; neither will I yet have one,\nunless thou reject me; and hither have I come to hear thy answer.\u201d \u201cBy\nHeaven,\u201d said Pwyll, \u201cbehold this is my answer. If I might choose among\nall the ladies and damsels in the world, thee would I choose.\u201d \u201cVerily,\u201d\nsaid she, \u201cif thou art thus minded, make a pledge to meet me ere I am\ngiven to another.\u201d \u201cThe sooner I may do so, the more pleasing will it be\nto me,\u201d said Pwyll; \u201cand wheresoever thou wilt, there will I meet with\nthee.\u201d \u201cI will that thou meet me this day twelvemonth at the palace of\nHeveydd.\u201d \u201cGladly,\u201d said he, \u201cwill I keep this tryst.\u201d So they parted,\nand he went back to his hosts, and to them of his household. And\nwhatsoever questions they asked him respecting the damsel, he always\nturned the discourse upon other matters.\n\nAnd when a year from that time was gone, he caused a hundred knights to\nequip themselves, and to go with him to the palace of Heveydd. And he\ncame to the palace, and there was great joy concerning him, with much\nconcourse of people, and great rejoicing, and vast preparations for his\ncoming. And the whole court was placed under his orders.\n\nAnd the hall was garnished, and they went to meat, and thus did they\nsit: Heveydd was on one side of Pwyll, and Rhiannon on the other; and\nall the rest according to their rank. And they ate and feasted, and\ntalked one with another. And at the beginning of the carousal after the\nmeat, there entered a tall, auburn-haired youth, of royal bearing,\nclothed in a garment of satin. And when he came into the hall, he\nsaluted Pwyll and his companions. \u201cThe greeting of Heaven be unto thee,\u201d\nsaid Pwyll; \u201ccome thou and sit down.\u201d \u201cNay,\u201d said he, \u201ca suitor am I,\nand I will do my errand.\u201d \u201cDo so willingly,\u201d said Pwyll. \u201cLord,\u201d said\nhe, \u201cmy errand is unto thee, and it is to crave a boon of thee that I\ncome.\u201d \u201cWhat boon soever thou mayest ask of me, so far as I am able,\nthou shalt have.\u201d \u201cAh!\u201d said Rhiannon, \u201cwherefore didst thou give that\nanswer?\u201d \u201cHas he not given it before the presence of these nobles?\u201d\nasked the youth. \u201cMy soul,\u201d said Pwyll, \u201cwhat is the boon thou askest?\u201d\n\u201cThe lady whom best I love is to be thy bride this night; I come to ask\nher of thee, with the feast and the banquet that are in this place.\u201d And\nPwyll was silent, because of the promise which he had given. \u201cBe silent\nas long as thou wilt,\u201d said Rhiannon, \u201cnever did man make worse use of\nhis wits than thou hast done.\u201d \u201cLady,\u201d said he, \u201cI knew not who he was.\u201d\n\u201cBehold, this is the man to whom they would have given me against my\nwill,\u201d said she; \u201cand he is Gawl, the son of Clud, a man of great power\nand wealth, and because of the word thou hast spoken, bestow me upon\nhim, lest shame befall thee.\u201d \u201cLady,\u201d said he, \u201cI understand not thy\nanswer; never can I do as thou sayest.\u201d \u201cBestow me upon him,\u201d said she,\n\u201cand I will cause that I shall never be his.\u201d \u201cBy what means will that\nbe?\u201d asked Pwyll. Then she told him the thought that was in her mind.\nAnd they talked long together. Then Gawl said, \u201cLord, it is meet that I\nhave an answer to my request.\u201d \u201cAs much of that thou hast asked as it is\nin my power to give, thou shalt have,\u201d replied Pwyll. \u201cMy soul,\u201d said\nRhiannon unto Gawl, \u201cas for the feast and the banquet that are here, I\nhave bestowed them upon the men of Dyved, and the household and the\nwarriors that are with us. These can I not suffer to be given to any. In\na year from to-night, a banquet shall be prepared for thee in this\npalace, that I may become thy bride.\u201d\n\nSo Gawl went forth to his possessions, and Pwyll went also back to\nDyved. And they both spent that year until it was the time for the feast\nat the palace of Heveydd. Then Gawl, the son of Clud, set out to the\nfeast that was prepared for him; and he came to the palace, and was\nreceived there with rejoicing. Pwyll, also, the chief of Dyved, came to\nthe orchard with a hundred knights, as Rhiannon had commanded him. And\nPwyll was clad in coarse and ragged garments, and wore large, clumsy old\nshoes upon his feet. And when he knew that the carousal after the meat\nhad begun, he went toward the hall; and when he came into the hall he\nsaluted Gawl, the son of Clud, and his company, both men and women.\n\u201cHeaven prosper thee,\u201d said Gawl, \u201cand friendly greeting be unto thee!\u201d\n\u201cLord,\u201d said he, \u201cmay Heaven reward thee! I have an errand unto thee.\u201d\n\u201cWelcome be thine errand, and if thou ask of me that which is right,\nthou shalt have it gladly.\u201d \u201cIt is fitting,\u201d answered he; \u201cI crave but\nfrom want, and the boon I ask is to have this small bag that thou seest\nfilled with meat.\u201d \u201cA request within reason is this,\u201d said he, \u201cand\ngladly shalt thou have it. Bring him food.\u201d A great number of attendants\narose and began to fill the bag; but for all they put into it, it was no\nfuller than at first. \u201cMy soul,\u201d said Gawl, \u201cwill thy bag ever be full?\u201d\n\u201cIt will not, I declare to Heaven,\u201d said he, \u201cfor all that may be put\ninto it, unless one possessed of lands, and domains, and treasure, shall\narise and tread down with both his feet the food that is within the bag,\nand shall say, \u2018Enough has been put therein.\u2019\u201d Then said Rhiannon unto\nGawl, the son of Clud, \u201cRise up quickly.\u201d \u201cI will willingly arise,\u201d said\nhe. So he rose up, and put his two feet into the bag. And Pwyll turned\nup the sides of the bag, so that Gawl was over his head in it. And he\nshut it up quickly, and slipped a knot upon the thongs, and blew his\nhorn. And thereupon, behold, his knights came down upon the palace. And\nthey seized all the host that had come with Gawl, and cast them into his\nown prison. And Pwyll threw off his rags, and his old shoes, and his\ntattered array. And as they came in, every one of Pwyll\u2019s knights struck\na blow upon the bag, and asked, \u201cWhat is here?\u201d \u201cA badger,\u201d said they.\nAnd in this manner they played, each of them striking the bag, either\nwith his foot or with a staff. And thus played they with the bag. And\nthen was the game of Badger in the Bag first played.\n\n\u201cLord,\u201d said the man in the bag, \u201cif thou wouldst but hear me, I merit\nnot to be slain in a bag.\u201d Said Heveydd, \u201cLord, he speaks truth; it were\nfitting that thou listen to him, for he deserves not this.\u201d \u201cVerily,\u201d\nsaid Pwyll, \u201cI will do thy counsel concerning him.\u201d \u201cBehold, this is my\ncounsel then,\u201d said Rhiannon. \u201cThou art now in a position in which it\nbehooves thee to satisfy suitors and minstrels. Let him give unto them\nin thy stead, and take a pledge from him that he will never seek to\nrevenge that which has been done to him. And this will be punishment\nenough.\u201d \u201cI will do this gladly,\u201d said the man in the bag. \u201cAnd gladly\nwill I accept it,\u201d said Pwyll, \u201csince it is the counsel of Heveydd and\nRhiannon. Seek thyself sureties.\u201d \u201cWe will be for him,\u201d said Heveydd,\n\u201cuntil his men be free to answer for him.\u201d And upon this he was let out\nof the bag, and his liegemen were liberated. \u201cVerily, lord,\u201d said Gawl,\n\u201cI am greatly hurt, and I have many bruises. With thy leave, I will go\nforth. I will leave nobles in my stead to answer for me in all that thou\nshalt require.\u201d \u201cWillingly,\u201d said Pwyll, \u201cmayest thou do this.\u201d So Gawl\nwent to his own possessions.\n\nAnd the hall was set in order for Pwyll and the men of his host, and for\nthem also of the palace, and they went to the tables and sat down. And\nas they had sat that time twelvemonth, so sat they that night. And they\nate and feasted, and spent the night in mirth and tranquility. And the\ntime came that they should sleep, and Pwyll and Rhiannon went to their\nchamber.\n\nAnd next morning at break of day, \u201cMy lord,\u201d said Rhiannon, \u201carise and\nbegin to give thy gifts unto the minstrels. Refuse no one to-day that\nmay claim thy bounty.\u201d \u201cThus shall it be gladly,\u201d said Pwyll, \u201cboth\nto-day and every day while the feast shall last.\u201d So Pwyll arose, and he\ncaused silence to be proclaimed, and desired all the suitors and\nminstrels to show and to point out what gifts they desired. And this\nbeing done, the feast went on, and he denied no one while it lasted. And\nwhen the feast was ended, Pwyll said unto Heveydd, \u201cMy lord, with thy\npermission, I will set out for Dyved to-morrow.\u201d \u201cCertainly,\u201d said\nHeveydd; \u201cmay Heaven prosper thee! Fix also a time when Rhiannon shall\nfollow thee.\u201d \u201cBy Heaven,\u201d said Pwyll, \u201cwe will go hence together.\u201d\n\u201cWillest thou this, lord?\u201d said Heveydd. \u201cYes, lord,\u201d answered Pwyll.\n\nAnd the next day they set forward towards Dyved, and journeyed to the\npalace of Narberth, where a feast was made ready for them. And there\ncame to them great numbers of the chief men and the most noble ladies of\nthe land, and of these there were none to whom Rhiannon did not give\nsome rich gift, either a bracelet, or a ring, or a precious stone. And\nthey ruled the land prosperously that year and the next.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER IX\n\n BRANWEN, THE DAUGHTER OF LLYR\n\nBENDIGEID VRAN, the son of Llyr, was the crowned king of this island,\nand he was exalted from the crown of London. And one afternoon he was at\nHarlech, in Ardudwy, at his court; and he sat upon the rock of Harlech,\nlooking over the sea. And with him were his brother, Manawyddan, the son\nof Llyr, and his brothers by the mother\u2019s side, Nissyen and Evnissyen,\nand many nobles likewise, as was fitting to see around a king. His two\nbrothers by the mother\u2019s side were the sons of Euroswydd, and one of\nthese youths was a good youth, and of gentle nature, and would make\npeace between his kindred, and cause his family to be friends when their\nwrath was at the highest, and this one was Nissyen; but the other would\ncause strife between his two brothers when they were most at peace. And\nas they sat thus they beheld thirteen ships coming from the south of\nIreland, and making towards them; and they came with a swift motion, the\nwind being behind them; and they neared them rapidly. \u201cI see ships\nafar,\u201d said the king, \u201ccoming swiftly towards the land. Command the men\nof the court that they equip themselves, and go and learn their intent.\u201d\nSo the men equipped themselves, and went down towards them. And when\nthey saw the ships near, certain were they that they had never seen\nships better furnished. Beautiful flags of satin were upon them. And,\nbehold, one of the ships outstripped the others, and they saw a shield\nlifted up above the side of the ship, and the point of the shield was\nupwards, in token of peace. And the men drew near, that they might hold\nconverse. Then they put out boats, and came toward the land. And they\nsaluted the king. Now the king could hear them from the place where he\nwas upon the rock above their heads. \u201cHeaven prosper you,\u201d said he, \u201cand\nbe ye welcome! To whom do these ships belong, and who is the chief\namongst you?\u201d \u201cLord,\u201d said they, \u201cMatholch, king of Ireland, is here,\nand these ships belong to him.\u201d \u201cWherefore comes he?\u201d asked the king,\n\u201cand will he come to the land?\u201d \u201cHe is a suitor unto thee, lord,\u201d said\nthey, \u201cand he will not land unless he have his boon.\u201d \u201cAnd what may that\nbe?\u201d inquired the king. \u201cHe desires to ally himself, lord, with thee,\u201d\nsaid they, \u201cand he comes to ask Branwen, the daughter of Llyr, that, if\nit seem well to thee, the Island of the Mighty[64] may be leagued with\nIreland, and both become more powerful.\u201d \u201cVerily,\u201d said he, \u201clet him\ncome to land, and we will take counsel thereupon.\u201d And this answer was\nbrought to Matholch. \u201cI will go willingly,\u201d said he. So he landed, and\nthey received him joyfully; and great was the throng in the palace that\nnight, between his hosts and those of the court; and next day they took\ncounsel, and they resolved to bestow Branwen upon Matholch. Now she was\none of the three chief ladies of this island, and she was the fairest\ndamsel in the world.\n\nAnd they fixed upon Aberfraw as the place where she should become his\nbride. And they went thence, and towards Aberfraw the hosts proceeded,\nMatholch and his host in their ships, Bendigeid Vran and his host by\nland, until they came to Aberfraw. And at Aberfraw they began the feast,\nand sat down. And thus sat they: the king of the Island of the Mighty\nand Manawyddan, the son of Llyr, on one side, and Matholch on the other\nside, and Branwen, the daughter of Llyr, beside him. And they were not\nwithin a house, but under tents. No house could ever contain Bendigeid\nVran. And they began the banquet, and caroused and discoursed. And when\nit was more pleasing to them to sleep than to carouse, they went to\nrest, and Branwen became Matholch\u2019s bride.\n\nAnd next day they arose, and all they of the court, and the officers\nbegan to equip, and to range the horses and the attendants, and they\nranged them in order as far as the sea.\n\nAnd, behold, one day Evnissyen, the quarrelsome man, of whom it is\nspoken above, came by chance into the place where the horses of Matholch\nwere, and asked whose horses they might be. \u201cThey are the horses of\nMatholch, king of Ireland, who is married to Branwen, thy sister; his\nhorses are they.\u201d \u201cAnd is it thus they have done with a maiden such as\nshe, and moreover my sister, bestowing her without my consent? They\ncould have offered no greater insult to me than this,\u201d said he. And\nthereupon he rushed under the horses, and cut off their lips at the\nteeth, and their ears close to their heads, and their tails close to\ntheir backs; and he disfigured the horses, and rendered them useless.\n\nAnd they came with these tidings unto Matholch, saying that the horses\nwere disfigured and injured, so that not one of them could ever be of\nany use again. \u201cVerily, lord,\u201d said one, \u201cit was an insult unto thee,\nand as such was it meant.\u201d \u201cOf a truth, it is a marvel to me that, if\nthey desire to insult me, they should have given me a maiden of such\nhigh rank, and so much beloved of her kindred, as they have done.\u201d\n\u201cLord,\u201d said another, \u201cthou seest that thus it is, and there is nothing\nfor thee to do but to go to thy ships.\u201d And thereupon towards his ships\nhe set out.\n\nAnd tidings came to Bendigeid Vran that Matholch was quitting the court\nwithout asking leave, and messengers were sent to inquire of him\nwherefore he did so. And the messengers that went were Iddic, the son of\nAnarawd, and Heveyd Hir. And these overtook him, and asked of him what\nhe designed to do, and wherefore he went forth. \u201cOf a truth,\u201d said he,\n\u201cif I had known, I had not come hither. I have been altogether insulted;\nno one had ever worse treatment than I have had here.\u201d \u201cTruly, lord, it\nwas not the will of any that are of the court,\u201d said they, \u201cnor of any\nthat are of the council, that thou shouldst have received this insult;\nand as thou hast been insulted, the dishonor is greater unto Bendigeid\nVran than unto thee.\u201d \u201cVerily,\u201d said he, \u201cI think so. Nevertheless, he\ncannot recall the insult.\u201d These men returned with that answer to the\nplace where Bendigeid Vran was, and they told him what reply Matholch\nhad given them. \u201cTruly,\u201d said he, \u201cthere are no means by which we may\nprevent his going away at enmity with us that we will not take.\u201d \u201cWell,\nlord,\u201d said they, \u201csend after him another embassy.\u201d \u201cI will do so,\u201d said\nhe. \u201cArise, Manawyddan, son of Llyr, and Heveyd Hir, and go after him,\nand tell him that he shall have a sound horse for every one that has\nbeen injured. And beside that, as an atonement for the insult, he shall\nhave a staff of silver as large and as tall as himself, and a plate of\ngold of the breadth of his face. And show unto him who it was that did\nthis, and that it was done against my will; but that he who did it is my\nbrother, and therefore it would be hard for me to put him to death. And\nlet him come and meet me,\u201d said he, \u201cand we will make peace in any way\nhe may desire.\u201d\n\nThe embassy went after Matholch, and told him all these sayings in a\nfriendly manner; and he listened thereunto. \u201cMen,\u201d said he, \u201cI will take\ncounsel.\u201d So to the council he went. And in the council they considered\nthat, if they should refuse this, they were likely to have more shame\nrather than to obtain so great an atonement. They resolved, therefore,\nto accept it, and they returned to the court in peace.\n\nThen the pavilions and the tents were set in order, after the fashion of\na hall; and they went to meat, and as they had sat at the beginning of\nthe feast so sat they there. And Matholch and Bendigeid Vran began to\ndiscourse; and, behold, it seemed to Bendigeid Vran, while they talked,\nthat Matholch was not so cheerful as he had been before. And he thought\nthat the chieftain might be sad because of the smallness of the\natonement which he had for the wrong that had been done him. \u201cO man,\u201d\nsaid Bendigeid Vran, \u201cthou dost not discourse to-night so cheerfully as\nthou wast wont. And if it be because of the smallness of the atonement,\nthou shalt add thereunto whatsoever thou mayest choose, and to-morrow I\nwill pay thee for the horses.\u201d \u201cLord,\u201d said he, \u201cHeaven reward thee!\u201d\n\u201cAnd I will enhance the atonement,\u201d said Bendigeid Vran, \u201cfor I will\ngive unto thee a caldron, the property of which is, that if one of thy\nmen be slain to-day, and be cast therein, to-morrow he will be as well\nas ever he was at the best, except that he will not regain his speech.\u201d\nAnd thereupon he gave him great thanks, and very joyful was he for that\ncause.\n\nThat night they continued to discourse as much as they would, and had\nminstrelsy and carousing; and when it was more pleasant to them to sleep\nthan to sit longer, they went to rest. And thus was the banquet carried\non with joyousness; and when it was finished, Matholch journeyed towards\nIreland, and Branwen with him; and they went from Aber Menei with\nthirteen ships, and came to Ireland. And in Ireland was there great joy\nbecause of their coming. And not one great man nor noble lady visited\nBranwen unto whom she gave not either a clasp or a ring, or a royal\njewel to keep, such as it was honorable to be seen departing with. And\nin these things she spent that year in much renown, and she passed her\ntime pleasantly, enjoying honor and friendship. And in due time a son\nwas born unto her, and the name that they gave him was Gwern, the son of\nMatholch, and they put the boy out to be nursed in a place where were\nthe best men of Ireland.\n\nAnd, behold, in the second year a tumult arose in Ireland, on account of\nthe insult which Matholch had received in Wales, and the payment made\nhim for his horses. And his foster-brothers, and such as were nearest to\nhim, blamed him openly for that matter. And he might have no peace by\nreason of the tumult, until they should revenge upon him this disgrace.\nAnd the vengeance which they took was to drive away Branwen from the\nsame chamber with him, and to make her cook for the court; and they\ncaused the butcher, after he had cut up the meat, to come to her and\ngive her every day a blow on the ear; and such they made her punishment.\n\n\u201cVerily, lord,\u201d said his men to Matholch, \u201cforbid now the ships and the\nferry-boats, and the coracles, that they go not into Wales, and such as\ncome over from Wales hither, imprison them, that they go not back for\nthis thing to be known there.\u201d And he did so; and it was thus for no\nless than three years.\n\nAnd Branwen reared a starling in the cover of the kneading-trough, and\nshe taught it to speak, and she taught the bird what manner of man her\nbrother was. And she wrote a letter of her woes, and the despite with\nwhich she was treated, and she bound the letter to the root of the\nbird\u2019s wing, and sent it toward Wales. And the bird came to that island;\nand one day it found Bendigeid Vran at Caer Seiont in Arvon, conferring\nthere, and it alighted upon his shoulder, and ruffled its feathers, so\nthat the letter was seen, and they knew that the bird had been reared in\na domestic manner.\n\nThen Bendigeid Vran took the letter and looked upon it. And when he had\nread the letter, he grieved exceedingly at the tidings of Branwen\u2019s\nwoes. And immediately he began sending messengers to summon the island\ntogether. And he caused seven-score and four of his chief men to come\nunto him, and he complained to them of the grief that his sister\nendured. So they took counsel. And in the counsel they resolved to go to\nIreland, and to leave seven men as princes at home, and Caradoc,[65] the\nson of Bran, as the chief of them.\n\nBendigeid Vran, with the host of which we spoke, sailed towards Ireland;\nand it was not far across the sea, and he came to shoal water. Now the\nswine-herds of Matholch were upon the sea-shore, and they came to\nMatholch. \u201cLord,\u201d said they, \u201cgreeting be unto thee.\u201d \u201cHeaven protect\nyou!\u201d said he; \u201chave you any news?\u201d \u201cLord,\u201d said they, \u201cwe have\nmarvellous news. A wood have we seen upon the sea, in a place where we\nnever yet saw a single tree.\u201d \u201cThis is indeed a marvel,\u201d said he; \u201csaw\nyou aught else?\u201d \u201cWe saw, lord,\u201d said they, \u201ca vast mountain beside the\nwood, which moved, and there was a lofty ridge on the top of the\nmountain, and a lake on each side of the ridge. And the wood and the\nmountain, and all these things, moved.\u201d \u201cVerily,\u201d said he, \u201cthere is\nnone who can know aught concerning this unless it be Branwen.\u201d\n\nMessengers then went unto Branwen. \u201cLady,\u201d said they, \u201cwhat thinkest\nthou that this is?\u201d \u201cThe men of the Island of the Mighty, who have come\nhither on hearing of my ill-treatment and of my woes.\u201d \u201cWhat is the\nforest that is seen upon the sea?\u201d asked they. \u201cThe yards and the masts\nof ships,\u201d she answered. \u201cAlas!\u201d said they; \u201cwhat is the mountain that\nis seen by the side of the ships?\u201d \u201cBendigeid Vran, my brother,\u201d she\nreplied, \u201ccoming to shoal water, and he is wading to the land.\u201d \u201cWhat is\nthe lofty ridge, with the lake on each side thereof?\u201d \u201cOn looking\ntowards this island he is wroth, and his two eyes on each side of his\nnose are the two lakes on each side of the ridge.\u201d\n\nThe warriors and chief men of Ireland were brought together in haste,\nand they took counsel. \u201cLord,\u201d said the neighbors unto Matholch, \u201cthere\nis no other counsel than this alone. Thou shalt give the kingdom to\nGwern, the son of Branwen his sister, as a compensation for the wrong\nand despite that have been done unto Branwen. And he will make peace\nwith thee.\u201d And in the council it was resolved that this message should\nbe sent to Bendigeid Vran, lest the country should be destroyed. And\nthis peace was made. And Matholch caused a great house to be built for\nBendigeid Vran, and his host. Thereupon came the hosts into the house.\nThe men of the island of Ireland entered the house on the one side, and\nthe men of the Island of the Mighty on the other. And as soon as they\nhad sat down, there was concord between them; and the sovereignty was\nconferred upon the boy. When the peace was concluded, Bendigeid Vran\ncalled the boy unto him, and from Bendigeid Vran the boy went unto\nManawyddan; and he was beloved by all that beheld him. And from\nManawyddan the boy was called by Nissyen, the son of Euroswydd, and the\nboy went unto him lovingly. \u201cWherefore,\u201d said Evnissyen, \u201ccomes not my\nnephew, the son of my sister, unto me? Though he were not king of\nIreland, yet willingly would I fondle the boy.\u201d \u201cCheerfully let him go\nto thee,\u201d said Bendigeid Vran; and the boy went unto him cheerfully. \u201cBy\nmy confession to Heaven,\u201d said Evnissyen in his heart, \u201cunthought of is\nthe slaughter that I will this instant commit.\u201d\n\nThen he arose and took up the boy, and before any one in the house could\nseize hold of him he thrust the boy headlong into the blazing fire. And\nwhen Branwen saw her son burning in the fire, she strove to leap into\nthe fire also, from the place where she sat between her two brothers.\nBut Bendigeid Vran grasped her with one hand, and his shield with the\nother. Then they all hurried about the house, and never was there made\nso great a tumult by any host in one house as was made by them, as each\nman armed himself. And while they all sought their arms Bendigeid Vran\nsupported Branwen between his shield and his shoulder. And they fought.\n\nThen the Irish kindled a fire under the caldron of renovation, and they\ncast the dead bodies into the caldron until it was full; and the next\nday they came forth fighting men, as good as before, except that they\nwere not able to speak. Then when Evnissyen saw the dead bodies of the\nmen of the Island of the Mighty nowhere resuscitated, he said in his\nheart, \u201cAlas! woe is me, that I should have been the cause of bringing\nthe men of the Island of the Mighty into so great a strait. Evil betide\nme if I find not a deliverance therefrom.\u201d And he cast himself among the\ndead bodies of the Irish; and two unshod Irishmen came to him, and,\ntaking him to be one of the Irish, flung him into the caldron. And he\nstretched himself out in the caldron, so that he rent the caldron into\nfour pieces, and burst his own heart also.\n\nIn consequence of this, the men of the Island of the Mighty obtained\nsuch success as they had; but they were not victorious, for only seven\nmen of them all escaped, and Bendigeid Vran himself was wounded in the\nfoot with a poisoned dart. Now the men that escaped were Pryderi,\nManawyddan, Taliesin, and four others.\n\nAnd Bendigeid Vran commanded them that they should cut off his head.\n\u201cAnd take you my head,\u201d said he, \u201cand bear it even unto the White Mount\nin London, and bury it there with the face towards France. And so long\nas it lies there, no enemy shall ever land on the island.\u201d So they cut\noff his head, and these seven went forward therewith. And Branwen was\nthe eighth with them. And they came to land on Aber Alaw, and they sat\ndown to rest. And Branwen looked towards Ireland, and towards the Island\nof the Mighty, to see if she could descry them. \u201cAlas!\u201d said she, \u201cwoe\nis me that I was ever born; two islands have been destroyed because of\nme.\u201d Then she uttered a groan, and there broke her heart. And they made\nher a four-sided grave, and buried her upon the banks of the Alaw.\n\nThen the seven men journeyed forward, bearing the head with them; and as\nthey went, behold there met them a multitude of men and women. \u201cHave you\nany tidings?\u201d said Manawyddan. \u201cWe have none,\u201d said they, \u201csave that\nCaswallawn,[66] the son of Beli, has conquered the Island of the Mighty,\nand is crowned king in London.\u201d \u201cWhat has become,\u201d said they, \u201cof\nCaradoc, the son of Bran, and the seven men who were left with him in\nthis island?\u201d \u201cCaswallawn came upon them, and slew six of the men, and\nCaradoc\u2019s heart broke for grief thereof.\u201d And the seven men journeyed on\ntowards London, and they buried the head in the White Mount, as\nBendigeid Vran had directed them.[67]\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER X\n\n MANAWYDDAN\n\nPWYLL and Rhiannon had a son, whom they named Pryderi. And when he was\ngrown up, Pwyll, his father, died. And Pryderi married Kicva, the\ndaughter of Gwynn Gloy.\n\nNow Manawyddan returned from the war in Ireland, and he found that his\ncousin had seized all his possessions, and much grief and heaviness came\nupon him. \u201cAlas! woe is me!\u201d he exclaimed; \u201cthere is none save myself\nwithout a home and a resting-place.\u201d \u201cLord,\u201d said Pryderi, \u201cbe not so\nsorrowful. Thy cousin is king of the Island of the Mighty, and though he\nhas done thee wrong, thou hast never been a claimant of land or\npossessions.\u201d \u201cYea,\u201d answered he, \u201cbut although this man is my cousin,\nit grieveth me to see any one in the place of my brother, Bendigeid\nVran; neither can I be happy in the same dwelling with him.\u201d \u201cWilt thou\nfollow the counsel of another?\u201d said Pryderi. \u201cI stand in need of\ncounsel,\u201d he answered, \u201cand what may that counsel be?\u201d \u201cSeven cantrevs\nbelong unto me,\u201d said Pryderi, \u201cwherein Rhiannon, my mother, dwells. I\nwill bestow her upon thee, and the seven cantrevs with her; and though\nthou hadst no possessions but those cantrevs only, thou couldst not have\nany fairer than they. Do thou and Rhiannon enjoy them, and if thou\ndesire any possessions thou wilt not despise these.\u201d \u201cI do not,\nchieftain,\u201d said he. \u201cHeaven reward thee for the friendship! I will go\nwith thee to seek Rhiannon, and to look at thy possessions.\u201d \u201cThou wilt\ndo well,\u201d he answered; \u201cand I believe that thou didst never hear a lady\ndiscourse better than she, and when she was in her prime, none was ever\nfairer. Even now her aspect is not uncomely.\u201d\n\nThey set forth, and, however long the journey, they came at last to\nDyved; and a feast was prepared for them by Rhiannon and Kicva. Then\nbegan Manawyddan and Rhiannon to sit and to talk together; and his mind\nand his thoughts became warmed towards her, and he thought in his heart\nhe had never beheld any lady more fulfilled of grace and beauty than\nshe. \u201cPryderi,\u201d said he, \u201cI will that it be as thou didst say.\u201d \u201cWhat\nsaying was that?\u201d asked Rhiannon. \u201cLady,\u201d said Pryderi, \u201cI did offer\nthee as a wife to Manawyddan, the son of Llyr.\u201d \u201cBy that will I gladly\nabide,\u201d said Rhiannon. \u201cRight glad am I also,\u201d said Manawyddan, \u201cmay\nHeaven reward him who hath shown unto me friendship so perfect as this!\u201d\n\nAnd before the feast was over she became his bride. Said Pryderi, \u201cTarry\nye here the rest of the feast, and I will go into England to tender my\nhomage unto Caswallawn, the son of Beli.\u201d \u201cLord,\u201d said Rhiannon,\n\u201cCaswallawn is in Kent; thou mayest therefore tarry at the feast, and\nwait until he shall be nearer.\u201d \u201cWe will wait,\u201d he answered. So they\nfinished the feast. And they began to make the circuit of Dyved, and to\nhunt, and to take their pleasure. And as they went through the country,\nthey had never seen lands more pleasant to live in, nor better hunting\ngrounds, nor greater plenty of honey and fish. And such was the\nfriendship between these four, that they would not be parted from each\nother by night nor by day.\n\nAnd in the midst of all this he went to Caswallawn at Oxford, and\ntendered his homage; and honorable was his reception there, and highly\nwas he praised for offering his homage.\n\nAnd after his return Pryderi and Manawyddan feasted and took their ease\nand pleasure. And they began a feast at Narberth, for it was the chief\npalace. And when they had ended the first meal, while those who served\nthem ate, they arose and went forth, and proceeded to the Gorsedd, that\nis, the Mount of Narberth, and their retinue with them. And as they sat\nthus, behold a peal of thunder, and with the violence of the\nthunder-storm, lo! there came a fall of mist, so thick that not one of\nthem could see the other. And after the mist it became light all around.\nAnd when they looked towards the place where they were wont to see the\ncattle and herds and dwellings, they saw nothing now, neither house, nor\nbeast, nor smoke, nor fire, nor man, nor dwelling, but the buildings of\nthe court empty, and desert, and uninhabited, without either man or\nbeast within them. And truly all their companions were lost to them,\nwithout their knowing aught of what had befallen them, save those four\nonly.\n\n\u201cIn the name of Heaven,\u201d said Manawyddan, \u201cwhere are they of the court,\nand all my host beside? Let us go and see.\u201d\n\nSo they came to the castle, and saw no man, and into the hall, and to\nthe sleeping-place, and there was none; and in the mead-cellar and in\nthe kitchen there was naught but desolation. Then they began to go\nthrough the land, and all the possessions that they had; and they\nvisited the houses and dwellings, and found nothing but wild beasts. And\nwhen they had consumed their feast and all their provisions, they fed\nupon the prey they killed in hunting, and the honey of the wild swans.\n\nAnd one morning Pryderi and Manawyddan rose up to hunt, and they ranged\ntheir dogs and went forth. And some of the dogs ran before them, and\ncame to a bush which was near at hand; but as soon as they were come to\nthe bush, they hastily drew back, and returned to the men, their hair\nbristling up greatly. \u201cLet us go near to the bush,\u201d said Pryderi, \u201cand\nsee what is in it.\u201d And as they came near, behold, a wild boar of a pure\nwhite color rose up from the bush. Then the dogs, being set on by the\nmen, rushed towards him; but he left the bush, and fell back a little\nway from the men, and made a stand against the dogs, without retreating\nfrom them, until the men had come near. And when the men came up, he\nfell back a second time, and betook him to flight. Then they pursued the\nboar until they beheld a vast and lofty castle, all newly built, in a\nplace where they had never before seen either stone or building. And the\nboar ran swiftly into the castle, and the dogs after him. Now when the\nboar and the dogs had gone into the castle, the men began to wonder at\nfinding a castle in a place where they had never before seen any\nbuilding whatsoever. And from the top of the Gorsedd they looked and\nlistened for the dogs. But so long as they were there, they heard not\none of the dogs, nor aught concerning them.\n\n\u201cLord,\u201d said Pryderi, \u201cI will go into the castle to get tidings of the\ndogs.\u201d \u201cTruly,\u201d he replied, \u201cthou wouldst be unwise to go into this\ncastle, which thou hast never seen till now. If thou wouldst follow my\ncounsel, thou wouldst not enter therein. Whosoever has cast a spell over\nthis land, has caused this castle to be here.\u201d \u201cOf a truth,\u201d answered\nPryderi, \u201cI cannot thus give up my dogs.\u201d And for all the counsel that\nManawyddan gave him, yet to the castle he went.\n\nWhen he came within the castle, neither man nor beast, nor boar, nor\ndogs, nor house, nor dwelling, saw he within it. But in the centre of\nthe castle-floor he beheld a fountain with marble-work around it, and on\nthe margin of the fountain a golden bowl upon a marble slab, and chains\nhanging from the air, to which he saw no end.\n\nAnd he was greatly pleased with the beauty of the gold, and with the\nrich workmanship of the bowl; and he went up to the bowl, and laid hold\nof it. And when he had taken hold of it, his hands stuck to the bowl,\nand his feet to the slab on which the bowl was placed; and all his\njoyousness forsook him, so that he could not utter a word. And thus he\nstood.\n\nAnd Manawyddan waited for him till near the close of the day. And late\nin the evening, being certain that he should have no tidings of Pryderi\nor the dogs, he went back to the palace. And as he entered, Rhiannon\nlooked at him. \u201cWhere,\u201d said she, \u201care thy companion and thy dogs?\u201d\n\u201cBehold,\u201d he answered, \u201cthe adventure that has befallen me.\u201d And he\nrelated it all unto her. \u201cAn evil companion hast thou been,\u201d said\nRhiannon, \u201cand a good companion hast thou lost.\u201d And with that word she\nwent out, and proceeded towards the castle, according to the direction\nwhich he gave her. The gate of the castle she found open. She was\nnothing daunted, and she went in. And as she went in, she perceived\nPryderi laying hold of the bowl, and she went towards him. \u201cO my lord,\u201d\nsaid she, \u201cwhat dost thou here?\u201d And she took hold of the bowl with him;\nand as she did so, her hands also became fast to the bowl, and her feet\nto the slab, and she was not able to utter a word. And with that, as it\nbecame night, lo! there came thunder upon them, and a fall of mist; and\nthereupon the castle vanished, and they with it.\n\nWhen Kicva, the daughter of Gwynn Gloy, saw that there was no one in the\npalace but herself and Manawyddan, she sorrowed so that she cared not\nwhether she lived or died. And Manawyddan saw this. \u201cThou art in the\nwrong,\u201d said he, \u201cif through fear of me thou grievest thus. I call\nHeaven to witness that thou hast never seen friendship more pure than\nthat which I will bear thee, as long as Heaven will that thou shouldst\nbe thus. I declare to thee, that, were I in the dawn of youth, I would\nkeep my faith unto Pryderi, and unto thee also will I keep it. Be there\nno fear upon thee, therefore.\u201d \u201cHeaven reward thee!\u201d she said; \u201cand that\nis what I deemed of thee.\u201d And the damsel thereupon took courage, and\nwas glad.\n\n\u201cTruly, lady,\u201d said Manawyddan, \u201cit is not fitting for us to stay here;\nwe have lost our dogs, and cannot get food. Let us go into England; it\nis easiest for us to find support there.\u201d \u201cGladly, lord,\u201d said she, \u201cwe\nwill do so.\u201d And they set forth together to England.\n\n\u201cLord,\u201d said she, \u201cwhat craft wilt thou follow? Take up one that is\nseemly.\u201d \u201cNone other will I take,\u201d answered he, \u201cbut that of making\nshoes.\u201d \u201cLord,\u201d said she, \u201csuch a craft becomes not a man so nobly born\nas thou.\u201d \u201cBy that however will I abide,\u201d said he. \u201cI know nothing\nthereof,\u201d said Kicva. \u201cBut I know,\u201d answered Manawyddan, \u201cand I will\nteach thee to stitch. We will not attempt to dress the leather, but we\nwill buy it ready dressed, and will make the shoes from it.\u201d\n\nSo they went into England, and went as far as Hereford; and they betook\nthemselves to making shoes. And he began by buying the best cordwain\nthat could be had in the town, and none other would buy. And he\nassociated himself with the best goldsmith in the town, and caused him\nto make clasps for the shoes, and to gild the clasps; and he marked how\nit was done until he learned the method. And therefore is he called one\nof the three makers of gold shoes. And when they could be had from him,\nnot a shoe nor hose was bought of any of the cordwainers in the town.\nBut when the cordwainers perceived that their gains were failing (for as\nManawyddan shaped the work, so Kicva stitched it), they came together\nand took counsel, and agreed that they would slay them. And he had\nwarning thereof, and it was told him how the cordwainers had agreed\ntogether to slay him.\n\n\u201cLord,\u201d said Kicva, \u201cwherefore should this be borne from these boors?\u201d\n\u201cNay,\u201d said he, \u201cwe will go back unto Dyved.\u201d So towards Dyved they set\nforth.\n\nNow Manawyddan, when he set out to return to Dyved, took with him a\nburden of wheat. And he proceeded towards Narberth, and there he dwelt.\nAnd never was he better pleased than when he saw Narberth again, and the\nlands where he had been wont to hunt with Pryderi and with Rhiannon. And\nhe accustomed himself to fish, and to hunt the deer in their covert. And\nthen he began to prepare some ground, and he sowed a croft, and a\nsecond, and a third. And no wheat in the world ever sprung up better.\nAnd the three crofts prospered with perfect growth, and no man ever saw\nfairer wheat than it.\n\nAnd thus passed the seasons of the year until the harvest came. And he\nwent to look at one of his crofts, and, behold, it was ripe. \u201cI will\nreap this to-morrow,\u201d said he. And that night he went back to Narberth,\nand on the morrow, in the gray dawn, he went to reap the croft; and when\nhe came there, he found nothing but the bare straw. Every one of the\nears of the wheat was cut off from the stalk, and all the ears carried\nentirely away, and nothing but the straw left. And at this he marvelled\ngreatly.\n\nThen he went to look at another croft, and, behold, that also was ripe.\n\u201cVerily,\u201d said he, \u201cthis will I reap to-morrow.\u201d And on the morrow he\ncame with the intent to reap it; and when he came there, he found\nnothing but the bare straw. \u201cO gracious Heaven!\u201d he exclaimed. \u201cI know\nthat whosoever has begun my ruin is completing it, and has also\ndestroyed the country with me.\u201d\n\nThen he went to look at the third croft; and when he came there, finer\nwheat had there never been seen, and this also was ripe. \u201cEvil betide\nme,\u201d said he, \u201cif I watch not here to-night. Whoever carried off the\nother corn will come in like manner to take this, and I will know who it\nis.\u201d And he told Kicva all that had befallen. \u201cVerily,\u201d said she, \u201cwhat\nthinkest thou to do?\u201d \u201cI will watch the croft to-night,\u201d said he. And he\nwent to watch the croft.\n\nAnd at midnight he heard something stirring among the wheat; and he\nlooked, and behold, the mightiest host of mice in the world, which could\nneither be numbered nor measured. And he knew not what it was until the\nmice had made their way into the croft, and each of them, climbing up\nthe straw, and bending it down with its weight, had cut off one of the\nears of wheat, and had carried it away, leaving there the stalk; and he\nsaw not a single straw there that had not a mouse to it. And they all\ntook their way, carrying the ears with them.\n\nIn wrath and anger did he rush upon the mice; but he could no more come\nup with them than if they had been gnats or birds of the air, except one\nonly, which, though it was but sluggish, went so fast that a man on foot\ncould scarce overtake it. And after this one he went, and he caught it,\nand put it in his glove, and tied up the opening of the glove with a\nstring, and kept it with him, and returned to the palace. Then he came\nto the hall where Kicva was, and he lighted a fire, and hung the glove\nby the string upon a peg. \u201cWhat hast thou there, lord?\u201d said Kicva. \u201cA\nthief,\u201d said he, \u201cthat I found robbing me.\u201d \u201cWhat kind of a thief may it\nbe, lord, that thou couldst put into thy glove?\u201d said she. Then he told\nher how the mice came to the last of the fields in his sight. \u201cAnd one\nof them was less nimble than the rest, and is now in my glove; to-morrow\nI will hang it.\u201d \u201cMy lord,\u201d said she, \u201cthis is marvellous; but yet it\nwould be unseemly for a man of dignity like thee to be hanging such a\nreptile as this.\u201d \u201cWoe betide me,\u201d said he, \u201cif I would not hang them\nall, could I catch them, and such as I have I will hang.\u201d \u201cVerily,\nlord,\u201d said she, \u201cthere is no reason that I should succor this reptile,\nexcept to prevent discredit unto thee. Do therefore, lord, as thou\nwilt.\u201d\n\nThen he went to the Mound of Narberth, taking the mouse with him. And he\nset up two forks on the highest part of the mound. And while he was\ndoing this, behold, he saw a scholar coming towards him, in old and poor\nand tattered garments. And it was now seven years since he had seen in\nthat place either man or beast, except those four persons who had\nremained together until two of them were lost.\n\n\u201cMy lord,\u201d said the scholar, \u201cgood-day to thee.\u201d \u201cHeaven prosper thee,\nand my greeting be unto thee! And whence dost thou come, scholar?\u201d asked\nhe. \u201cI come, lord, from singing in England; and wherefore dost thou\ninquire?\u201d \u201cBecause for the last seven years,\u201d answered he, \u201cI have seen\nno man here save four secluded persons, and thyself this moment.\u201d\n\u201cTruly, lord,\u201d said he, \u201cI go through this land unto mine own. And what\nwork art thou upon, lord?\u201d \u201cI am hanging a thief that I caught robbing\nme,\u201d said he. \u201cWhat manner of thief is that?\u201d asked the scholar. \u201cI see\na creature in thy hand like unto a mouse, and ill does it become a man\nof rank equal to thine to touch a reptile such as this. Let it go forth\nfree.\u201d \u201cI will not let it go free, by Heaven,\u201d said he; \u201cI caught it\nrobbing me, and the doom of a thief will I inflict upon it, and I will\nhang it.\u201d \u201cLord,\u201d said he, \u201crather than see a man of rank equal to thine\nat such a work as this, I would give thee a pound, which I have received\nas alms, to let the reptile go forth free.\u201d \u201cI will not let it go free,\u201d\nsaid he, \u201cneither will I sell it.\u201d \u201cAs thou wilt, lord,\u201d he answered; \u201cI\ncare naught.\u201d And the scholar went his way.\n\nAnd as he was placing the cross-beam upon the two forks, behold, a\npriest came towards him, upon a horse covered with trappings. \u201cGood day\nto thee, lord,\u201d said he. \u201cHeaven prosper thee!\u201d said Manawyddan; \u201cthy\nblessing.\u201d \u201cThe blessing of Heaven be upon thee! And what, lord, art\nthou doing?\u201d \u201cI am hanging a thief that I caught robbing me,\u201d said he.\n\u201cWhat manner of thief, lord?\u201d asked he. \u201cA creature,\u201d he answered, \u201cin\nform of a mouse. It has been robbing me, and I am inflicting upon it the\ndoom of a thief.\u201d \u201cLord,\u201d said he, \u201crather than see thee touch this\nreptile, I would purchase its freedom.\u201d \u201cBy my confession to Heaven,\nneither will I sell it nor set it free.\u201d \u201cIt is true, lord, that it is\nworth nothing to buy; but rather than see thee defile thyself by\ntouching such a reptile as this, I will give thee three pounds to let it\ngo.\u201d \u201cI will not, by Heaven,\u201d said he, \u201ctake any price for it. As it\nought, so shall it be hanged.\u201d And the priest went his way.\n\nThen he noosed the string around the mouse\u2019s neck, and as he was about\nto draw it up, behold, he saw a bishop\u2019s retinue, with his\nsumpter-horses and his attendants. And the bishop himself came towards\nhim. And he stayed his work. \u201cLord Bishop,\u201d said he, \u201cthy blessing.\u201d\n\u201cHeaven\u2019s blessing be unto thee!\u201d said he. \u201cWhat work art thou upon?\u201d\n\u201cHanging a thief that I caught robbing me,\u201d said he. \u201cIs not that a\nmouse that I see in thy hand?\u201d \u201cYes,\u201d answered he, \u201cand she has robbed\nme.\u201d \u201cAy,\u201d said he, \u201csince I have come at the doom of this reptile I\nwill ransom it of thee. I will give thee seven pounds for it, and that\nrather than see a man of rank equal to thine destroying so vile a\nreptile as this. Let it loose, and thou shalt have the money.\u201d \u201cI\ndeclare to Heaven that I will not let it loose.\u201d \u201cIf thou wilt not loose\nit for this, I will give thee four and twenty pounds of ready money to\nset it free.\u201d \u201cI will not set it free, by Heaven, for as much again,\u201d\nsaid he. \u201cIf thou wilt not set it free for this, I will give thee all\nthe horses that thou seest in this plain, and the seven loads of\nbaggage, and the seven horses that they are upon.\u201d \u201cBy Heaven, I will\nnot,\u201d he replied. \u201cSince for this thou wilt not set it free, do so at\nwhat price soever thou wilt.\u201d \u201cI will that Rhiannon and Pryderi be\nfree,\u201d said he. \u201cThat thou shalt have,\u201d he answered. \u201cNot yet will I\nloose the mouse, by Heaven.\u201d \u201cWhat then wouldst thou?\u201d \u201cThat the charm\nand the illusion be removed from the seven cantrevs of Dyved.\u201d \u201cThis\nshalt thou have also; set therefore the mouse free.\u201d \u201cI will not set it\nfree, by Heaven,\u201d said he, \u201ctill I know who the mouse may be.\u201d \u201cShe is\nmy wife.\u201d \u201cWherefore came she to me?\u201d \u201cTo despoil thee,\u201d he answered. \u201cI\nam Lloyd, the son of Kilwed, and I cast the charm over the seven\ncantrevs of Dyved. And it was to avenge Gawl, the son of Clud, from the\nfriendship I had towards him, that I cast the charm. And upon Pryderi\ndid I avenge Gawl, the son of Clud, for the game of Badger in the Bag,\nthat Pwyll, the son of Auwyn, played upon him. And when it was known\nthat thou wast come to dwell in the land, my household came and besought\nme to transform them into mice, that they might destroy thy corn. And\nthey went the first and the second night, and destroyed thy two crops.\nAnd the third night came unto me my wife and the ladies of the court,\nand besought me to transform them. And I transformed them. Now she is\nnot in her usual health. And had she been in her usual health, thou\nwouldst not have been able to overtake her; but since this has taken\nplace, and she has been caught, I will restore to thee Pryderi and\nRhiannon, and I will take the charm and illusion from off Dyved. Set her\ntherefore free.\u201d \u201cI will not set her free yet.\u201d \u201cWhat wilt thou more?\u201d\nhe asked. \u201cI will that there be no more charm upon the seven cantrevs of\nDyved, and that none shall be put upon it henceforth; moreover, that\nvengeance be never taken for this, either upon Pryderi or Rhiannon, or\nupon me.\u201d \u201cAll this shalt thou have. And truly thou hast done wisely in\nasking this. Upon thy head would have lit all this trouble.\u201d \u201cYea,\u201d said\nhe, \u201cfor fear thereof was it that I required this.\u201d \u201cSet now my wife at\nliberty.\u201d \u201cI will not,\u201d said he, \u201cuntil I see Pryderi and Rhiannon with\nme free.\u201d \u201cBehold, here they come,\u201d he answered.\n\nAnd thereupon behold Pryderi and Rhiannon. And he rose up to meet them,\nand greeted them, and sat down beside them. \u201cAh, chieftain, set now my\nwife at liberty,\u201d said the bishop. \u201cHast thou not received all thou\ndidst ask?\u201d \u201cI will release her, gladly,\u201d said he. And thereupon he set\nher free.\n\nThen he struck her with a magic wand, and she was changed back into a\nyoung woman, the fairest ever seen.\n\n\u201cLook round upon thy land,\u201d said he, \u201cand thou wilt see it all tilled\nand peopled as it was in its best estate.\u201d And he rose up and looked\nforth. And when he looked he saw all the lands tilled, and full of herds\nand dwellings.\n\nAnd thus ends this portion of the Mabinogi.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\nThe following allusions to the preceding story are found in a letter of\nthe poet Southey to John Rickman, Esq., dated June 6th, 1802:\n\n\u201cYou will read the Mabinogeon, concerning which I ought to have talked\nto you. In the last, that most odd and Arabian-like story of the mouse,\nmention is made of a begging scholar, that helps to the date; but where\ndid the Cymri get the imagination that could produce such a tale? That\nenchantment of the basin hanging by the chain from heaven is in the\nwildest spirit of the Arabian Nights. I am perfectly astonished that\nsuch fictions should exist in Welsh. They throw no light on the origin\nof romance, everything being utterly dissimilar to what we mean by that\nterm, but they do open a new world of fiction; and if the date of their\nlanguage be fixed about the twelfth or thirteenth century, I cannot but\nthink the mythological substance is of far earlier date; very probably\nbrought from the East by some of the first settlers or conquerors.\u201d\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XI\n\n KILWICH AND OLWEN\n\nKILYDD, a son of Prince Kelyddon, desired a wife as a helpmate, and the\nwife that he chose was Goleudid, the daughter of Prince Anlawd. And\nafter their union the people put up prayers that they might have an\nheir. And they had a son through the prayers of the people; and called\nhis name Kilwich.\n\nAfter this the boy\u2019s mother, Goleudid, the daughter of Prince Anlawd,\nfell sick. Then she called her husband to her, and said to him, \u201cOf this\nsickness I shall die, and thou wilt take another wife. Now wives are the\ngift of the Lord, but it would be wrong for thee to harm thy son.\nTherefore I charge thee that thou take not a wife until thou see a briar\nwith two blossoms upon my grave.\u201d And this he promised her. Then she\nbesought him to dress her grave every year, that no weeds might grow\nthereon. So the queen died. Now the king sent an attendant every morning\nto see if anything were growing upon the grave. And at the end of the\nseventh year they neglected that which they had promised to the queen.\n\nOne day the king went to hunt; and he rode to the place of burial, to\nsee the grave, and to know if it were time that he should take a wife:\nand the king saw the briar. And when he saw it, the king took counsel\nwhere he should find a wife. Said one of his counsellors, \u201cI know a wife\nthat will suit thee well; and she is the wife of King Doged.\u201d And they\nresolved to go to seek her; and they slew the king, and brought away his\nwife. And they conquered the kings\u2019 lands. And he married the widow of\nKing Doged, the sister of Yspadaden Penkawr.\n\nAnd one day his stepmother said to Kilwich, \u201cIt were well for thee to\nhave a wife.\u201d \u201cI am not yet of an age to wed,\u201d answered the youth. Then\nsaid she unto him, \u201cI declare to thee that it is thy destiny not to be\nsuited with a wife until thou obtain Olwen, the daughter of Yspadaden\nPenkawr.\u201d And the youth blushed, and the love of the maiden diffused\nitself through all his frame, although he had never seen her. And his\nfather inquired of him, \u201cWhat has come over thee, my son, and what\naileth thee?\u201d \u201cMy stepmother has declared to me that I shall never have\na wife until I obtain Olwen, the daughter of Yspadaden Penkawr.\u201d \u201cThat\nwill be easy for thee,\u201d answered his father. \u201cArthur is thy cousin. Go,\ntherefore, unto Arthur, to cut thy hair, and ask this of him as a boon.\u201d\n\nAnd the youth pricked forth upon a steed with head dappled gray, four\nwinters old, firm of limb, with shell-formed hoofs, having a bridle of\nlinked gold on his head, and upon him a saddle of costly gold. And in\nthe youth\u2019s hand were two spears of silver, sharp, well-tempered, headed\nwith steel, three ells in length, of an edge to wound the wind, and\ncause blood to flow, and swifter than the fall of the dew-drop from the\nblade of reed-grass, when the dew of June is at the heaviest. A\ngold-hilted sword was upon his thigh, the blade of which was gilded,\nbearing a cross of inlaid gold of the hue of the lightning of heaven.\nHis war-horn was of ivory. Before him were two brindled, white-breasted\ngreyhounds, having strong collars of rubies about their necks, reaching\nfrom the shoulder to the ear. And the one that was upon the left side\nbounded across to the right side, and the one on the right to the left,\nand, like two sea-swallows, sported around him. And his courser cast up\nfour sods, with his four hoofs, like four swallows in the air, about his\nhead, now above, now below. About him was a four-cornered cloth of\npurple, and an apple of gold was at each corner, and every one of the\napples was of the value of an hundred kine. And there was precious gold\nof the value of three hundred kine upon his shoes, and upon his\nstirrups, from his knee to the tip of his toe. And the blade of grass\nbent not beneath him, so light was his courser\u2019s tread, as he journeyed\ntoward the gate of Arthur\u2019s palace.\n\nSpoke the youth: \u201cIs there a porter?\u201d \u201cThere is; and if thou holdest not\nthy peace, small will be thy welcome. I am Arthur\u2019s porter every first\nday of January.\u201d \u201cOpen the portal.\u201d \u201cI will not open it.\u201d \u201cWherefore\nnot?\u201d \u201cThe knife is in the meat, and the drink is in the horn, and there\nis revelry in Arthur\u2019s hall; and none may enter therein but the son of a\nking of a privileged country, or a craftsman bringing his craft. But\nthere will be refreshment for thy dogs and for thy horse; and for thee\nthere will be collops cooked and peppered, and luscious wine, and\nmirthful songs; and food for fifty men shall be brought unto thee in the\nguest-chamber, where the stranger and the sons of other countries eat,\nwho come not into the precincts of the palace of Arthur. Thou wilt fare\nno worse there than thou wouldst with Arthur in the court. A lady shall\nsmooth thy couch, and shall lull thee with songs; and early to-morrow\nmorning, when the gate is open for the multitude that came hither\nto-day, for thee shall it be opened first, and thou mayest sit in the\nplace that thou shalt choose in Arthur\u2019s hall, from the upper end to the\nlower.\u201d Said the youth: \u201cThat will I not do. If thou openest the gate,\nit is well. If thou dost not open it, I will bring disgrace upon thy\nlord, and evil report upon thee. And I will set up three shouts at this\nvery gate, than which none were ever heard more deadly.\u201d \u201cWhat clamor\nsoever thou mayest make,\u201d said Glewlwyd, the porter, \u201cagainst the laws\nof Arthur\u2019s palace, shalt thou not enter therein, until I first go and\nspeak with Arthur.\u201d\n\nThen Glewlwyd went into the hall. And Arthur said to him, \u201cHast thou\nnews from the gate?\u201d \u201cHalf of my life is passed,\u201d said Glewlwyd, \u201cand\nhalf of thine. I was heretofore in Kaer Se and Asse, in Sach and Salach,\nin Lotor and Fotor, and I have been in India the Great and India the\nLesser, and I have also been in Europe and Africa, and in the islands of\nCorsica, and I was present when thou didst conquer Greece in the East.\nNine supreme sovereigns, handsome men, saw we there, but never did I\nbehold a man of equal dignity with him who is now at the door of the\nportal.\u201d Then said Arthur: \u201cIf walking thou didst enter here, return\nthou running. It is unbecoming to keep such a man as thou sayest he is\nin the wind and the rain.\u201d Said Kay: \u201cBy the hand of my friend, if thou\nwouldst follow my counsel, thou wouldst not break through the laws of\nthe court because of him.\u201d \u201cNot so, blessed Kay,\u201d said Arthur; \u201cit is an\nhonor to us to be resorted to, and the greater our courtesy, the greater\nwill be our renown and our fame and our glory.\u201d\n\nAnd Glewlwyd came to the gate, and opened the gate before Kilwich; and\nalthough all dismounted upon the horse-block at the gate, yet did he not\ndismount, but he rode in upon his charger. Then said he, \u201cGreeting be\nunto thee, sovereign ruler of this island, and be this greeting no less\nunto the lowest than unto the highest, and be it equally unto thy\nguests, and thy warriors, and thy chieftains; let all partake of it as\ncompletely as thyself. And complete be thy favor, and thy fame, and thy\nglory, throughout all this island.\u201d \u201cGreeting unto thee also,\u201d said\nArthur; \u201csit thou between two of my warriors, and thou shalt have\nminstrels before thee, and thou shalt enjoy the privileges of a king\nborn to a throne, as long as thou remainest here. And when I disperse my\npresents to the visitors and strangers in this court, they shall be in\nthy hand at my commencing.\u201d Said the youth, \u201cI came not here to consume\nmeat and drink; but if I obtain the boon that I seek, I will requite it\nthee, and extol thee; but if I have it not, I will bear forth thy\ndispraise to the four quarters of the world, as far as thy renown has\nextended.\u201d Then said Arthur, \u201cSince thou wilt not remain here,\nchieftain, thou shalt receive the boon, whatsoever thy tongue may name,\nas far as the wind dries, and the rain moistens, and the sun revolves,\nand the sea encircles, and the earth extends; save only my ship Prydwen,\nand my mantle, and Caliburn, my sword, and Rhongomyant, my lance, and\nGuenever, my wife. By the truth of Heaven, thou shalt have it\ncheerfully, name what thou wilt.\u201d \u201cI would that thou bless my hair,\u201d\nsaid he. \u201cThat shall be granted thee.\u201d\n\nAnd Arthur took a golden comb, and scissors whereof the loops were of\nsilver, and he combed his hair. And Arthur inquired of him who he was;\n\u201cfor my heart warms unto thee, and I know that thou art come of my\nblood. Tell me, therefore, who thou art.\u201d \u201cI will tell thee,\u201d said the\nyouth. \u201cI am Kilwich, the son of Kilydd, the son of Prince Kelyddon, by\nGoleudyd, my mother, the daughter of Prince Anlawd.\u201d \u201cThat is true,\u201d\nsaid Arthur; \u201cthou art my cousin. Whatsoever boon thou mayest ask, thou\nshalt receive, be it what it may that thy tongue shall name.\u201d \u201cPledge\nthe truth of Heaven and the faith of thy kingdom thereof.\u201d \u201cI pledge it\nthee gladly.\u201d \u201cI crave of thee, then, that thou obtain for me Olwen, the\ndaughter of Yspadaden Penkawr, to wife; and this boon I likewise seek at\nthe hands of thy warriors. I seek it from Kay and from Bedwyr; and from\nGwynn, the son of Nudd, and Gadwy, the son of Geraint, and Prince\nFlewddur Flam, and Iona, king of France, and Sel, the son of Selgi, and\nTaliesin, the chief of the bards, and Geraint, the son of Erbin,\nGaranwyn, the son of Kay, and Amren, the son of Bedwyr, Ol, the son of\nOlwyd, Bedwin, the bishop, Guenever, the chief lady, and Guenhywach, her\nsister, Morved, the daughter of Urien, and Gwenlian Deg, the majestic\nmaiden, Creiddylad,[68] the daughter of Lludd, the constant maiden, and\nEwaedah, the daughter of Kynvelyn,[69] the half-man.\u201d All these did\nKilwich, the son of Kilydd, adjure to obtain his boon.\n\nThen said Arthur, \u201cO chieftain, I have never heard of the maiden of whom\nthou speakest, nor of her kindred, but I will gladly send messengers in\nsearch of her. Give me time to seek her.\u201d And the youth said, \u201cI will\nwillingly grant from this night to that at the end of the year to do\nso.\u201d Then Arthur sent messengers to every land within his dominions to\nseek for the maiden, and at the end of the year Arthur\u2019s messengers\nreturned without having gained any knowledge or intelligence concerning\nOlwen, more than on the first day. Then said Kilwich, \u201cEvery one has\nreceived his boon, and I yet lack mine. I will depart, and bear away thy\nhonor with me.\u201d Then said Kay, \u201cRash chieftain! dost thou reproach\nArthur? Go with us, and we will not part until thou dost either confess\nthat the maiden exists not in the world, or until we obtain her.\u201d\nThereupon Kay rose up. And Arthur called Bedwyr, who never shrank from\nany enterprise upon which Kay was bound. None were equal to him in\nswiftness throughout this island except Arthur alone; and although he\nwas one handed, three warriors could not shed blood faster than he on\nthe field of battle.\n\nAnd Arthur called to Kyndelig, the guide, \u201cGo thou upon this expedition\nwith the chieftain.\u201d For as good a guide was he in a land which he had\nnever seen as he was in his own.\n\nHe called Gurhyr Gwalstat, because he knew all tongues.\n\nHe called Gawain, the son of Gwyar, because he never returned home\nwithout achieving the adventure of which he went in quest.\n\nAnd Arthur called Meneu, the son of Teirgwed, in order that, if they\nwent into a savage country, he might cast a charm and an illusion over\nthem, so that none might see them, whilst they could see every one.\n\nThey journeyed until they came to a vast open plain, wherein they saw a\ngreat castle, which was the fairest of the castles of the world. And\nwhen they came before the castle, they beheld a vast flock of sheep. And\nupon the top of a mound there was a herdsman keeping the sheep. And a\nrug made of skins was upon him, and by his side was a shaggy mastiff,\nlarger than a steed nine winters old.\n\nThen said Kay, \u201cGurhyr Gwalstat, go thou and salute yonder man.\u201d \u201cKay,\u201d\nsaid he, \u201cI engaged not to go further than thou thyself.\u201d \u201cLet us go\nthen together,\u201d answered Kay. Said Meneu, \u201cFear not to go thither, for I\nwill cast a spell upon the dog, so that he shall injure no one.\u201d And\nthey went up to the mound whereon the herdsman was, and they said to\nhim, \u201cHow dost thou fare, herdsman?\u201d \u201cNot less fair be it to you than to\nme.\u201d \u201cWhose are the sheep that thou dost keep, and to whom does yonder\ncastle belong?\u201d \u201cStupid are ye, truly! not to know that this is the\ncastle of Yspadaden Penkawr. And ye also, who are ye?\u201d \u201cWe are an\nembassy from Arthur, come to seek Olwen, the daughter of Yspadaden\nPenkawr.\u201d \u201cO men! the mercy of Heaven be upon you; do not that for all\nthe world. None who ever came hither on this quest has returned alive.\u201d\nAnd the herdsman rose up. And as he rose Kilwich gave unto him a ring of\ngold. And he went home and gave the ring to his spouse to keep. And she\ntook the ring when it was given her, and she said, \u201cWhence came this\nring, for thou art not wont to have good fortune.\u201d \u201cO wife, him to whom\nthis ring belonged thou shalt see here this evening.\u201d \u201cAnd who is he?\u201d\nasked the woman. \u201cKilwich, the son of Kilydd, by Goleudid, the daughter\nof Prince Anlawd, who is come to seek Olwen as his wife.\u201d And when she\nheard that, she had joy that her nephew, the son of her sister, was\ncoming to her, and sorrow, because she had never known any one depart\nalive who had come on that quest.\n\nAnd the men went forward to the gate of the herdsman\u2019s dwelling. And\nwhen she heard their footsteps approaching, she ran out with joy to meet\nthem. And Kay snatched a billet out of the pile. And when she met them,\nshe sought to throw her arms about their necks. And Kay placed the log\nbetween her two hands, and she squeezed it so that if became a twisted\ncoil. \u201cO woman,\u201d said Kay, \u201cif thou hadst squeezed me thus, none could\never again have set their affections on me. Evil love were this.\u201d They\nentered into the house and were served; and soon after, they all went\nforth to amuse themselves. Then the woman opened a stone chest that was\nbefore the chimney-corner, and out of it arose a youth with yellow,\ncurling hair. Said Gurhyr, \u201cIt is a pity to hide this youth. I know that\nit is not his own crime that is thus visited upon him.\u201d \u201cThis is but a\nremnant,\u201d said the woman. \u201cThree and twenty of my sons has Yspadaden\nPenkawr slain, and I have no more hope of this one than of the others.\u201d\nThen said Kay, \u201cLet him come and be a companion with me, and he shall\nnot be slain unless I also am slain with him.\u201d And they ate. And the\nwoman asked them, \u201cUpon what errand come you here?\u201d \u201cWe come to seek\nOlwen for this youth.\u201d Then said the woman, \u201cIn the name of Heaven,\nsince no one from the castle hath yet seen you, return again whence you\ncame.\u201d \u201cHeaven is our witness, that we will not return until we have\nseen the maiden. Does she ever come hither, so that she may be seen?\u201d\n\u201cShe comes here every Saturday to wash her head, and in the vessel where\nshe washes she leaves all her rings, and she never either comes herself\nor sends any messengers to fetch them.\u201d \u201cWill she come here if she is\nsent to?\u201d \u201cHeaven knows that I will not destroy my soul, nor will I\nbetray those that trust me; unless you will pledge me your faith that\nyou will not harm her, I will not send to her.\u201d \u201cWe pledge it,\u201d said\nthey. So a message was sent, and she came.\n\nThe maiden was clothed in a robe of flame-colored silk, and about her\nneck was a collar of ruddy gold, on which were precious emeralds and\nrubies. More yellow was her head than the flower of the broom,[70] and\nher skin was whiter than the foam of the wave, and fairer were her hands\nand her fingers than the blossoms of the wood-anemone amidst the spray\nof the meadow fountain. The eye of the trained hawk was not brighter\nthan hers. Her bosom was more snowy than the breast of the white swan,\nher cheek was redder than the reddest roses. Whoso beheld her was filled\nwith her love. Four white trefoils sprung up wherever she trod. And\ntherefore was she called Olwen.\n\nShe entered the house and sat beside Kilwich upon the foremost bench;\nand as soon as he saw her, he knew her. And Kilwich said unto her, \u201cAh!\nmaiden, thou art she whom I have loved; come away with me, lest they\nspeak evil of thee and of me. Many a day have I loved thee.\u201d \u201cI cannot\ndo this, for I have pledged my faith to my father not to go without his\ncounsel, for his life will last only until the time of my espousals.\nWhatever is to be, must be. But I will give thee advice, if thou wilt\ntake it. Go, ask me of my father, and that which he shall require of\nthee, grant it, and thou wilt obtain me; but if thou deny him anything,\nthou wilt not obtain me, and it will be well for thee if thou escape\nwith thy life.\u201d \u201cI promise all this, if occasion offer,\u201d said he.\n\nShe returned to her chamber, and they all rose up, and followed her to\nthe castle. And they slew the nine porters, that were at the nine gates,\nin silence. And they slew the nine watch-dogs without one of them\nbarking. And they went forward to the hall.\n\n\u201cThe greeting of Heaven and of man be unto thee, Yspadaden Penkawr,\u201d\nsaid they. \u201cAnd you, wherefore come you?\u201d \u201cWe come to ask thy daughter\nOlwen for Kilwich, the son of Kilydd, the son of Prince Kelyddon.\u201d\n\u201cWhere are my pages and my servants? Raise up the forks beneath my two\neyebrows, which have fallen over my eyes, that I may see the fashion of\nmy son-in-law.\u201d And they did so. \u201cCome hither to-morrow, and you shall\nhave an answer.\u201d\n\nThey rose to go forth, and Yspadaden Penkawr seized one of the three\npoisoned darts that lay beside him, and threw it after them. And Bedwyr\ncaught it, and flung it, and pierced Yspadaden Penkawr grievously with\nit through the knee. Then he said, \u201cA cursed ungentle son-in-law, truly!\nI shall ever walk the worse for his rudeness, and shall ever be without\na cure. This poisoned iron pains me like the bite of a gad-fly. Cursed\nbe the smith who forged it, and the anvil on which it was wrought! So\nsharp is it!\u201d\n\nThat night also they took up their abode in the house of the herdsman.\nThe next day, with the dawn, they arrayed themselves and proceeded to\nthe castle, and entered the hall; and they said, \u201cYspadaden Penkawr,\ngive us thy daughter in consideration of her dower and her maiden fee,\nwhich we will pay to thee, and to her two kinswomen likewise.\u201d Then he\nsaid, \u201cHer four great-grandmothers and her four great-grandsires are yet\nalive; it is needful that I take counsel of them.\u201d \u201cBe it so,\u201d they\nanswered, \u201cwe will go to meat.\u201d As they rose up he took the second dart\nthat was beside him, and cast it after them. And Meneu, the son of\nGawedd, caught it, and flung it back at him, and wounded him in the\ncentre of the breast. \u201cA cursed ungentle son-in-law, truly!\u201d said he;\n\u201cthe hard iron pains me like the bite of a horse-leech. Cursed be the\nhearth whereon it was heated, and the smith who formed it! So sharp is\nit! Henceforth, whenever I go up hill, I shall have a scant in my\nbreath, and a pain in my chest, and I shall often loathe my food.\u201d And\nthey went to meat.\n\nAnd the third day they returned to the palace. And Yspadaden Penkawr\nsaid to them, \u201cShoot not at me again unless you desire death. Where are\nmy attendants? Lift up the forks of my eyebrows, which have fallen over\nmy eyeballs, that I may see the fashion of my son-in-law.\u201d Then they\narose, and, as they did so, Yspadaden Penkawr took the third poisoned\ndart and cast it at them. And Kilwich caught it, and threw it\nvigorously, and wounded him through the eyeball. \u201cA cursed ungentle\nson-in-law, truly! As long as I remain alive, my eyesight will be the\nworse. Whenever I go against the wind, my eyes will water; and\nperadventure my head will burn, and I shall have a giddiness every new\nmoon. Like the bite of a mad dog is the stroke of this poisoned iron.\nCursed be the fire in which it was forged!\u201d And they went to meat.\n\nAnd the next day they came again to the palace, and they said, \u201cShoot\nnot at us any more, unless thou desirest such hurt and harm and torture\nas thou now hast, and even more.\u201d Said Kilwich, \u201cGive me thy daughter;\nand if thou wilt not give her, thou shalt receive thy death because of\nher.\u201d \u201cWhere is he that seeks my daughter? Come hither where I may see\nthee.\u201d And they placed him a chair face to face with him.\n\nSaid Yspadaden Penkawr, \u201cIs it thou that seekest my daughter?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is I,\u201d answered Kilwich.\n\n\u201cI must have thy pledge that thou wilt not do toward me otherwise than\nis just; and when I have gotten that which I shall name, my daughter\nthou shalt have.\u201d\n\n\u201cI promise thee that willingly,\u201d said Kilwich; \u201cname what thou wilt.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will do so,\u201d said he. \u201cSeest thou yonder red tilled ground?\u201d\n\n\u201cI see it.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhen first I met the mother of this maiden, nine bushels of flax were\nsown therein, and none has yet sprung up, white nor black. I require to\nhave the flax to sow in the new land yonder, that when it grows up it\nmay make a white wimple for my daughter\u2019s head on the day of thy\nwedding.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt will be easy for me to compass this, although thou mayest think it\nwill not be easy.\u201d\n\n\u201cThough thou get this, there is yet that which thou wilt not get\u2014the\nharp of Teirtu, to play to us that night. When a man desires that it\nshould play, it does so of itself; and when he desires that it should\ncease, it ceases. And this he will not give of his own free will, and\nthou wilt not be able to compel him.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt will be easy for me to compass this, although thou mayest think it\nwill not be easy.\u201d\n\n\u201cThough thou get this, there is yet that which thou wilt not get. I\nrequire thee to get me for my huntsman Mabon, the son of Modron. He was\ntaken from his mother when three nights old, and it is not known where\nhe now is, nor whether he is living or dead.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt will be easy for me to compass this, although thou mayest think it\nwill not be easy.\u201d\n\n\u201cThough thou get this, there is yet that which thou wilt not get\u2014the\ntwo cubs of the wolf Gast Rhymhi; no leash in the world will hold them,\nbut a leash made from the beard of Dillus Varwawc, the robber. And the\nleash will be of no avail unless it be plucked from his beard while he\nis alive. While he lives he will not suffer this to be done to him, and\nthe leash will be of no use should he be dead, because it will be\nbrittle.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt will be easy for me to compass this, although thou mayest think it\nwill not be easy.\u201d\n\n\u201cThough thou get this, there is yet that which thou wilt not get\u2014the\nsword of Gwernach the Giant; of his own free will he will not give it,\nand thou wilt never be able to compel him.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt will be easy for me to compass this, although thou mayest think it\nwill not be easy.\u201d\n\n\u201cThough thou get this, there is yet that which thou wilt not get.\nDifficulties shalt thou meet with, and nights without sleep, in seeking\nthis, and if thou obtain it not, neither shalt thou obtain my daughter.\u201d\n\n\u201cHorses shall I have, and chivalry; and my lord and kinsman, Arthur,\nwill obtain for me all these things. And I shall gain thy daughter, and\nthou shalt lose thy life.\u201d\n\n\u201cGo forward. And thou shalt not be chargeable for food or raiment for my\ndaughter while thou art seeking these things; and when thou hast\ncompassed all these marvels, thou shalt have my daughter for thy wife.\u201d\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XII\n\n KILWICH AND OLWEN (_Continued_)\n\nALL that day they journeyed until the evening, and then they beheld a\nvast castle, which was the largest in the world. And lo! a black man,\nlarger than three of the men of this world, came out from the castle.\nAnd they spoke unto him, and said, \u201cO man, whose castle is that?\u201d\n\u201cStupid are ye, truly, O men! There is no one in the world that does not\nknow that this is the castle of Gwernach the Giant.\u201d \u201cWhat treatment is\nthere for guests and strangers that alight in that castle?\u201d \u201cO\nchieftain, Heaven protect thee! No guests ever returned thence alive,\nand no one may enter therein unless he brings with him his craft.\u201d\n\nThen they proceeded towards the gate. Said Gurhyr Gwalstat, \u201cIs there a\nporter?\u201d \u201cThere is; wherefore dost thou call?\u201d \u201cOpen the gate.\u201d \u201cI will\nnot open it.\u201d \u201cWherefore wilt thou not?\u201d \u201cThe knife is in the meat, and\nthe drink is in the horn, and there is revelry in the hall of Gwernach\nthe Giant; and except for a craftsman who brings his craft, the gate\nwill not be opened to-night.\u201d \u201cVerily, porter,\u201d then said Kay, \u201cmy craft\nbring I with me.\u201d \u201cWhat is thy craft?\u201d \u201cThe best burnisher of swords am\nI in the world.\u201d \u201cI will go and tell this unto Gwernach the Giant, and I\nwill bring thee an answer.\u201d\n\nSo the porter went in, and Gwernach said to him, \u201cHast thou news from\nthe gate?\u201d \u201cI have. There is a party at the door of the gate who desire\nto come in.\u201d \u201cDidst thou inquire of them if they possessed any art?\u201d \u201cI\ndid inquire,\u201d said he, \u201cand one told me that he was well skilled in the\nburnishing of swords.\u201d \u201cWe have need of him then. For some time have I\nsought for some one to polish my sword, and could find no one. Let this\nman enter, since he brings with him his craft.\u201d\n\nThe porter thereupon returned and opened the gate. And Kay went in by\nhimself, and he saluted Gwernach the Giant. And a chair was placed for\nhim opposite to Gwernach. And Gwernach said to him, \u201cO man, is it true\nthat is reported of thee, that thou knowest how to burnish swords?\u201d \u201cI\nknow full well how to do so,\u201d answered Kay. Then was the sword of\nGwernach brought to him. And Kay took a blue whetstone from under his\narm, and asked whether he would have it burnished white or blue. \u201cDo\nwith it as it seems good to thee, or as thou wouldst if it were thine\nown.\u201d Then Kay polished one half of the blade, and put it in his hand.\n\u201cWill this please thee?\u201d asked he. \u201cI would rather than all that is in\nmy dominions that the whole of it were like this. It is a marvel to me\nthat such a man as thou should be without a companion.\u201d \u201cO noble sir, I\nhave a companion, albeit he is not skilled in this art.\u201d \u201cWho may he\nbe?\u201d \u201cLet the porter go forth, and I will tell him whereby he may know\nhim. The head of the lance will leave its shaft, and draw blood from the\nwind, and will descend upon its shaft again.\u201d Then the gate was opened,\nand Bedwyr entered. And Kay said, \u201cBedwyr is very skilful, though he\nknows not this art.\u201d\n\nAnd there was much discourse among those who were without, because that\nKay and Bedwyr had gone in. And a young man who was with them, the only\nson of the herdsman, got in also; and he contrived to admit all the\nrest, but they kept themselves concealed.\n\nThe sword was now polished, and Kay gave it unto the hand of Gwernach\nthe Giant, to see if he were pleased with his work. And the giant said,\n\u201cThe work is good; I am content therewith.\u201d Said Kay, \u201cIt is thy\nscabbard that hath rusted thy sword; give it to me, that I may take out\nthe wooden sides of it, and put in new ones.\u201d And he took the scabbard\nfrom him, and the sword in the other hand. And he came and stood over\nagainst the giant, as if he would have put the sword into the scabbard;\nand with it he struck at the head of the giant, and cut off his head at\none blow. Then they despoiled the castle, and took from it what goods\nand jewels they would. And they returned to Arthur\u2019s court, bearing with\nthem the sword of Gwernach the Giant.\n\nAnd when they told Arthur how they had sped, Arthur said, \u201cIt is a good\nbeginning.\u201d Then they took counsel, and said, \u201cWhich of these marvels\nwill it be best for us to seek next?\u201d \u201cIt will be best,\u201d said one, \u201cto\nseek Mabon, the son of Modron; and he will not be found unless we first\nfind Eidoel, the son of Aer, his kinsman.\u201d Then Arthur rose up, and the\nwarriors of the island of Britain with him, to seek for Eidoel; and they\nproceeded until they came to the castle of Glivi, where Eidoel was\nimprisoned. Glivi stood on the summit of his castle, and he said,\n\u201cArthur, what requirest thou of me, since nothing remains to me in this\nfortress, and I have neither joy nor pleasure in it, neither wheat nor\noats? Seek not, therefore, to do me harm.\u201d Said Arthur, \u201cNot to injure\nthee came I hither, but to seek for the prisoner that is with thee.\u201d \u201cI\nwill give thee my prisoner, though I had not thought to give him up to\nany one, and therewith shalt thou have my support and my aid.\u201d\n\nHis followers said unto Arthur, \u201cLord, go thou home, thou canst not\nproceed with thy host in quest of such small adventures as these.\u201d Then\nsaid Arthur, \u201cIt were well for thee, Gurhyr Gwalstat, to go upon this\nquest, for thou knowest all languages, and art familiar with those of\nthe birds and the beasts. Thou, Eidoel, oughtest likewise to go with thy\nmen in search of thy cousin. And as for you, Kay and Bedwyr, I have hope\nof whatever adventure ye are in quest of, that ye will achieve it.\nAchieve ye this adventure for me.\u201d\n\nThey went forward until they came to the Ousel of Cilgwri. And Gurhyr\nadjured her, saying, \u201cTell me if thou knowest aught of Mabon, the son of\nModron, who was taken when three nights old from between his mother and\nthe wall?\u201d And the Ousel answered, \u201cWhen I first came here, there was a\nsmith\u2019s anvil in this place, and I was then a young bird; and from that\ntime no work has been done upon it, save the pecking of my beak every\nevening; and now there is not so much as the size of a nut remaining\nthereof; yet during all that time I have never heard of the man for whom\nyou inquire. Nevertheless, I will do that which it is fitting that I\nshould for an embassy from Arthur. There is a race of animals who were\nformed before me, and I will be your guide to them.\u201d\n\nSo they proceeded to the place where was the Stag of Redynvre. \u201cStag of\nRedynvre, behold, we are come to thee, an embassy from Arthur, for we\nhave not heard of any animal older than thou. Say, knowest thou aught of\nMabon, the son of Modron, who was taken from his mother when three\nnights old?\u201d The Stag said, \u201cWhen first I came hither there was a plain\nall around me, without any trees save one oak sapling, which grew up to\nbe an oak with an hundred branches; and that oak has since perished, so\nthat now nothing remains of it but the withered stump; and from that day\nto this I have been here, yet have I never heard of the man for whom you\ninquire. Nevertheless, being an embassy from Arthur, I will be your\nguide to the place where there is an animal which was formed before I\nwas, and the oldest animal in the world, and the one that has travelled\nmost, the Eagle of Gwern Abwy.\u201d\n\nGurhyr said, \u201cEagle of Gwern Abwy, we have come to thee, an embassy from\nArthur, to ask thee if thou knowest aught of Mabon, the son of Modron,\nwho was taken from his mother when he was three nights old?\u201d The Eagle\nsaid, \u201cI have been here for a great space of time, and when I first came\nhither, there was a rock here from the top of which I pecked at the\nstars every evening; and it has crumbled away, and now it is not so much\nas a span high. All that time I have been here, and I have never heard\nof the man for whom you inquire, except once when I went in search of\nfood as far as Llyn Llyw. And when I came there, I struck my talons into\na salmon, thinking he would serve me as food for a long time. But he\ndrew me into the water, and I was scarcely able to escape from him.\nAfter that I made peace with him. And I drew fifty fish-spears out of\nhis back, and relieved him. Unless he know something of him whom you\nseek, I cannot tell who may. However, I will guide you to the place\nwhere he is.\u201d\n\nSo they went thither; and the Eagle said, \u201cSalmon of Llyn Llyw, I have\ncome to thee with an embassy from Arthur, to ask thee if thou knowest\naught of Mabon, the son of Modron, who was taken away at three nights\nold from his mother.\u201d \u201cAs much as I know I will tell thee. With every\ntide I go along the river upward, until I come near to the walls of\nGloucester, and there have I found such wrong as I never found\nelsewhere; and to the end that ye may give credence thereto, let one of\nyou go thither upon each of my two shoulders.\u201d So Kay and Gurhyr\nGwalstat went upon the two shoulders of the Salmon, and they proceeded\nuntil they came unto the wall of the prison; and they heard a great\nwailing and lamenting from the dungeon. Said Gurhyr, \u201cWho is it that\nlaments in this house of stone?\u201d \u201cAlas! it is Mabon, the son of Modron,\nwho is here imprisoned; and no imprisonment was ever so grievous as\nmine.\u201d \u201cHast thou hope of being released for gold or for silver, or for\nany gifts of wealth, or through battle and fighting?\u201d \u201cBy fighting will\nwhat ever I may gain be obtained.\u201d\n\nThen they went thence, and returned to Arthur, and they told him where\nMabon, the son of Modron, was imprisoned. And Arthur summoned the\nwarriors of the island, and they journeyed as far as Gloucester, to the\nplace where Mabon was in prison. Kay and Bedwyr went upon the shoulders\nof the fish, whilst the warriors of Arthur attacked the castle. And Kay\nbroke through the wall into the dungeon, and brought away the prisoner\nupon his back, whilst the fight was going on between the warriors. And\nArthur returned home, and Mabon with him at liberty.\n\nOn a certain day as Gurhyr Gwalstat was walking over a mountain, he\nheard a wailing and a grievous cry. And when he heard it, he sprang\nforward and went towards it. And when he came there, he saw a fire\nburning among the turf, and an ant-hill nearly surrounded with the fire.\nAnd he drew his sword, and smote off the ant-hill close to the earth, so\nthat it escaped being burned in the fire. And the ants said to him,\n\u201cReceive from us the blessing of Heaven, and that which no man can give,\nwe give thee.\u201d Then they fetched the nine bushels of flax-seed which\nYspadaden Penkawr had required of Kilwich, and they brought the full\nmeasure, without lacking any, except one flax-seed, and that the lame\npismire brought in before night.\n\nThen said Arthur, \u201cWhich of the marvels will it be best for us to seek\nnext?\u201d \u201cIt will be best to seek for the two cubs of the wolf Gast\nRhymhi.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs it known,\u201d said Arthur, \u201cwhere she is?\u201d \u201cShe is in Aber Cleddyf,\u201d\nsaid one. Then Arthur went to the house of Tringad, in Aber Cleddyf, and\nhe inquired of him whether he had heard of her there. \u201cShe has often\nslain my herds, and she is there below in a cave in Aber Cleddyf.\u201d\n\nThen Arthur went in his ship Prydwen by sea, and the others went by land\nto hunt her. And they surrounded her and her two cubs, and took them and\ncarried them away.\n\nAs Kay and Bedwyr sat on a beacon-cairn on the summit of Plinlimmon, in\nthe highest wind that ever was, they looked around them and saw a great\nsmoke, afar off. Then said Kay, \u201cBy the hand of my friend, yonder is the\nfire of a robber.\u201d Then they hastened towards the smoke, and they came\nso near to it that they could see Dillus Varwawc scorching a wild boar.\n\u201cBehold, yonder is the greatest robber that ever fled from Arthur,\u201d said\nBedwyr to Kay. \u201cDost thou know him?\u201d \u201cI do know him,\u201d answered Kay; \u201che\nis Dillus Varwarc, and no leash in the world will be able to hold the\ncubs of Gast Rhymi, save a leash made from the beard of him thou seest\nyonder. And even that will be useless unless his beard be plucked out\nalive, with wooden tweezers; for if dead it will be brittle.\u201d \u201cWhat\nthinkest thou that we should do concerning this?\u201d said Bedwyr. \u201cLet us\nsuffer him,\u201d said Kay, \u201cto eat as much as he will of the meat, and after\nthat he will fall asleep.\u201d And during that time they employed themselves\nin making the wooden tweezers. And when Kay knew certainly that he was\nasleep, he made a pit under his feet, and he struck him a violent blow,\nand squeezed him into the pit. And there they twitched out his beard\ncompletely with the wooden tweezers, and after that they slew him\naltogether. And from thence they went, and took the leash made of Dillus\nVarwawc\u2019s beard, and they gave it into Arthur\u2019s hand.\n\nThus they got all the marvels that Yspadaden Penkawr had required of\nKilwich; and they set forward, and took the marvels to his court. And\nKilwich said to Yspadaden Penkawr, \u201cIs thy daughter mine now?\u201d \u201cShe is\nthine,\u201d said he, \u201cbut therefore needest thou not thank me, but Arthur,\nwho hath accomplished this for thee.\u201d Then Goreu, the son of Custennin,\nthe herdsman, whose brothers Yspadaden Penkawr had slain, seized him by\nthe hair of his head, and dragged him after him to the keep, and cut off\nhis head, and placed it on a stake on the citadel. Then they took\npossession of his castle, and of his treasures. And that night Olwen\nbecame Kilwich\u2019s bride, and she continued to be his wife as long as she\nlived.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CHAPTER XIII\n\n TALIESIN\n\nGWYDDNO GARANHIR was sovereign of Gwaelod, a territory bordering on the\nsea. And he possessed a weir upon the strand between Dyvi and\nAberystwyth, near to his own castle, and the value of an hundred pounds\nwas taken in that weir every May eve. And Gwyddno had an only son named\nElphin, the most hapless of youths, and the most needy. And it grieved\nhis father sore, for he thought that he was born in an evil hour. By the\nadvice of his council, his father had granted him the drawing of the\nweir that year, to see if good luck would ever befall him, and to give\nhim something wherewith to begin the world. And this was on the\ntwenty-ninth of April.\n\nThe next day, when Elphin went to look, there was nothing in the weir\nbut a leathern bag upon a pole of the weir. Then said the weir-ward unto\nElphin, \u201cAll thy ill-luck aforetime was nothing to this; and now thou\nhast destroyed the virtues of the weir, which always yielded the value\nof an hundred pounds every May eve; and to-night there is nothing but\nthis leathern skin within it.\u201d \u201cHow now,\u201d said Elphin, \u201cthere may be\ntherein the value of a hundred pounds.\u201d Well! they took up the leathern\nbag, and he who opened it saw the forehead of an infant, the fairest\nthat ever was seen; and he said, \u201cBehold a radiant brow?\u201d (In the Welsh\nlanguage, _taliesin_.) \u201cTaliesin be he called,\u201d said Elphin. And he\nlifted the bag in his arms, and, lamenting his bad luck, placed the boy\nsorrowfully behind him. And he made his horse amble gently, that before\nhad been trotting, and he carried him as softly as if he had been siting\nin the easiest chair in the world. And presently the boy made a\nConsolation, and praise to Elphin; and the Consolation was as you may\nhere see:\n\n \u201cFair Elphin, cease to lament!\n Never in Gwyddno\u2019s weir\n Was there such good luck as this night.\n Being sad will not avail;\n Better to trust in God than to forbode ill;\n Weak and small as I am,\n On the foaming beach of the ocean,\n In the day of trouble I shall be\n Of more service to thee than three hundred salmon.\u201d\n\nThis was the first poem that Taliesin ever sung, being to console Elphin\nin his grief for that the produce of the weir was lost, and what was\nworse, that all the world would consider that it was through his fault\nand ill-luck. Then Elphin asked him what he was, whether man or spirit.\nAnd he sung thus:\n\n \u201cI have been formed a comely person;\n Although I am but little, I am highly gifted;\n Into a dark leathern bag I was thrown,\n And on a boundless sea I was sent adrift.\n From seas and from mountains\n God brings wealth to the fortunate man.\u201d\n\nThen came Elphin to the house of Gwyddno, his father, and Taliesin with\nhim. Gwyddno asked him if he had had a good haul at the weir, and he\ntold him that he had got that which was better than fish. \u201cWhat was\nthat?\u201d said Gwyddno. \u201cA bard,\u201d said Elphin. Then said Gwyddno, \u201cAlas!\nwhat will he profit thee?\u201d And Taliesin himself replied and said, \u201cHe\nwill profit him more than the weir ever profited thee.\u201d Asked Gwyddno,\n\u201cArt thou able to speak, and thou so little?\u201d And Taliesin answered him,\n\u201cI am better able to speak than thou to question me.\u201d \u201cLet me hear what\nthou canst say,\u201d quoth Gwyddno. Then Taliesin sang:\n\n \u201cThree times have I been born, I know by meditation;\n All the sciences of the world are collected in my breast,\n For I know what has been, and what hereafter will occur.\u201d\n\nElphin gave his haul to his wife, and she nursed him tenderly and\nlovingly. Thenceforward Elphin increased in riches more and more, day\nafter day, and in love and favor with the king; and there abode Taliesin\nuntil he was thirteen years old, when Elphin, son of Gwyddno, went by a\nChristmas invitation to his uncle, Maelgan Gwynedd, who held open court\nat Christmas-tide in the castle of Dyganwy, for all the number of his\nlords of both degrees, both spiritual and temporal, with a vast and\nthronged host of knights and squires. And one arose and said, \u201cIs there\nin the whole world a king so great as Maelgan, or one on whom Heaven has\nbestowed so many gifts as upon him;\u2014form, and beauty, and meekness, and\nstrength, besides all the powers of the soul?\u201d And together with these\nthey said that Heaven had given one gift that exceeded all the others,\nwhich was the beauty, and grace, and wisdom, and modesty of his queen,\nwhose virtues surpassed those of all the ladies and noble maidens\nthroughout the whole kingdom. And with this they put questions one to\nanother, Who had braver men? Who had fairer or swifter horses or\ngreyhounds? Who had more skilful or wiser bards than Maelgan?\n\nWhen they had all made an end of their praising the king and his gifts,\nit befell that Elphin spoke on this wise. \u201cOf a truth, none but a king\nmay vie with a king; but were he not a king, I would say that my wife\nwas as virtuous as any lady in the kingdom, and also that I have a bard\nwho is more skilful than all the king\u2019s bards.\u201d In a short space some of\nhis fellows told the king all the boastings of Elphin; and the king\nordered him to be thrown into a strong prison, until he might show the\ntruth as to the virtues of his wife, and the wisdom of his bard.\n\nNow when Elphin had been put in a tower of the castle, with a thick\nchain about his feet (it is said that it was a silver chain, because he\nwas of royal blood), the king, as the story relates, sent his son Rhun\nto inquire into the demeanor of Elphin\u2019s wife. Now Rhun was the most\ngraceless man in the world, and there was neither wife nor maiden with\nwhom he held converse but was evil spoken of. While Rhun went in haste\ntowards Elphin\u2019s dwelling, being fully minded to bring disgrace upon his\nwife, Taliesin told his mistress how that the king had placed his master\nin durance in prison, and how that Rhun was coming in haste to strive to\nbring disgrace upon her. Wherefore he caused his mistress to array one\nof the maids of her kitchen in her apparel; which the noble lady gladly\ndid, and she loaded her hands with the best rings that she and her\nhusband possessed.\n\nIn this guise Taliesin caused his mistress to put the maiden to sit at\nthe board in her room at supper; and he made her to seem as her\nmistress, and the mistress to seem as the maid. And when they were in\ndue time seated at their supper, in the manner that has been said, Rhun\nsuddenly arrived at Elphin\u2019s dwelling, and was received with joy, for\nthe servants knew him; and they brought him to the room of their\nmistress, in the semblance of whom the maid rose up from supper and\nwelcomed him gladly. And afterwards she sat down to supper again, and\nRhun with her. Then Rhun began jesting with the maid, who still kept the\nsemblance of her mistress. And verily this story shows that the maiden\nbecame so intoxicated that she fell asleep; and the story relates that\nit was a powder that Rhun put into the drink, that made her sleep so\nsoundly that she never felt it when he cut off from her hand her little\nfinger, whereon was the signet ring of Elphin, which he had sent to his\nwife as a token a short time before. And Rhun returned to the king with\nthe finger and the ring as a proof, to show that he had cut it off from\nher hand without her awaking from her sleep of intemperance.\n\nThe king rejoiced greatly at these tidings, and he sent for his\ncouncillors, to whom he told the whole story from the beginning. And he\ncaused Elphin to be brought out of prison, and he chided him because of\nhis boast. And he spake on this wise: \u201cElphin, be it known to thee\nbeyond a doubt, that it is but folly for a man to trust in the virtues\nof his wife further than he can see her; and that thou mayest be certain\nof thy wife\u2019s vileness, behold her finger, with thy signet ring upon it,\nwhich was cut from her hand last night, while she slept the sleep of\nintoxication.\u201d Then thus spake Elphin: \u201cWith thy leave, mighty king, I\ncannot deny my ring, for it is known of many; but verily I assert that\nthe finger around which it is was never attached to the hand of my wife;\nfor in truth and certainty there are three notable things pertaining to\nit, none of which ever belonged to any of my wife\u2019s fingers. The first\nof the three is, that it is certainly known to me that this ring would\nnever remain upon her thumb, whereas you can plainly see that it is hard\nto draw it over the joint of the little finger of the hand whence this\nwas cut. The second thing is, that my wife has never let pass one\nSaturday since I have known her, without paring her nails before going\nto bed, and you can see fully that the nail of this little finger has\nnot been pared for a month. The third is, truly, that the hand whence\nthis finger came was kneading rye dough within three days before the\nfinger was cut therefrom, and I can assure your highness that my wife\nhas never kneaded rye dough since my wife she has been.\u201d\n\nThe king was mightily wroth with Elphin for so stoutly withstanding him,\nrespecting the goodness of his wife; wherefore he ordered him to his\nprison a second time, saying that he should not be loosed thence until\nhe had proved the truth of his boast, as well concerning the wisdom of\nhis bard as the virtues of his wife.\n\nIn the meantime his wife and Taliesin remained joyful at Elphin\u2019s\ndwelling. And Taliesin showed his mistress how that Elphin was in prison\nbecause of them; but he bade her be glad, for that he would go to\nMaelgan\u2019s court to free his master. So he took leave of his mistress,\nand came to the court of Maelgan, who was going to sit in his hall, and\ndine in his royal state, as it was the custom in those days for kings\nand princes to do at every chief feast. As soon as Taliesin entered the\nhall he placed himself in a quiet corner, near the place where the bards\nand the minstrels were wont to come, in doing their service and duty to\nthe king, as is the custom at the high festivals, when the bounty is\nproclaimed. So, when the bards and the heralds came to cry largess, and\nto proclaim the power of the king, and his strength, at the moment when\nthey passed by the corner wherein he was crouching, Taliesin pouted out\nhis lips after them, and played \u201cBlerwm, blerwm!\u201d with his finger upon\nhis lips. Neither took they much notice of him as they went by but\nproceeded forward till they came before the king, unto whom they made\ntheir obeisance with their bodies, as they were wont, without speaking a\nsingle word, but pouting out their lips, and making mouths at the king,\nplaying, \u201cBlerwm, blerwm!\u201d upon their lips with their fingers, as they\nhad seen the boy do. This sight caused the king to wonder, and to deem\nwithin himself that they were drunk with many liquors. Wherefore he\ncommanded one of his lords, who served at the board, to go to them and\ndesire them to collect their wits, and to consider where they stood, and\nwhat it was fitting for them to do. And this lord did so gladly. But\nthey ceased not from their folly any more than before. Whereupon he sent\nto them a second time, and a third, desiring them to go forth from the\nhall. At the last the king ordered one of his squires to give a blow to\nthe chief of them, named Heinin Vardd; and the squire took a broom and\nstruck him on the head, so that he fell back in his seat. Then he arose,\nand went on his knees, and besought leave of the king\u2019s grace to show\nthat this their fault was not through want of knowledge, neither through\ndrunkenness, but by the influence of some spirit that was in the hall.\nAnd he spoke on this wise: \u201cO honorable king, be it known to your grace\nthat not from the strength of drink, or of too much liquor, are we dumb,\nbut through the influence of a spirit that sits in the corner yonder, in\nthe form of a child.\u201d Forthwith the king commanded the squire to fetch\nhim; and he went to the nook where Taliesin sat, and brought him before\nthe king, who asked him what he was, and whence he came. And he answered\nthe king in verse:\n\n \u201cPrimary chief bard am I to Elphin,\n And my native country is the region of the summer stars;\n I have been in Asia with Noah in the ark,\n I have seen the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah,\n I was in India when Rome was built,\n I have now come here to the remnant of Troia.\u201d\n\nWhen the king and his nobles had heard the song, they wondered much, for\nthey had never heard the like from a boy so young as he. And when the\nking knew that he was the bard of Elphin he bade Heinin, his first and\nwisest bard, to answer Taliesin, and to strive with him. But when he\ncame he could do no other than play \u201cBlerwm!\u201d on his lips; and when he\nsent for the others of the four and twenty bards, they all did likewise,\nand could do no other. And Maelgan asked the boy Taliesin what was his\nerrand, and he answered him in song:\n\n \u201cElphin, the son of Gwyddno,\n Is in the land of Artro,\n Secured by thirteen locks,\n For praising his instructor.\n Therefore I, Taliesin,\n Chief of the bards of the west,\n Will loosen Elphin\n Out of a golden fetter.\u201d\n\nThen he sang to them a riddle:\n\n \u201cDiscover thou what is\n The strong creature from before the flood,\n Without flesh, without bone,\n Without vein, without blood,\n Without head, without feet;\n It will neither be older nor younger\n Than at the beginning.\n Behold how the sea whitens\n When first it comes,\n When it comes from the south,\n When it strikes on coasts.\n It is in the field, it is in the wood,\n But the eye cannot perceive it.\n One Being has prepared it,\n By a tremendous blast,\n To wreak vengeance\n On Maelgan Gwynedd.\n\nWhile he was thus singing his verse, there arose a mighty storm of wind,\nso that the king and all his nobles thought that the castle would fall\nupon their heads. And the king caused them to fetch Elphin in haste from\nhis dungeon, and placed him before Taliesin. And it is said that\nimmediately he sung a verse, so that the chains opened from about his\nfeet.\n\nAfter that Taliesin brought Elphin\u2019s wife before them, and showed that\nshe had not one finger wanting. And in this manner did he set his master\nfree from prison, and protect the innocence of his mistress, and silence\nthe bards so that not one of them dared to say a word. Right glad was\nElphin, right glad was Taliesin.\n\n\n\n\n [BLANK PAGE]\n\n\n\n\n HERO MYTHS OF THE BRITISH RACE\n\n\n BEOWULF\n\nNOTABLE among the names of heroes of the British race is that of\nBeowulf, which appeals to all English-speaking people in a very special\nway, since he is the one hero in whose story we may see the ideals of\nour English forefathers before they left their Continental home to cross\nto the islands of Britain.\n\nAlthough this hero had distinguished himself by numerous feats of\nstrength during his boyhood and early youth, it was as the deliverer of\nHrothgar, king of Denmark, from the monster Grendel that he first gained\nwide renown. Grendel was half monster and half man, and had his abode in\nthe fen-fastnesses in the vicinity of Hrothgar\u2019s residence. Night after\nnight he would steal into the king\u2019s great palace called Heorot and slay\nsometimes as many as thirty at one time of the knights sleeping there.\n\nBeowulf put himself at the head of a selected band of warriors, went\nagainst the monster, and after a terrible fight slew it. The following\nnight Grendel\u2019s mother, a fiend scarcely less terrible than her son,\ncarried off one of Hrothgar\u2019s boldest thanes. Once more Beowulf went to\nthe help of the Danish king, followed the she-monster to her lair at the\nbottom of a muddy lake in the midst of the swamp, and with his good\nsword Hrunting and his own muscular arms broke the sea-woman\u2019s neck.\n\nUpon his return to his own country of the Geats, loaded with honors\nbestowed upon him by Hrothgar, Beowulf served the king of Geatland as\nthe latter\u2019s most trusted counsellor and champion. When, after many\nyears, the king fell before an enemy, the Geats unanimously chose\nBeowulf for their new king. His fame as a warrior kept his country free\nfrom invasion, and his wisdom as a statesman increased its prosperity\nand happiness.\n\nIn the fiftieth year of Beowulf\u2019s reign, however, a great terror fell\nupon the land in the way of a monstrous fire-dragon, which flew forth by\nnight from its den in the rocks, lighting up the blackness with its\nblazing breath, and burning houses and homesteads, men and cattle, with\nthe flames from its mouth. When the news came to Beowulf that his people\nwere suffering and dying, and that no warrior dared to risk his life in\nan effort to deliver the country from this deadly devastation, the aged\nking took up his shield and sword and went forth to his last fight. At\nthe entrance of the dragon\u2019s cave Beowulf raised his voice and shouted a\nfurious defiance to the awesome guardian of the den. Roaring hideously\nand flapping his glowing wings together, the dragon rushed forth and\nhalf flew, half sprang, on Beowulf. Then began a fearful combat, which\nended in Beowulf\u2019s piercing the dragon\u2019s scaly armor and inflicting a\nmortal wound, but alas! in himself being given a gash in the neck by his\nopponent\u2019s poisoned fangs which resulted in his death. As he lay\nstretched on the ground, his head supported by Wiglaf, an honored\nwarrior who had helped in the fight with the dragon, Beowulf roused\nhimself to say, as he grasped Wiglaf\u2019s hand:\n\n \u201cThou must now look to the needs of the nation;\n Here dwell I no longer, for Destiny calleth me!\n Bid thou my warriors after my funeral pyre\n Build me a burial-cairn high on the sea-cliff\u2019s head;\n So that the seafarers Beowulf\u2019s Barrow\n Henceforth shall name it, they who drive far and wide\n Over the mighty flood their foamy keels.\n Thou art the last of all the kindred of Wagmund!\n Wyrd has swept all my kin, all the brave chiefs away!\n Now must I follow them!\u201d\n\nThese last words spoken, the king of the Geats, brave to seek danger and\nbrave to look on death and Fate undaunted, fell back dead. According to\nhis last desires, his followers gathered wood and piled it on the\ncliff-head. Upon this funeral pyre was laid Beowulf\u2019s body and consumed\nto ashes. Then, upon the same cliff of Hronesness, was erected a huge\nburial cairn, widespread and lofty, to be known thereafter as Beowulf\u2019s\nBarrow.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n CUCHULAIN, CHAMPION OF IRELAND\n\nAMONG all the early literatures of Europe, there are two which, at\nexactly opposite corners of the continent, display most strikingly\nsimilar characteristics. These are the Greek and the Irish, and the\nlegend of the Irish champion Cuchulain, which well illustrates the\nsimilarity of the literatures, bears so close a resemblance to the story\nof Achilles as to win for this hero the title of \u201cthe Irish Achilles.\u201d\nCertainly in reckless courage, power of inspiring dread, sense of\npersonal merit, and frankness of speech the Irish hero is fully equal to\nthe mighty Greek.\n\nCuchulain was the nephew of King Conor of Ulster, son of his sister\nDechtire, and it is said that his father was no mortal man, but the\ngreat god Lugh of the Long Hand. Cuchulain was brought up by King Conor\nhimself, and even while he was still a boy his fame spread all over\nIreland. His warlike deeds were those of a proved warrior, not of a\nchild of nursery age; and by the time Cuchulain was seventeen he was\nwithout peer among the champions of Ulster.\n\nUpon Cuchulain\u2019s marriage to Emer, daughter of Forgall the Wily, a Druid\nof great power, the couple took up their residence at Armagh, the\ncapital of Ulster, under the protection of King Conor. Here there was\none chief, Bricriu of the Bitter Tongue, who, like Thersites among the\nGrecian leaders, delighted in making mischief. Soon he had on foot plans\nfor stirring up strife among the heroes of Ulster, leaders among whom\nwere the mighty Laegaire, Conall Cearnach, cousin of Cuchulain, and\nCuchulain himself. Inviting the members of King Conor\u2019s court to dinner,\nBricriu arranged that a contest should arise over who should have the\n\u201cchampion\u2019s portion,\u201d and so successful was he that, to avoid a bloody\nfight, the three heroes mentioned decided to submit their claims to the\nchampionship of Ireland to King Ailill of Connaught.\n\nAilill put the heroes to an unexpected test. Their dinner was served\nthem in a separate room, into which three magic beasts, in the shape of\nmonstrous cats, were sent by the king. When they saw them Laegire and\nConall rose from their meal, climbed among the rafters, and stayed there\nall night. Cuchulain waited until one cat attacked him, and then,\ndrawing his sword, struck the monster. It showed no further sign of\nfight, and at daybreak the magic beasts disappeared.\n\nAs Laegire and Conall claimed that this test was an unfair one, Ailill\nsent the three rivals to Curoi of Kerry, a just and wise man, who set\nout to discover by wizardry and enchantments the best among the heroes.\nIn turn they stood watch outside Curoi\u2019s castle, where Laegire and\nConall were overcome by a huge giant, who hurled spears of mighty oak\ntrees, and ended by throwing them over the wall into the courtyard.\nCuchulain alone withstood the giant, whereupon he was attacked by other\nmagic foes. Among these was a dragon, which flew on horrible wings from\na neighboring lake, and seemed ready to devour everything in its way.\nCuchulain sprang up, giving his wonderful hero-leap, thrust his arm into\nthe dragon\u2019s mouth and down its throat, and tore out its heart. After\nthe monster fell dead, he cut off its scaly head.\n\nAs even yet Cuchulain\u2019s opponents would not admit his championship, they\nwere all three directed to return to Armagh, to await Curoi\u2019s judgment.\nHere it happened that all the Ulster heroes were in the great hall one\nnight, except Cuchulain and his cousin Conall. As they sat in order of\nrank, a terrible stranger, gigantic in stature, hideous of aspect, with\nravening yellow eyes, entered. In his hand he bore an enormous axe, with\nkeen and shining edge. Upon King Conor\u2019s inquiring his business there,\nthe stranger replied:\n\n\u201cBehold my axe! The man who will grasp it to-day may cut my head off\nwith it, provided that I may, in like manner, cut off his head\nto-morrow. If you have no champion who dare face me, I will say that\nUlster has lost her courage and is dishonored.\u201d\n\nAt once Laegire accepted the challenge. The giant laid his head on a\nblock, and at a blow the hero severed it from the body. Thereupon the\ngiant arose, took the head and the axe, and thus, headless, strode from\nthe hall. But the following night, when he returned, sound as ever, to\nclaim the fulfilment of Laegire\u2019s promise, the latter\u2019s heart failed him\nand he did not come forward. The stranger then jeered at the men of\nUlster because their great champion durst not keep his agreement, nor\nface the blow he should receive in return for the one he gave.\n\nThe men of Ulster were utterly ashamed, but Conall Cearnach, who was\npresent that night, made a new agreement with the stranger. He gave a\nblow which beheaded the giant, but again, when the latter returned whole\nand sound on the following evening, the champion was not to be found.\n\nNow it was the turn of Cuchulain, who, as the others had done, cut off\nthe giant\u2019s head at one stroke. The next day the members of Conor\u2019s\ncourt watched Cuchulain to see what he would do. They would not have\nbeen surprised if he had failed like the others, who now were present.\nThe champion, however, showed no signs of failing or retreat. He sat\nsorrowfully in his place, and with a sigh said to King Conor as they\nwaited: \u201cDo not leave this place till all is over. Death is coming to me\nvery surely, but I must fulfil my agreement, for I would rather die than\nbreak my word.\u201d\n\nTowards the close of day the stranger strode into the hall exultant.\n\n\u201cWhere is Cuchulain?\u201d he cried.\n\n\u201cHere I am,\u201d was the reply.\n\n\u201cAh, poor boy! your speech is sad to-night, and the fear of death lies\nheavy on you; but at least you have redeemed your word and have not\nfailed me.\u201d\n\nThe youth rose from his seat and went towards him, as he stood with the\ngreat axe ready, and knelt to receive the blow.\n\nThe hero of Ulster laid his head on the block; but the giant was not\nsatisfied. \u201cStretch out your neck better,\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cYou are playing with me, to torment me,\u201d said Cuchulain. \u201cSlay me now\nspeedily, for I did not keep you waiting last night.\u201d\n\nHowever, he stretched out his neck as ordered, and the stranger raised\nhis axe till it crashed upwards through the rafters of the hall, like\nthe crash of trees falling in a storm. When the axe came down with a\nterrific sound all men looked fearfully at Cuchulain. The descending axe\nhad not even touched him; it had come down with the blunt side on the\nground, and the youth knelt there unharmed. Smiling at him, and leaning\non his axe, stood no terrible and hideous stranger, but Curoi of Kerry,\ncome to give his decision at last.\n\n\u201cRise up, Cuchulain,\u201d said Curoi. \u201cThere is none among all the heroes of\nUlster to equal you in courage and loyalty and truth. The Championship\nof the Heroes of Ireland is yours from this day forth, and the\nChampion\u2019s Portion at all feasts; and to your wife I adjudge the first\nplace among all the women of Ulster. Woe to him who dares to dispute\nthis decision!\u201d Thereupon Curoi vanished, and the warriors gathered\naround Cuchulain, and all with one voice acclaimed him the Champion of\nthe Heroes of all Ireland\u2014a title which has clung to him until this\nday.\n\nThis is one of many stories told of the Irish champion, whose deeds of\nbravery would fill many pages. Cuchulain finally came to his end on the\nfield of battle, after a fight in which he displayed all his usual\ngallantry but in which unfair means were used to overcome him.\n\nFor Wales and for England during centuries Arthur has been the\nrepresentative \u201cvery gentle perfect knight.\u201d In a similar way, in\nEngland\u2019s sister isle, Cuchulain stands ever for the highest ideals of\nthe Irish Gaels.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n HEREWARD THE WAKE\n\nIN Hereward the Wake (or \u201cWatchful\u201d) is found one of those heroes whose\ndate can be ascertained with a fair amount of exactness and yet in whose\nstory occur mythological elements which seem to belong to all ages. The\nfolklore of primitive races is a great storehouse whence a people can\nchoose tales and heroic deeds to glorify its own national hero, careless\nthat the same tales and deeds have done duty for other peoples and other\nheroes. Hence it happens that Hereward the Saxon, a patriot hero as real\nand actual as Nelson or George Washington, whose deeds were recorded in\nprose and verse within forty years of his death, was even then\nsurrounded by a cloud of romance and mystery, which hid in vagueness his\nfamily, his marriage, and even his death.\n\nBriefly it may be stated that Hereward was a native of Lincolnshire, and\nwas in his prime about 1070. In that year he joined a party of Danes who\nappeared in England, attacked Peterborough and sacked the abbey there,\nand afterward took refuge in the Isle of Ely. Here he was besieged by\nWilliam the Conqueror, and was finally forced to yield to the Norman. He\nthus came to stand for the defeated Saxon race, and his name has been\npassed down as that of the darling hero of the Saxons. For his splendid\ndefence of Ely they forgave his final surrender to Duke William; they\nattributed to him all the virtues supposed to be inherent in the\nfree-born, and all the glorious valor on which the English prided\nthemselves; and, lastly, they surrounded his death with a halo of\ndesperate fighting, and made his last conflict as wonderful as that of\nRoland at Roncesvalles. If Roland is the ideal of Norman feudal\nchivalry, Hereward is equally the ideal of Anglo-Saxon sturdy manliness\nand knighthood.\n\nAn account of one of Hereward\u2019s adventures as a youth will serve as\nillustration of the stories told of his prowess. On an enforced visit to\nCornwall, he found that King Alef, a petty British chief, had betrothed\nhis fair daughter to a terrible Pictish giant, breaking off, in order to\ndo it, her troth-plight with Prince Sigtryg of Waterford, son of a\nDanish king in Ireland. Hereward, ever chivalrous, picked a quarrel with\nthe giant and killed him in fair fight, whereupon the king threw him\ninto prison. In the following night, however, the released princess\narranged that the gallant Saxon should be freed and sent hot-foot for\nher lover, Prince Sigtryg. After many adventures Hereward reached the\nprince, who hastened to return to Cornwall with the young hero. But to\nthe grief of both, they learned upon their arrival that the princess had\njust been betrothed to a wild Cornish hero, Haco, and the wedding feast\nwas to be held that very day. Sigtryg at once sent a troop of forty\nDanes to King Alef demanding the fulfilment of the troth-plight between\nhimself and his daughter, and threatening vengeance if it were broken.\nTo this threat the king returned no answer, and no Dane came back to\ntell of their reception.\n\nSigtryg would have waited till morning, trusting in the honor of the\nking, but Hereward disguised himself as a minstrel and obtained\nadmission to the bridal feast, where he soon won applause by his\nbeautiful singing. The bridegroom, Haco, in a rapture offered him any\nboon he liked to ask, but he demanded only a cup of wine from the hands\nof the bride. When she brought it to him he flung into the empty cup the\nbetrothal ring, the token she had sent to Sigtryg, and said: \u201cI thank\nthee, lady, and would reward thee for thy gentleness to a wandering\nminstrel; I give back the cup, richer than before by the kind thoughts\nof which it bears the token.\u201d The princess looked at him, gazed into the\ngoblet, and saw her ring; then, looking again, she recognized her\ndeliverer and knew that rescue was at hand.\n\nWhile men feasted Hereward listened and talked, and found out that the\nforty Danes were prisoners, to be released on the morrow when Haco was\nsure of his bride, but released useless and miserable, since they would\nbe turned adrift blinded. Haco was taking his lovely bride back to his\nown land, and Hereward saw that any rescue, to be successful, must be\nattempted on the march.\n\nReturning to Sigtryg, the young Saxon told all that he had learned, and\nthe Danes planned an ambush in the ravine where Haco had decided to\nblind and set free his captives. The whole was carried out exactly as\nHereward arranged it. The Cornishmen, with the Danish captives, passed\nfirst without attack; next came Haco, riding grim and ferocious beside\nhis silent bride, he exulting in his success, she looking eagerly for\nany signs of rescue. As they passed Hereward sprang from his shelter,\ncrying, \u201cUpon them, Danes, and set your brethren free!\u201d and himself\nstruck down Haco and smote off his head. There was a short struggle, but\nsoon the rescued Danes were able to aid their deliverers, and the\nCornish guards were all slain; the men of King Alef, never very zealous\nfor the cause of Haco, fled, and the Danes were left masters of the\nfield.\n\nSigtryg had in the meantime seen to the safety of the princess, and now,\nplacing her between himself and Hereward, he escorted her to the ship,\nwhich soon brought them to Waterford and a happy bridal. The Prince and\nPrincess of Waterford always recognized in Hereward their deliverer and\nbest friend, and in their gratitude wished him to dwell with them\nalways; but the hero\u2019s roving and daring temper forbade his settling\ndown, but rather urged him on to deeds of arms in other lands, where he\nquickly won a renown second to none.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n ROBIN HOOD\n\nAMONG the earliest heirlooms of the Anglo-Saxon tongue are the songs and\nlegends of Robin Hood and his merry outlaws, which have charmed readers\nyoung and old for more than six hundred years. These entertaining\nstories date back to the time when Chaucer wrote his \u201cCanterbury Tales,\u201d\nwhen the minstrel and scribe stood in the place of the more prim and\nprecise modern printed book.\n\nThe question of whether or not Robin Hood was a real person has been\nasked for many years, just as a similar question has been asked about\nWilliam Tell and others whom everyone would much rather accept on faith.\nIt cannot be answered by a brief \u201cyes\u201d or \u201cno,\u201d even though learned men\nhave pored over ancient records and have written books on the subject.\nAccording to the general belief Robin was an outlaw in the reign of\nRichard I, when in the depths of Sherwood Forest he entertained one\nhundred tall men, all good archers, with the spoil he took; but \u201che\nsuffered no woman to be oppressed or otherwise molested; poore men\u2019s\ngoods he spared, abundantlie relieving them with that which by theft he\ngot from abbeys and houses of rich earles.\u201d Consequently Robin was an\nimmense favorite with the common people.\n\nThis popularity extended from the leader to all the members of his hardy\nband. \u201cGod save Robin Hood and all his good yeomanry\u201d is the ending of\nmany old ballads. The clever archer who could outshoot his fellows, the\nbrave yeoman inured to blows, and the man who could be true to his\nfriends through thick and thin were favorites for all time; and they\nhave been idealized in the persons of Robin Hood and his merry outlaws.\n\nOne of the best-known stories of this picturesque figure of early\nEnglish times is that given by Sir Walter Scott in \u201cIvanhoe,\u201d concerning\nthe archery contest during the rule or misrule of Prince John, in the\nabsence of Richard from the kingdom. Robin Hood, under the assumed name\nof Locksley, boldly presents himself at a royal tournament at Ashby, as\ncompetitor for the prize in shooting with the long-bow. From the eight\nor ten archers who enter the contest, the number finally narrows down to\ntwo,\u2014Hubert, a forester in the service of one of the king\u2019s nobles, and\nLocksley or Robin Hood. Hubert takes the first shot in the final trial\nof skill, and lands his arrow within the inner ring of the target, but\nnot exactly in the centre.\n\n\u201c\u2018You have not allowed for the wind, Hubert,\u2019 said Locksley, \u2018or that\nhad been a better shot.\u2019\n\n\u201cSo saying, and without showing the least anxiety to pause upon his aim,\nLocksley stepped to the appointed station, and shot his arrow as\ncarelessly in appearance as if he had not even looked at the mark. He\nwas speaking almost at the instant that the shaft left the bow-string,\nyet it alighted in the target two inches nearer to the white spot which\nmarked the centre than that of Hubert.\n\n\u201c\u2018By the light of Heaven!\u2019 said Prince John to Hubert, \u2018an thou suffer\nthat runagate knave to overcome thee, thou art worthy of the gallows!\u2019\n\n\u201cHubert had but one set speech for all occasions. \u2018An your highness were\nto hang me,\u2019 he said, \u2018a man can but do his best. Nevertheless, my\ngrandsire drew a good bow\u2014\u2014\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018The foul fiend on thy grandsire and all his generation!\u2019 interrupted\nJohn; \u2018shoot, knave, and shoot thy best, or it shall be worse for thee!\u2019\n\n\u201cThus exhorted, Hubert resumed his place, and not neglecting the caution\nwhich he had received from his adversary, he made the necessary\nallowance for a very light air of wind, which had just risen, and shot\nso successfully that his arrow alighted in the very centre of the\ntarget.\n\n\u201c\u2018A Hubert! a Hubert!\u2019 shouted the populace, more interested in a known\nperson than in a stranger. \u2018In the clout!\u2014in the clout!\u2014a Hubert\nforever!\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Thou canst not mend that shot, Locksley,\u2019 said the Prince, with an\ninsulting smile.\n\n\u201c\u2018I will notch his shaft for him, however,\u2019 replied Locksley.\n\n\u201cAnd letting fly his arrow with a little more precaution than before, it\nlighted right upon that of his competitor, which it split to shivers.\nThe people who stood around were so astonished at his wonderful\ndexterity, that they could not even give vent to their surprise in their\nusual clamor. \u2018This must be the devil, and no man of flesh and blood,\u2019\nwhispered the yeomen to each other; \u2018such archery was never seen since a\nbow was first bent in Britain.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018And now,\u2019 said Locksley, \u2018I will crave your Grace\u2019s permission to\nplant such a mark as is used in the North Country; and welcome every\nbrave yeoman who shall try a shot at it to win a smile from the bonny\nlass he loves best.\u2019\u201d\n\nLocksley thereupon sets up a willow wand, six feet long and as thick as\na man\u2019s thumb. Hubert is forced to decline the honor of taking part in\nsuch a trial of archery skill, but his rival easily splits the wand at a\ndistance of three hundred feet and carries off the prize.\n\n\u201cEven Prince John, in admiration of Locksley\u2019s skill, lost for an\ninstant his dislike to his person. \u2018These twenty nobles,\u2019 he said,\n\u2018which, with the bugle, thou hast fairly won, are thine own; we will\nmake them fifty, if thou wilt take livery and service with us as a\nyeoman of our bodyguard, and be near to our person. For never did so\nstrong a hand bend a bow, or so true an eye direct a shaft.\u2019\u201d[71]\n\nLocksley, however, declares that it is impossible for him to enter the\nPrince\u2019s service, generously shares his prize with the worthy Hubert,\nand retires once more to his beloved haunts among the lights and shadows\nof the good greenwood.\n\n[Illustration: CHARLEMAGNE.\n From painting by D\u00fcrer in the Museum at Nuremburg.]\n\n[Illustration: CHARLEMAGNE RECEIVING HIS GUESTS.\n Original drawing by Byam Shaw.]\n\n\n\n\n LEGENDS OF CHARLEMAGNE\n\n\n INTRODUCTION\n\nThose who have investigated the origin of the romantic fables relating\nto Charlemagne and his peers are of opinion that the deeds of Charles\nMartel, and perhaps of other Charleses, have been blended in popular\ntradition with those properly belonging to Charlemagne. It was indeed a\nmost momentous era; and if our readers will have patience, before\nentering on the perusal of the fabulous annals which we are about to lay\nbefore them, to take a rapid survey of the real history of the times,\nthey will find it hardly less romantic than the tales of the poets.\n\nIn the century beginning from the year 600, the countries bordering upon\nthe native land of our Saviour, to the east and south, had not yet\nreceived his religion. Arabia was the seat of an idolatrous religion\nresembling that of the ancient Persians, who worshipped the sun, moon,\nand stars. In Mecca, in the year 571, Mahomet was born, and here, at the\nage of forty, he proclaimed himself the prophet of God, in dignity as\nsuperior to Christ as Christ had been to Moses. Having obtained by slow\ndegrees a considerable number of disciples, he resorted to arms to\ndiffuse his religion. The energy and zeal of his followers, aided by the\nweakness of the neighboring nations, enabled him and his successors to\nspread the sway of Arabia and the religion of Mahomet over the countries\nto the east as far as the Indus, northward over Persia and Asia Minor,\nwestward over Egypt and the southern shores of the Mediterranean, and\nthence over the principal portion of Spain. All this was done within one\nhundred years from the Hegira, or flight of Mahomet from Mecca to\nMedina, which happened in the year 622, and is the era from which\nMahometans reckon time, as we do from the birth of Christ.\n\nFrom Spain the way was open for the Saracens (so the followers of\nMahomet were called) into France, the conquest of which, if achieved,\nwould have been followed very probably by that of all the rest of\nEurope, and would have resulted in the banishment of Christianity from\nthe earth. For Christianity was not at that day universally professed,\neven by those nations which we now regard as foremost in civilization.\nGreat parts of Germany, Britain, Denmark, and Russia were still pagan or\nbarbarous.\n\nAt that time there ruled in France, though without the title of king,\nthe first of those illustrious Charleses of whom we have spoken, Charles\nMartel, the grandfather of Charlemagne. The Saracens of Spain had made\nincursions into France in 712 and 718, and had retired, carrying with\nthem a vast booty. In 725, Anbessa, who was then the Saracen governor of\nSpain, crossed the Pyrenees with a numerous army, and took by storm the\nstrong town of Carcassone. So great was the terror excited by this\ninvasion, that the country for a wide extent submitted to the conqueror,\nand a Mahometan governor for the province was appointed and installed at\nNarbonne. Anbessa, however, received a fatal wound in one of his\nengagements, and the Saracens, being thus checked from further advance,\nretired to Narbonne.\n\nIn 732 the Saracens again invaded France under Abdalrahman, advanced\nrapidly to the banks of the Garonne, and laid siege to Bordeaux. The\ncity was taken by assault and delivered up to the soldiery. The invaders\nstill pressed forward, and spread over the territories of Orleans,\nAuxerre and Sens. Their advanced parties were suddenly called in by\ntheir chief, who had received information of the rich abbey of St.\nMartin of Tours, and resolved to plunder and destroy it.\n\nCharles during all this time had done nothing to oppose the Saracens,\nfor the reason that the portion of France over which their incursions\nhad been made was not at that time under his dominion, but constituted\nan independent kingdom, under the name of Aquitaine, of which Eude was\nking. But now Charles became convinced of the danger, and prepared to\nencounter it. Abdalrahman was advancing toward Tours, when intelligence\nof the approach of Charles, at the head of an army of Franks, compelled\nhim to fall back upon Poitiers, in order to seize an advantageous field\nof battle.\n\nCharles Martel had called together his warriors from every part of his\ndominions, and, at the head of such an army as had hardly ever been seen\nin France, crossed the Loire, probably at Orleans, and, being joined by\nthe remains of the army of Aquitaine, came in sight of the Arabs in the\nmonth of October, 732. The Saracens seem to have been aware of the\nterrible enemy they were now to encounter, and for the first time these\nformidable conquerors hesitated. The two armies remained in presence\nduring seven days before either ventured to begin the attack; but at\nlength the signal for battle was given by Abdalrahman, and the immense\nmass of the Saracen army rushed with fury on the Franks. But the heavy\nline of the Northern warriors remained like a rock, and the Saracens,\nduring nearly the whole day, expended their strength in vain attempts to\nmake any impression upon them. At length, about four o\u2019clock in the\nafternoon, when Abdalrahman was preparing for a new and desperate\nattempt to break the line of the Franks, a terrible clamor was heard in\nthe rear of the Saracens. It was King Eude, who, with his Aquitanians,\nhad attacked their camp, and a great part of the Saracen army rushed\ntumultuously from the field to protect their plunder. In this moment of\nconfusion the line of the Franks advanced, and, sweeping the field\nbefore it, carried fearful slaughter amongst the enemy. Abdalrahman made\ndesperate efforts to rally his troops, but when he himself, with the\nbravest of his officers, fell beneath the swords of the Christians, all\norder disappeared, and the remains of his army sought refuge in their\nimmense camp, from which Eude and his Aquitanians had been repulsed. It\nwas now late, and Charles, unwilling to risk an attack on the camp in\nthe dark, withdrew his army, and passed the night in the plain,\nexpecting to renew the battle in the morning.\n\nAccordingly, when daylight came, the Franks drew up in order of battle,\nbut no enemy appeared; and when at last they ventured to approach the\nSaracen camp they found it empty. The invaders had taken advantage of\nthe night to begin their retreat, and were already on their way back to\nSpain, leaving their immense plunder behind to fall into the hands of\nthe Franks.\n\nThis was the celebrated battle of Tours, in which vast numbers of the\nSaracens were slain, and only fifteen hundred of the Franks. Charles\nreceived the surname of Martel (the Hammer) in consequence of this\nvictory.\n\nThe Saracens, notwithstanding this severe blow, continued to hold their\nground in the south of France; but Pepin, the son of Charles Martel, who\nsucceeded to his father\u2019s power, and assumed the title of king,\nsuccessively took from them the strong places they held; and in 759, by\nthe capture of Narbonne, their capital, extinguished the remains of\ntheir power in France.\n\nCharlemagne, or Charles the Great, succeeded his father, Pepin, on the\nthrone in the year 768. This prince, though the hero of numerous\nromantic legends, appears greater in history than in fiction. Whether we\nregard him as a warrior or as a legislator, as a patron of learning or\nas the civilizer of a barbarous nation, he is entitled to our warmest\nadmiration. Such he is in history; but the romancers represent him as\noften weak and passionate, the victim of treacherous counsellors, and at\nthe mercy of turbulent barons, on whose prowess he depends for the\nmaintenance of his throne. The historical representation is doubtless\nthe true one, for it is handed down in trustworthy records, and is\nconfirmed by the events of the age. At the height of his power, the\nFrench empire extended over what we now call France, Germany,\nSwitzerland, Holland, Belgium, and great part of Italy.\n\nIn the year 800 Charlemagne, being in Rome, whither he had gone with a\nnumerous army to protect the Pope, was crowned by the Pontiff Emperor of\nthe West. On Christmas day Charles entered the Church of St. Peter, as\nif merely to take his part in the celebration of the mass with the rest\nof the congregation. When he approached the altar and stooped in the act\nof prayer the Pope stepped forward and placed a crown of gold upon his\nhead; and immediately the Roman people shouted, \u201cLife and victory to\nCharles the August, crowned by God the great and pacific Emperor of the\nRomans.\u201d The Pope then prostrated himself before him, and paid him\nreverence, according to the custom established in the times of the\nancient Emperors, and concluded the ceremony by anointing him with\nconsecrated oil.\n\nCharlemagne\u2019s wars were chiefly against the pagan and barbarous people,\nwho, under the name of Saxons, inhabited the countries now called\nHanover and Holland. He also led expeditions against the Saracens of\nSpain; but his wars with the Saracens were not carried on, as the\nromances assert, in France, but on the soil of Spain. He entered Spain\nby the Eastern Pyrenees, and made an easy conquest of Barcelona and\nPampeluna. But Saragossa refused to open her gates to him, and Charles\nended by negotiating and accepting a vast sum of gold as the price of\nhis return over the Pyrenees.\n\nOn his way back, he marched with his whole army through the gorges of\nthe mountains by way of the valleys of Engui, Eno, and Roncesvalles. The\nchief of this region had waited upon Charlemagne, on his advance, as a\nfaithful vassal of the monarchy; but now, on the return of the Franks,\nhe had called together all the wild mountaineers who acknowledged him as\ntheir chief, and they occupied the heights of the mountains under which\nthe army had to pass. The main body of the troops met with no\nobstruction, and received no intimation of danger; but the rear-guard,\nwhich was considerably behind, and encumbered with its plunder, was\noverwhelmed by the mountaineers in the pass of Roncesvalles, and slain\nto a man. Some of the bravest of the Frankish chiefs perished on this\noccasion, among whom is mentioned Roland or Orlando, governor of the\nmarches or frontier of Brittany. His name became famous in after times,\nand the disaster of Roncesvalles and death of Roland became eventually\nthe most celebrated episode in the vast cycle of romance.\n\nThough after this there were hostile encounters between the armies of\nCharlemagne and the Saracens, they were of small account, and generally\non the soil of Spain. Thus the historical foundation for the stories of\nthe romancers is but scanty, unless we suppose the events of an earlier\nand of a later age to be incorporated with those of Charlemagne\u2019s own\ntime.\n\nThere is, however, a pretended history, which for a long time was\nadmitted as authentic, and attributed to Turpin, Archbishop of Rheims, a\nreal personage of the time of Charlemagne. Its title is \u201cHistory of\nCharles the Great and Orlando.\u201d It is now unhesitatingly considered as a\ncollection of popular traditions, produced by some credulous and\nunscrupulous monk, who thought to give dignity to his romance by\nascribing its authorship to a well-known and eminent individual. It\nintroduces its pretended author, Bishop Turpin, in this manner:\n\n\u201cTurpin, Archbishop of Rheims, the friend and secretary of Charles the\nGreat, excellently skilled in sacred and profane literature, of a genius\nequally adapted to prose and verse, the advocate of the poor, beloved of\nGod in his life and conversation, who often fought the Saracens, hand to\nhand, by the Emperor\u2019s side, he relates the acts of Charles the Great in\none book, and flourished under Charles and his son Louis, to the year of\nour Lord eight hundred and thirty.\u201d\n\nThe titles of some of Archbishop Turpin\u2019s chapters will show the nature\nof his history. They are these: \u201cOf the Walls of Pampeluna, that fell of\nthemselves.\u201d \u201cOf the War of the holy Facundus, where the Spears grew.\u201d\n(Certain of the Christians fixed their spears in the evening, erect in\nthe ground, before the castle; and found them, in the morning, covered\nwith bark and branches.) \u201cHow the Sun stood still for Three Days, and of\nthe Slaughter of Four Thousand Saracens.\u201d\n\nTurpin\u2019s history has perhaps been the source of the marvellous\nadventures which succeeding poets and romancers have accumulated around\nthe names of Charlemagne and his Paladins, or Peers. But Ariosto and the\nother Italian poets have drawn from different sources, and doubtless\noften from their own invention, numberless other stories which they\nattribute to the same heroes, not hesitating to quote as their authority\n\u201cthe good Turpin,\u201d though his history contains no trace of them; and the\nmore outrageous the improbability, or rather the impossibility, of their\nnarrations, the more attentive are they to cite \u201cthe Archbishop,\u201d\ngenerally adding their testimonial to his unquestionable veracity.\n\nThe principal Italian poets who have sung the adventures of the peers of\nCharlemagne are Pulci, Boiardo, and Ariosto. The characters of Orlando,\nRinaldo, Astolpho, Gano, and others, are the same in all, though the\nadventures attributed to them are different. Boiardo tells us of the\nloves of Orlando, Ariosto of his disappointment and consequent madness,\nPulci of his death.\n\nOgier, the Dane, is a real personage. History agrees with romance in\nrepresenting him as a powerful lord who, originally from Denmark and a\nPagan, embraced Christianity, and took service under Charlemagne. He\nrevolted from the Emperor, and was driven into exile. He afterwards led\none of those bands of piratical Northmen which ravaged France under the\nreigns of Charlemagne\u2019s degenerate successors. The description which an\nancient chronicler gives of Charlemagne, as described by Ogier, is so\npicturesque, that we are tempted to transcribe it. Charlemagne was\nadvancing to the siege of Pavia. Didier, King of the Lombards, was in\nthe city with Ogier, to whom he had given refuge. When they learned that\nthe king was approaching they mounted a high tower, whence they could\nsee far and wide over the country. \u201cThey first saw advancing the engines\nof war, fit for the armies of Darius or Julius C\u00e6sar. \u2018There is\nCharlemagne,\u2019 said Didier. \u2018No,\u2019 said Ogier. The Lombard next saw a vast\nbody of soldiers, who filled all the plain. \u2018Certainly Charles advanced\nwith that host,\u2019 said the king. \u2018Not yet,\u2019 replied Ogier. \u2018What hope for\nus,\u2019 resumed the king, \u2018if he brings with him a greater host than that?\u2019\nAt last Charles appeared, his head covered with an iron helmet, his\nhands with iron gloves, his breast and shoulders with a cuirass of iron,\nhis left hand holding an iron lance, while his right hand grasped his\nsword. Those who went before the monarch, those who marched at his side,\nand those who followed him, all had similar arms. Iron covered the\nfields and the roads; iron points reflected the rays of the sun. This\niron, so hard, was borne by a people whose hearts were harder still. The\nblaze of the weapons flashed terror into the streets of the city.\u201d\n\nThis picture of Charlemagne in his military aspect would be incomplete\nwithout a corresponding one of his \u201cmood of peace.\u201d One of the greatest\nof modern historians, M. Guizot, has compared the glory of Charlemagne\nto a brilliant meteor, rising suddenly out of the darkness of barbarism\nto disappear no less suddenly in the darkness of feudalism. But the\nlight of this meteor was not extinguished, and reviving civilization\nowed much that was permanently beneficial to the great Emperor of the\nFranks. His ruling hand is seen in the legislation of his time, as well\nas in the administration of the laws. He encouraged learning; he upheld\nthe clergy, who were the only peaceful and intellectual class, against\nthe encroaching and turbulent barons; he was an affectionate father, and\nwatched carefully over the education of his children, both sons and\ndaughters. Of his encouragement of learning we will give some\nparticulars.\n\nHe caused learned men to be brought from Italy and from other foreign\ncountries to revive the public schools of France, which had been\nprostrated by the disorders of preceding times. He recompensed these\nlearned men liberally, and kept some of them near himself, honoring them\nwith his friendship. Of these the most celebrated is Alcuin, an\nEnglishman, whose writings still remain, and prove him to have been both\na learned and a wise man. With the assistance of Alcuin, and others like\nhim, he founded an academy or royal school, which should have the\ndirection of the studies of all the schools of the kingdom. Charlemagne\nhimself was a member of this academy on equal terms with the rest. He\nattended its meetings, and fulfilled all the duties of an academician.\nEach member took the name of some famous man of antiquity. Alcuin called\nhimself Horace, another took the name of Augustin, a third of Pindar.\nCharlemagne, who knew the Psalms by heart, and who had an ambition to\nbe, according to his conception, _a king after God\u2019s own heart_,\nreceived from his brother academicians the name of David.\n\nOf the respect entertained for him by foreign nations an interesting\nproof is afforded in the embassy sent to him by the Caliph of the\nArabians, the celebrated Haroun al Raschid, a prince in character and\nconduct not unlike to Charlemagne. The ambassadors brought with them,\nbesides other rich presents, a clock, the first that was seen in Europe,\nwhich excited universal admiration. It had the form of a twelve-sided\nedifice with twelve doors. These doors formed niches, in each of which\nwas a little statue representing one of the hours. At the striking of\nthe hour the doors, one for each stroke, was seen to open, and from the\ndoors to issue as many of the little statues, which, following one\nanother, marched gravely round the tower. The motion of the clock was\ncaused by water, and the striking was effected by balls of brass equal\nto the number of the hours, which fell upon a cymbal of the same metal,\nthe number falling being determined by the discharge of the water,\nwhich, as it sunk in the vessel, allowed their escape.\n\nCharlemagne was succeeded by his son Louis, a well-intentioned but\nfeeble prince, in whose reign the fabric reared by Charles began rapidly\nto crumble. Louis was followed successively by two Charleses, incapable\nprinces, whose weak and often tyrannical conduct is no doubt the source\nof incidents of that character ascribed in the romances to Charlemagne.\n\nThe lawless and disobedient deportment of Charles\u2019s paladins, instances\nof which are so frequent in the romantic legends, was also a trait of\nthe declining empire, but not of that of Charlemagne.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n THE PEERS, OR PALADINS\n\nThe twelve most illustrious knights of Charlemagne were called Peers,\nfor the equality that reigned among them; while the name of Paladins,\nalso conferred on them, implies that they were inmates of the palace and\ncompanions of the king. Their names are always given alike by the\nromancers, yet we may enumerate the most distinguished of them as\nfollows: Orlando or Roland (the former the Italian, the latter the\nFrench form of the name), favorite nephew of Charlemagne; Rinaldo of\nMontalban, cousin of Orlando; Namo, Duke of Bavaria; Salomon, king of\nBrittany; Turpin, the Archbishop; Astolpho, of England; Ogier, the Dane;\nMalagigi, the Enchanter; and Florismart, the friend of Orlando. There\nwere others who are sometimes named as paladins, and the number cannot\nbe strictly limited to twelve. Charlemagne himself must be counted one,\nand Ganelon, or Gano, of Mayence, the treacherous enemy of all the rest,\nwas rated high on the list by his deluded sovereign, who was completely\nthe victim of his arts.\n\nWe shall introduce more particularly to our readers a few of the\nprincipal peers, leaving the others to make their own introduction as\nthey appear in the course of our narrative. We begin with Orlando.\n\n ORLANDO\n\nMilon, or Milone, a knight of great family, and distantly related to\nCharlemagne, having secretly married Bertha, the Emperor\u2019s sister, was\nbanished from France, and excommunicated by the Pope. After a long and\nmiserable wandering on foot as mendicants Milon and his wife arrived at\nSutri, in Italy, where they took refuge in a cave, and in that cave\nOrlando was born. There his mother continued, deriving a scanty support\nfrom the compassion of the neighboring peasants; while Milon, in quest\nof honor and fortune, went into foreign lands. Orlando grew up among the\nchildren of the peasantry, surpassing them all in strength and manly\ngraces. Among his companions in age, though in station far more\nelevated, was Oliver, son of the governor of the town. Between the two\nboys a feud arose that led to a fight, in which Orlando thrashed his\nrival; but this did not prevent a friendship springing up between the\ntwo, which lasted through life.\n\nOrlando was so poor that he was sometimes half naked. As he was a\nfavorite of the boys, one day four of them brought some cloth to make\nhim clothes. Two brought white and two red; and from this circumstance\nOrlando took his coat-of-arms, or _quarterings_.\n\nWhen Charlemagne was on his way to Rome to receive the imperial crown he\ndined in public in Sutri. Orlando and his mother that day had nothing to\neat, and Orlando coming suddenly upon the royal party, and seeing\nabundance of provisions, seized from the attendants as much as he could\ncarry off, and made good his retreat in spite of their resistance. The\nEmperor, being told of this incident, was reminded of an intimation he\nhad received in a dream, and ordered the boy to be followed. This was\ndone by three of the knights, whom Orlando would have encountered with a\ncudgel on their entering the grotto, had not his mother restrained him.\nWhen they heard from her who she was they threw themselves at her feet,\nand promised to obtain her pardon from the Emperor. This was easily\neffected. Orlando was received into favor by the Emperor, returned with\nhim to France, and so distinguished himself that he became the most\npowerful support of the throne and of Christianity.[72]\n\n ROLAND AND FERRAGUS\n\nOrlando, or Roland, particularly distinguished himself by his combat\nwith Ferragus. Ferragus was a giant, and moreover his skin was of such\nimpenetrable stuff that no sword could make any impression upon it. The\ngiant\u2019s mode of fighting was to seize his adversary in his arms and\ncarry him off, in spite of all the struggles he could make. Roland\u2019s\nutmost skill only availed to keep him out of the giant\u2019s clutches, but\nall his efforts to wound him with the sword were useless. After long\nfighting Ferragus was so weary that he proposed a truce, and when it was\nagreed upon he lay down and immediately fell asleep. He slept in perfect\nsecurity, for it was against all the laws of chivalry to take advantage\nof an adversary under such circumstances. But Ferragus lay so\nuncomfortably for the want of a pillow that Orlando took pity upon him,\nand brought a smooth stone and placed it under his head. When the giant\nwoke up, after a refreshing nap, and perceived what Orlando had done, he\nseemed quite grateful, became sociable, and talked freely in the usual\nboastful style of such characters. Among other things he told Orlando\nthat he need not attempt to kill him with a sword, for that every part\nof his body was invulnerable, except this; and as he spoke, he put his\nhand to the vital part, just in the middle of his breast. Aided by this\ninformation Orlando succeeded, when the fight was renewed, in piercing\nthe giant in the very spot he had pointed out, and giving him a\ndeath-wound. Great was the rejoicing in the Christian camp, and many the\npraises showered upon the victorious paladin by the Emperor and all his\nhost.\n\nOn another occasion Orlando encountered a puissant Saracen warrior, and\ntook from him, as the prize of victory, the sword Durindana. This famous\nweapon had once belonged to the illustrious prince Hector of Troy. It\nwas of the finest workmanship, and of such strength and temper that no\narmor in the world could stand against it.\n\n A ROLAND FOR AN OLIVER\n\nGuerin de Montglave held the lordship of Vienne, subject to Charlemagne.\nHe had quarrelled with his sovereign, and Charles laid siege to his\ncity, having ravaged the neighboring country. Guerin was an aged\nwarrior, but relied for his defence upon his four sons and two\ngrandsons, who were among the bravest knights of the age. After the\nsiege had continued two months Charlemagne received tidings that\nMarsilius, king of Spain, had invaded France, and, finding himself\nunopposed, was advancing rapidly in the Southern provinces. At this\nintelligence Charles listened to the counsel of his peers, and consented\nto put the quarrel with Guerin to the decision of Heaven, by single\ncombat between two knights, one of each party, selected by lot. The\nproposal was acceptable to Guerin and his sons. The names of the four,\ntogether with Guerin\u2019s own, who would not be excused, and of the two\ngrandsons, who claimed their lot, being put into a helmet, Oliver\u2019s was\ndrawn forth, and to him, the youngest of the grandsons, was assigned the\nhonor and the peril of the combat. He accepted the award with delight,\nexulting in being thought worthy to maintain the cause of his family. On\nCharlemagne\u2019s side Roland was the designated champion, and neither he\nnor Oliver knew who his antagonist was to be.\n\nThey met on an island in the Rhone, and the warriors of both camps were\nranged on either shore, spectators of the battle. At the first encounter\nboth lances were shivered, but both riders kept their seats, immovable.\nThey dismounted, and drew their swords. Then ensued a combat which\nseemed so equal, that the spectators could not form an opinion as to the\nprobable issue. Two hours and more the knights continued to strike and\nparry, to thrust and ward, neither showing any sign of weariness, nor\never being taken at unawares. At length Orlando struck furiously upon\nOliver\u2019s shield, burying Durindana in its edge so deeply that he could\nnot draw it back, and Oliver, almost at the same moment, thrust so\nvigorously upon Orlando\u2019s breastplate that his sword snapped off at the\nhandle. Thus were the two warriors left weaponless. Scarcely pausing a\nmoment, they rushed upon one another, each striving to throw his\nadversary to the ground, and failing in that, each snatched at the\nother\u2019s helmet to tear it away. Both succeeded, and at the same moment\nthey stood bareheaded face to face, and Roland recognized Oliver, and\nOliver Roland. For a moment they stood still; and the next, with open\narms, rushed into one another\u2019s embrace. \u201cI am conquered,\u201d said Orlando.\n\u201cI yield me,\u201d said Oliver.\n\nThe people on the shore knew not what to make of all this. Presently\nthey saw the two late antagonists standing hand in hand, and it was\nevident the battle was at an end. The knights crowded round them, and\nwith one voice hailed them as equals in glory. If there were any who\nfelt disposed to murmur that the battle was left undecided they were\nsilenced by the voice of Ogier the Dane, who proclaimed aloud that all\nhad been done that honor required, and declared that he would maintain\nthat award against all gainsayers.\n\nThe quarrel with Guerin and his sons being left undecided, a truce was\nmade for four days, and in that time, by the efforts of Duke Namo on the\none side, and of Oliver on the other, a reconciliation was effected.\nCharlemagne, accompanied by Guerin and his valiant family, marched to\nmeet Marsilius, who hastened to retreat across the frontier.\n\n RINALDO\n\nRinaldo was one of the four sons of Aymon, who married Aya, the sister\nof Charlemagne. Thus Rinaldo was nephew to Charlemagne and cousin of\nOrlando.\n\nWhen Rinaldo had grown old enough to assume arms Orlando had won for\nhimself an illustrious name by his exploits against the Saracens, whom\nCharlemagne and his brave knights had driven out of France. Orlando\u2019s\nfame excited a noble emulation in Rinaldo. Eager to go in pursuit of\nglory, he wandered in the country near Paris, and one day saw at the\nfoot of a tree a superb horse, fully equipped and loaded with a complete\nsuit of armor. Rinaldo clothed himself in the armor and mounted the\nhorse, but took not the sword. On the day when, with his brothers, he\nhad received the honor of knighthood from the Emperor he had sworn never\nto bind a sword to his side till he had wrested one from some famous\nknight.\n\nRinaldo took his way to the forest of Arden, celebrated for so many\nadventures. Hardly had he entered it when he met an old man, bending\nunder the weight of years, and learned from him that the forest was\ninfested with a wild horse, untamable, that broke and overturned\neverything that opposed his career. To attack him, he said, or even to\nmeet him, was certain death. Rinaldo, far from being alarmed, showed the\nmost eager desire to combat the animal. This was the horse Bayard,\nafterward so famous. He had formerly belonged to Amadis of Gaul. After\nthe death of that hero he had been held under enchantment by the power\nof a magician, who predicted that, when the time came to break the\nspell, he should be subdued by a knight of the lineage of Amadis, and\nnot less brave than he.\n\nTo win this wonderful horse it was necessary to conquer him by force or\nskill; for from the moment when he should be thrown down he would become\ndocile and manageable. His habitual resort was a cave on the borders of\nthe forest; but woe be to any one who should approach him, unless gifted\nwith strength and courage more than mortal. Having told this, the old\nman departed. He was not, in fact, an old man, but Malagigi, the\nenchanter, cousin of Rinaldo, who, to favor the enterprises of the young\nknight, had procured for him the horse and armor which he so opportunely\nfound, and now put him in the way to acquire a horse unequalled in the\nworld.\n\nRinaldo plunged into the forest, and spent many days in seeking Bayard,\nbut found no traces of him. One day he encountered a Saracen knight,\nwith whom he made acquaintance, as often happened to knights, by first\nmeeting him in combat. This knight, whose name was Isolier, was also in\nquest of Bayard. Rinaldo succeeded in the encounter, and so severe was\nthe shock that Isolier was a long time insensible. When he revived, and\nwas about to resume the contest, a peasant who passed by (it was\nMalagigi) interrupted them with the news that the terrible horse was\nnear at hand, advising them to unite their powers to subdue him, for it\nwould require all their ability.\n\nRinaldo and Isolier, now become friends, proceeded together to the\nattack of the horse. They found Bayard, and stood a long time, concealed\nby the wood, admiring his strength and beauty.\n\nA bright bay in color (whence he was called Bayard), with a silver star\nin his forehead, and his hind feet white, his body slender, his head\ndelicate, his ample chest filled out with swelling muscles, his\nshoulders broad and full, his legs straight and sinewy, his thick mane\nfalling over his arching neck,\u2014he came rushing through the forest,\nregardless of rocks, bushes, or trees, rending everything that opposed\nhis way, and neighing defiance.\n\nHe first descried Isolier, and rushed upon him. The knight received him\nwith lance in rest, but the fierce animal broke the spear, and his\ncourse was not delayed by it for an instant. The Spaniard adroitly\nstepped aside, and gave way to the rushing tempest. Bayard checked his\ncareer, and turned again upon the knight, who had already drawn his\nsword. He drew his sword, for he had no hope of taming the horse; that,\nhe was satisfied, was impossible.\n\nBayard rushed upon him; fiercely rearing, now on this side, now on that.\nThe knight struck him with his sword, where the white star adorned his\nforehead, but struck in vain, and felt ashamed, thinking that he had\nstruck feebly, for he did not know that the skin of that horse was so\ntough that the keenest sword could make no impression upon it.\n\nWhistling fell the sword once more, and struck with greater force, and\nthe fierce horse felt it, and drooped his head under the blow, but the\nnext moment turned upon his foe with such a buffet that the Pagan fell\nstunned and lifeless to the earth.\n\nRinaldo, who saw Isolier fall, and thought that his life was reft,\ndarted towards the horse, and, with his fist gave him such a blow on the\njaws that the blood tinged his mouth with vermilion. Quicker than an\narrow leaves the bow the horse turned upon him, and tried to seize his\narm with his teeth.\n\nThe knight stepped back, and then, repeating his blow, struck him on the\nforehead. Bayard turned, and kicked with both his feet with a force that\nwould have shattered a mountain. Rinaldo was on his guard, and evaded\nhis attacks, whether made with head or heels. He kept at his side\navoiding both; but, making a false step, he at last received a terrible\nblow from the horse\u2019s foot, and at the shock almost fainted away. A\nsecond such blow would have killed him, but the horse kicked at random,\nand a second blow did not reach Rinaldo, who in a moment recovered\nhimself. Thus the contest continued until by chance Bayard\u2019s foot got\ncaught between the branches of an oak. Rinaldo seized it and putting\nforth all his strength and address, threw him on the ground.\n\nNo sooner had Bayard touched the ground than all his rage subsided. No\nlonger an object of terror, he became gentle and quiet, yet with dignity\nin his mildness.\n\nThe paladin patted his neck, stroked his breast, and smoothed his mane,\nwhile the animal neighed and showed delight to be caressed by his\nmaster. Rinaldo, seeing him now completely subdued, took the saddle and\ntrappings from the other horse, and adorned Bayard with the spoils.\n\nRinaldo became one of the most illustrious knights of Charlemagne\u2019s\ncourt,\u2014indeed, the most illustrious, if we except Orlando. Yet he was\nnot always so obedient to the Emperor\u2019s commands as he should have been,\nand every fault he committed was sure to be aggravated by the malice of\nGan, Duke of Maganza, the treacherous enemy of Rinaldo and all his\nhouse.\n\nAt one time Rinaldo had incurred the severe displeasure of Charlemagne,\nand been banished from court. Seeing no chance of being ever restored to\nfavor, he went to Spain, and entered into the service of the Saracen\nking, Ivo. His brothers, Alardo, Ricardo, and Ricciardetto, accompanied\nhim, and all four served the king so faithfully that they rose to high\nfavor with him. The king gave them land in the mountains on the\nfrontiers of France and Spain, and subjected all the country round to\nRinaldo\u2019s authority. There was plenty of marble in the mountains, the\nking furnished workmen, and they built a castle for Rinaldo, surrounded\nwith high walls, so as to be almost impregnable. Built of white stone,\nand placed on the brow of a marble promontory, the castle shone like a\nstar, and Rinaldo gave it the name of Montalban. Here he assembled his\nfriends, many of whom were banished men like himself, and the country\npeople furnished them with provisions in return for the protection the\ncastle afforded. Yet some of Rinaldo\u2019s men were lawless, and sometimes\nthe supplies were not furnished in sufficient abundance, so that Rinaldo\nand his garrison got a bad name for taking by force what they could not\nobtain by gift; and we sometimes find Montalban spoken of as a nest of\nfreebooters, and its defenders called a beggarly garrison.\n\nCharlemagne\u2019s displeasure did not last long, and, at the time our\nhistory commences, Rinaldo and his brothers were completely restored to\nthe favor of the Emperor, and none of his cavaliers served him with\ngreater zeal and fidelity than they, throughout all his wars with the\nSaracens and Pagans.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n THE TOURNAMENT\n\nIt was the month of May, and the feast of Pentecost. Charlemagne had\nordered magnificent festivities, and summoned to them, besides his\npaladins and vassals of the crown, all strangers, Christian or Saracen,\nthen sojourning at Paris. Among the guests were King Grandonio, from\nSpain; and Ferrau, the Saracen, with eyes like an eagle; Orlando and\nRinaldo, the Emperor\u2019s nephews; Duke Namo; Astolpho, of England, the\nhandsomest man living; Malagigi, the Enchanter; and Gano, of Maganza,\nthat wily traitor, who had the art to make the Emperor think he loved\nhim, while he plotted against him.\n\nHigh sat Charlemagne at the head of his vassals and his paladins,\nrejoicing in the thought of their number and their might, while all were\nsitting and hearing music, and feasting, when suddenly there came into\nthe hall four enormous giants, having between them a lady of\nincomparable beauty, attended by a single knight. There were many ladies\npresent who had seemed beautiful till she made her appearance, but after\nthat they all seemed nothing. Every Christian knight turned his eyes to\nher, and every Pagan crowded round her, while she, with a sweetness that\nmight have touched a heart of stone, thus addressed the Emperor:\n\n\u201cHigh-minded lord, the renown of your worthiness, and of the valor of\nthese your knights, which echoes from sea to sea, encourages me to hope\nthat two pilgrims, who have come from the ends of the world to behold\nyou, will not have encountered their fatigue in vain. And, before I show\nthe motive which has brought us hither, learn that this knight is my\nbrother Uberto, and that I am his sister Angelica. Fame has told us of\nthe jousting this day appointed, and so the prince my brother has come\nto prove his valor, and to say that, if any of the knights here\nassembled choose to meet him in the joust, he will encounter them, one\nby one, at the stair of Merlin, by the Fountain of the Pine. And his\nconditions are these: No knight who chances to be thrown shall be\nallowed to renew the combat, but shall remain prisoner to my brother;\nbut if my brother be overthrown he shall depart out of the country,\nleaving me as the prize of the conqueror.\u201d\n\nNow it must be stated that this Angelica and her brother, who called\nhimself Uberto, but whose real name was Argalia, were the children of\nGalafron, king of Cathay, who had sent them to be the destruction of the\nChristian host; for Argalia was armed with an enchanted lance, which\nunfailingly overthrew everything it touched, and he was mounted on a\nhorse, a creature of magic, whose swiftness outstripped the wind.\nAngelica possessed also a ring which was a defence against all\nenchantments, and when put into the mouth rendered the bearer invisible.\nThus Argalia was expected to subdue and take prisoners whatever knights\nshould dare to encounter him; and the charms of Angelica were relied on\nto entice the paladins to make the fatal venture, while her ring would\nafford her easy means of escape.\n\nWhen Angelica ceased speaking she knelt before the king and awaited his\nanswer, and everybody gazed on her with admiration. Orlando especially\nfelt irresistibly drawn towards her, so that he trembled and changed\ncountenance. Every knight in the hall was infected with the same\nfeeling, not excepting old white-headed Duke Namo and Charlemagne\nhimself.\n\nAll stood for a while in silence, lost in the delight of looking at her.\nThe fiery youth Ferrau could hardly restrain himself from seizing her\nfrom the giants and carrying her away; Rinaldo turned as red as fire,\nwhile Malagigi, who had discovered by his art that the stranger was not\nspeaking truth, muttered softly, as he looked at her, \u201cExquisite false\ncreature! I will play thee such a trick for this, as will leave thee no\ncause to boast of thy visit.\u201d\n\nCharlemagne, to detain her as long as possible before him, delayed his\nassent till he had asked her a number of questions, all which she\nanswered discreetly, and then the challenge was accepted.\n\nAs soon as she was gone Malagigi consulted his book, and found out the\nwhole plot of the vile, infidel king, Galafron, as we have explained it,\nso he determined to seek the damsel and frustrate her designs. He\nhastened to the appointed spot, and there found the prince and his\nsister in a beautiful pavilion, where they lay asleep, while the four\ngiants kept watch. Malagigi took his book and cast a spell out of it,\nand immediately the four giants fell into a deep sleep. Drawing his\nsword (for he was a belted knight), he softly approached the young lady,\nintending to despatch her at once; but, seeing her look so lovely, he\npaused for a moment, thinking there was no need of hurry, as he believed\nhis spell was upon her, and she could not wake. But the ring which she\nwore secured her from the effect of the spell, and some slight noise, or\nwhatever else it was, caused her at that moment to awake. She uttered a\ngreat cry, and flew to her brother, and waked him. By the help of her\nknowledge of enchantment, they took and bound fast the magician, and,\nseizing his book, turned his arts against himself. Then they summoned a\ncrowd of demons, and bade them seize their prisoner and bear him to King\nGalafron, at his great city of Albracca, which they did, and, on his\narrival, he was locked up in a rock under the sea.\n\nWhile these things were going on all was uproar at Paris, since Orlando\ninsisted upon being the first to try the adventure at the stair of\nMerlin. This was resented by the other pretenders to Angelica, and all\ncontested his right to the precedence. The tumult was stilled by the\nusual expedient of drawing lots, and the first prize was drawn by\nAstolpho. Ferrau, the Saracen, had the second, and Grandonio the third.\nNext came Berlinghieri, and Otho; then Charles himself, and, as his\nill-fortune would have it, after thirty more, the indignant Orlando.\n\nAstolpho, who drew the first lot, was handsome, brave, and rich. But,\nwhether from heedlessness or want of skill, he was an unlucky jouster,\nand very apt to be thrown, an accident which he bore with perfect\ngood-humor, always ready to mount again and try to mend his fortune,\ngenerally with no better success.\n\nAstolpho went forth upon his adventure with great gayety of dress and\nmanner, encountered Argalia, and was immediately tilted out of the\nsaddle. He railed at fortune, to whom he laid all the fault; but his\npainful feelings were somewhat relieved by the kindness of Angelica,\nwho, touched by his youth and good looks, granted him the liberty of the\npavilion, and caused him to be treated with all kindness and respect.\n\nThe violent Ferrau had the next chance in the encounter, and was thrown\nno less speedily than Astolpho; but he did not so easily put up with his\nmischance. Crying out, \u201cWhat are the emperor\u2019s engagements to me?\u201d he\nrushed with his sword against Argalia, who, being forced to defend\nhimself, dismounted and drew his sword, but got so much the worse of the\nfight that he made a signal of surrender, and, after some words,\nlistened to a proposal of marriage from Ferrau to his sister. The\nbeauty, however, feeling no inclination to match with such a rough and\nsavage-looking person, was so dismayed at the offer, that, hastily\nbidding her brother to meet her in the forest of Arden, she vanished\nfrom the sight of both by means of the enchanted ring. Argalia, seeing\nthis, took to his horse of swiftness, and dashed away in the same\ndirection. Ferrau pursued him, and Astolpho, thus left to himself, took\npossession of the enchanted lance in place of his own, which was broken,\nnot knowing the treasure he possessed in it, and returned to the\ntournament. Charlemagne, finding the lady and her brother gone, ordered\nthe jousting to proceed as at first intended, in which Astolpho, by aid\nof the enchanted lance, unhorsed all comers against him, equally to\ntheir astonishment and his own.\n\nThe paladin Rinaldo, on learning the issue of the combat of Ferrau and\nthe stranger, galloped after the fair fugitive in an agony of love and\nimpatience. Orlando, perceiving his disappearance, pushed forth in like\nmanner; and, at length, all three are in the forest of Arden, hunting\nabout for her who is invisible.\n\nNow in this forest there were two fountains, the one constructed by the\nsage Merlin, who designed it for Tristram and the fair Isoude;[73] for\nsuch was the virtue of this fountain, that a draught of its waters\nproduced an oblivion of the love which the drinker might feel, and even\nproduced aversion for the object formerly beloved. The other fountain\nwas endowed with exactly opposite qualities, and a draught of it\ninspired love for the first living object that was seen after tasting\nit. Rinaldo happened to come to the first mentioned fountain, and, being\nflushed with heat, dismounted, and quenched in one draught both his\nthirst and his passion. So far from loving Angelica as before he hated\nher from the bottom of his heart, became disgusted with the search he\nwas upon, and, feeling fatigued with his ride, finding a sheltered and\nflowery nook, laid himself down and fell asleep.\n\nShortly after came Angelica, but, approaching in a different direction,\nshe espied the other fountain, and there quenched her thirst. Then\nresuming her way, she came upon the sleeping Rinaldo. Love instantly\nseized her, and she stood rooted to the spot.\n\nThe meadow round was all full of lilies of the valley and wild roses.\nAngelica, not knowing what to do, at length plucked a handful of these,\nand dropped them, one by one, on the face of the sleeper. He woke up,\nand, seeing who it was, received her salutations with averted\ncountenance, remounted his horse, and galloped away. In vain the\nbeautiful creature followed and called after him, in vain asked him what\nshe had done to be so despised. Rinaldo disappeared, leaving her in\ndespair, and she returned in tears to the spot where she had found him\nsleeping. There, in her turn, she herself lay down, pressing the spot of\nearth on which he had lain, and, out of fatigue and sorrow, fell asleep.\n\nAs Angelica thus lay, fortune conducted Orlando to the same place. The\nattitude in which she was sleeping was so lovely that it is not to be\nconceived, much less expressed. Orlando stood gazing like a man who had\nbeen transported to another sphere. \u201cAm I on earth,\u201d he exclaimed, \u201cor\nam I in Paradise? Surely it is I that sleep, and this is my dream.\u201d\n\nBut his dream was proved to be none in a manner which he little desired.\nFerrau, who had slain Argalia, came up, raging with jealousy, and a\ncombat ensued which awoke the sleeper.\n\nTerrified at what she beheld, she rushed to her palfrey, and, while the\nfighters were occupied with one another, fled away through the forest.\nThe champions continued their fight till they were interrupted by a\nmessenger, who brought word to Ferrau that king Marsilius, his\nsovereign, was in pressing need of his assistance, and conjured him to\nreturn to Spain. Ferrau, upon this, proposed to suspend the combat, to\nwhich Orlando, eager to pursue Angelica, agreed. Ferrau, on the other\nhand, departed with the messenger to Spain.\n\nOrlando\u2019s quest for the fair fugitive was all in vain. Aided by the\npowers of magic, she made a speedy return to her own country.\n\nBut the thought of Rinaldo could not be banished from her mind, and she\ndetermined to set Malagigi at liberty, and to employ him to win Rinaldo,\nif possible, to make her a return of affection. She accordingly freed\nhim from his dungeon, unlocking his fetters with her own hands, and\nrestored him his book, promising him ample honors and rewards on\ncondition of his bringing Rinaldo to her feet.\n\nMalagigi accordingly, with the aid of his book, called up a demon,\nmounted him, and departed. Arrived at his destination, he inveigled\nRinaldo into an enchanted bark, which conveyed him, without any visible\npilot, to an island where stood an edifice called Joyous Castle. The\nwhole island was a garden. On the western side, close to the sea, was\nthe palace, built of marble, so clear and polished that it reflected the\nlandscape about it. Rinaldo leapt ashore, and soon met a lady, who\ninvited him to enter. The house was as beautiful within as without, full\nof rooms adorned with azure and gold, and with noble paintings. The lady\nled the knight into an apartment painted with stories, and opening to\nthe garden, through pillars of crystal, with golden capitals. Here he\nfound a bevy of ladies, three of whom were singing in concert, while\nanother played on an instrument of exquisite accord, and the rest danced\nround about them. When the ladies beheld him coming they turned the\ndance into a circuit round him, and then one of them, in the sweetest\nmanner, said, \u201cSir knight, the tables are set, and the hour for the\nbanquet is come;\u201d and, with these words, still dancing, they drew him\nacross the lawn in front of the apartment, to a table that was spread\nwith cloth of gold and fine linen, under a bower of damask roses by the\nside of a fountain.\n\nFour ladies were already seated there, who rose, and placed Rinaldo at\ntheir head, in a chair set with pearls. And truly indeed was he\nastonished. A repast ensued, consisting of viands the most delicate, and\nwines as fragrant as they were fine, drunk out of jewelled cups; and,\nwhen it drew towards its conclusion, harps and lutes were heard in the\ndistance, and one of the ladies said in the knight\u2019s ear: \u201cThis house\nand all that you see in it are yours; for you alone was it built, and\nthe builder is a queen. Happy indeed must you think yourself, for she\nloves you, and she is the greatest beauty in the world! Her name is\nAngelica.\u201d\n\nThe moment Rinaldo heard the name he so detested he started up, with a\nchanged countenance, and, in spite of all that the lady could say, broke\noff across the garden, and never ceased hastening till he reached the\nplace where he landed. The bark was still on the shore. He sprang into\nit, and pushed off, though he saw nobody in it but himself. It was in\nvain for him to try to control its movements, for it dashed on as if in\nfury, till it reached a distant shore covered with a gloomy forest. Here\nRinaldo, surrounded by enchantments of a very different sort from those\nwhich he had lately resisted, was entrapped into a pit.\n\nThe pit belonged to a castle called Altaripa, which was hung with human\nheads, and painted red with blood. As the paladin was viewing the scene\nwith amazement a hideous old woman made her appearance at the edge of\nthe pit, and told him that he was destined to be thrown to a monster,\nwho was only kept from devastating the whole country by being supplied\nwith living human flesh. Rinaldo said, \u201cBe it so; let me but remain\narmed as I am, and I fear nothing.\u201d The old woman laughed in derision.\nRinaldo remained in the pit all night, and the next morning was taken to\nthe place where the monster had his den. It was a court surrounded by a\nhigh wall. Rinaldo was shut in with the beast, and a terrible combat\nensued. Rinaldo was unable to make any impression on the scales of the\nmonster, while he, on the contrary, with his dreadful claws, tore away\nplate and mail from the paladin. Rinaldo began to think his last hour\nwas come, and cast his eyes around and above to see if there was any\nmeans of escape. He perceived a beam projecting from the wall at the\nheight of some ten feet, and, taking a leap almost miraculous, he\nsucceeded in reaching it, and in flinging himself up across it. Here he\nsat for hours, the hideous brute continually trying to reach him. All at\nonce he heard the sound of something coming through the air like a bird,\nand suddenly Angelica herself alighted on the end of the beam. She held\nsomething in her hand towards him, and spoke to him in a loving voice.\nBut the moment Rinaldo saw her he commanded her to go away, refused all\nher offers of assistance, and at length declared that, if she did not\nleave him, he would cast himself down to the monster, and meet his fate.\n\nAngelica, saying she would lose her life rather than displease him,\ndeparted; but first she threw to the monster a cake of wax she had\nprepared, and spread around him a rope knotted with nooses. The beast\ntook the bait, and, finding his teeth glued together by the wax, vented\nhis fury in bounds and leaps, and, soon getting entangled in the nooses,\ndrew them tight by his struggles, so that he could scarcely move a limb.\n\nRinaldo, watching his chance, leapt down upon his back, seized him round\nthe neck, and throttled him, not relaxing his grip till the beast fell\ndead.\n\nAnother difficulty remained to be overcome. The walls were of immense\nheight, and the only opening in them was a grated window of such\nstrength that he could not break the bars. In his distress Rinaldo found\na file, which Angelica had left on the ground, and, with the help of\nthis, effected his deliverance.\n\nWhat further adventures he met with will be told in another chapter.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n THE SIEGE OF ALBRACCA\n\nAt the very time when Charlemagne was holding his plenary court and his\ngreat tournament his kingdom was invaded by a mighty monarch, who was\nmoreover so valiant and strong in battle that no one could stand against\nhim. He was named Gradasso, and his kingdom was called Sericane. Now, as\nit often happens to the greatest and the richest to long for what they\ncannot have, and thus to lose what they already possess, this king could\nnot rest content without Durindana, the sword of Orlando, and Bayard,\nthe horse of Rinaldo. To obtain these he determined to war upon France,\nand for this purpose put in array a mighty army.\n\nHe took his way through Spain, and, after defeating Marsilius, the king\nof that country, in several battles, was rapidly advancing on France.\nCharlemagne, though Marsilius was a Saracen, and had been his enemy, yet\nfelt it needful to succor him in this extremity from a consideration of\ncommon danger, and, with the consent of his peers, despatched Rinaldo\nwith a strong body of soldiers against Gradasso.\n\nThere was much fighting, with doubtful results, and Gradasso was\nsteadily advancing into France. But, impatient to achieve his objects,\nhe challenged Rinaldo to single combat, to be fought on foot, and upon\nthese conditions: If Rinaldo conquered, Gradasso agreed to give up all\nhis prisoners and return to his own country; but if Gradasso won the\nday, he was to have Bayard.\n\nThe challenge was accepted, and would have been fought had it not been\nfor the arts of Malagigi, who just then returned from Angelica\u2019s kingdom\nwith set purpose to win Rinaldo to look with favor upon the fair\nprincess who was dying for love of him. Malagigi drew Rinaldo away from\nthe army by putting on the semblance of Gradasso, and, after a short\ncontest, pretending to fly before him, by which means Rinaldo was\ninduced to follow him into a boat, in which he was borne away, and\nentangled in various adventures, as we have already related.\n\nThe army, left under the command of Ricciardetto, Rinaldo\u2019s brother, was\nsoon joined by Charlemagne and all his peerage, but experienced a\ndisastrous rout, and the Emperor and many of his paladins were taken\nprisoners. Gradasso, however, did not abuse his victory; he took Charles\nby the hand, seated him by his side, and told him he warred only for\nhonor. He renounced all conquests, on condition that the Emperor should\ndeliver to him Bayard and Durindana, both of them the property of his\nvassals, the former of which, as he maintained, was already forfeited to\nhim by Rinaldo\u2019s failure to meet him as agreed. To these terms\nCharlemagne readily acceded.\n\nBayard, after the departure of his master, had been taken in charge by\nRicciardetto, and sent back to Paris, where Astolpho was in command, in\nthe absence of Charlemagne. Astolpho received with great indignation the\nmessage despatched for Bayard, and replied by a herald that \u201che would\nnot surrender the horse of his kinsman Rinaldo without a contest. If\nGradasso wanted the steed he might come and take him, and that he,\nAstolpho, was ready to meet him in the field.\u201d\n\nGradasso was only amused at this answer, for Astolpho\u2019s fame as a\nsuccessful warrior was not high, and Gradasso willingly renewed with him\nthe bargain which he had made with Rinaldo. On these conditions the\nbattle was fought. The enchanted lance, in the hands of Astolpho,\nperformed a new wonder; and Gradasso, the terrible Gradasso, was\nunhorsed.\n\nHe kept his word, set free his prisoners, and put his army on the march\nto return to his own country, renewing his oath, however, not to rest\ntill he had taken from Rinaldo his horse, and from Orlando his sword, or\nlost his life in the attempt.\n\nCharlemagne, full of gratitude to Astolpho, would have kept him near his\nperson and loaded him with honors, but Astolpho preferred to seek\nRinaldo, with the view of restoring to him his horse, and departed from\nParis with that design.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\nOur story now returns to Orlando, whom we left fascinated with the sight\nof the sleeping beauty, who, however, escaped him while engaged in the\ncombat with Ferrau. Having long sought her in vain through the recesses\nof the wood, he resolved to follow her to her father\u2019s court. Leaving,\ntherefore, the camp of Charlemagne, he travelled long in the direction\nof the East, making inquiry everywhere, if, perchance, he might get\ntidings of the fugitive. After many adventures, he arrived one day at a\nplace where many roads crossed, and meeting there a courier, he asked\nhim for news. The courier replied that he had been despatched by\nAngelica to solicit the aid of Sacripant, king of Circassia, in favor of\nher father Galafron, who was besieged in his city, Albracca, by Agrican,\nking of Tartary. This Agrican had been an unsuccessful suitor to the\ndamsel, whom he now pursued with arms. Orlando thus learned that he was\nwithin a day\u2019s journey of Albracca; and, feeling now secure of Angelica,\nhe proceeded with all speed to her city.\n\nThus journeying he arrived at a bridge, under which flowed a foaming\nriver. Here a damsel met him with a goblet, and informed him that it was\nthe usage of this bridge to present the traveller with a cup. Orlando\naccepted the offered cup and drank its contents. He had no sooner done\nso than his brain reeled, and he became unconscious of the object of his\njourney, and of everything else. Under the influence of this fascination\nhe followed the damsel into a magnificent and marvellous palace. Here he\nfound himself in company with many knights, unknown to him and to each\nother, though if it had not been for the Cup of Oblivion of which they\nall had partaken they would have found themselves brothers in arms.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\nAstolpho, proceeding on his way to seek Rinaldo, splendidly dressed and\nequipped, as was his wont, arrived in Circassia, and found there a great\narmy encamped under the command of Sacripant, the king of that country,\nwho was leading it to the defence of Galafron, the father of Angelica.\nSacripant, much struck by the appearance of Astolpho and his horse,\naccosted him courteously, and tried to enlist him in his service; but\nAstolpho, proud of his late victories, scornfully declined his offers,\nand pursued his way. King Sacripant was too much attracted by his\nappearance to part with him so easily, and having laid aside his kingly\nornaments, set out in pursuit of him.\n\nAstolpho next day encountered on his way a stranger knight, named Sir\nFlorismart, Lord of the Sylvan Tower, one of the bravest and best of\nknights, having as his guide a damsel, young, fair, and virtuous, to\nwhom he was tenderly attached, whose name was Flordelis. Astolpho, as he\napproached, defied the knight, bidding him yield the lady, or prepare to\nmaintain his right by arms. Florismart accepted the contest, and the\nknights encountered. Florismart was unhorsed and his steed fell dead,\nwhile Bayard sustained no injury by the shock.\n\nFlorismart was so overwhelmed with despair at his own disgrace and the\nsight of the damsel\u2019s distress, that he drew his sword, and was about to\nplunge it into his own bosom. But Astolpho held his hand, told him that\nhe contended only for glory, and was contented to leave him the lady.\n\nWhile Florismart and Flordelis were vowing eternal gratitude King\nSacripant arrived, and coveting the damsel of the one champion as much\nas the horse and arms of the other, defied them to the joust. Astolpho\nmet the challenger, whom he instantly overthrew, and presented his\ncourser to Florismart, leaving the king to return to his army on foot.\n\nThe friends pursued their route, and ere long Flordelis discovered, by\nsigns which were known to her, that they were approaching the waters of\nOblivion, and advised them to turn back, or to change their course. This\nthe knights would not hear of, and, continuing their march, they soon\narrived at the bridge where Orlando had been taken prisoner.\n\nThe damsel of the bridge appeared as before with the enchanted cup, but\nAstolpho, forewarned, rejected it with scorn. She dashed it to the\nground, and a fire blazed up which rendered the bridge unapproachable.\nAt the same moment the two knights were assailed by sundry warriors,\nknown and unknown, who, having no recollection of anything, joined\nblindly in defence of their prison-house. Among these was Orlando, at\nsight of whom Astolpho, with all his confidence not daring to encounter\nhim, turned and fled, owing his escape to the strength and fleetness of\nBayard.\n\nFlorismart, meanwhile, overlaid by fearful odds, was compelled to yield\nto necessity, and comply with the usage of the fairy. He drank of the\ncup and remained prisoner with the rest. Flordelis, deprived of her two\nfriends, retired from the scene, and devoted herself to untiring efforts\nto effect her lover\u2019s deliverance. Astolpho pursued his way to Albracca,\nwhich Agrican was about to besiege. He was kindly welcomed by Angelica,\nand enrolled among her defenders. Impatient to distinguish himself, he\none night sallied forth alone, arrived in Agrican\u2019s camp, and unhorsed\nhis warriors right and left by means of the enchanted lance. But he was\nsoon surrounded and overmatched, and made prisoner to Agrican.\n\nRelief was, however, at hand; for as the citizens and soldiers were one\nday leaning over their walls they descried a cloud of dust, from which\nhorsemen were seen to prick forth, as it rolled on towards the camp of\nthe besiegers. This turned out to be the army of Sacripant, which\nimmediately attacked that of Agrican, with the view of cutting a passage\nthrough his camp to the besieged city. But Agrican, mounted upon Bayard,\ntaken from Astolpho, but not armed with the lance of gold, the virtues\nof which were unknown to him, performed wonders, and rallied his\nscattered troops, which had given way to the sudden and unexpected\nassault. Sacripant, on the other hand, encouraged his men by the most\ndesperate acts of valor, having as an additional incentive to his\ncourage the sight of Angelica, who showed herself upon the city walls.\n\nThere she witnessed a single combat between the two leaders, Agrican and\nSacripant. In this, at length, her defender appeared to be overmatched,\nwhen the Circassians broke the ring, and separated the combatants, who\nwere borne asunder in the rush. Sacripant, severely wounded, profited by\nthe confusion, and escaped into Albracca, where he was kindly received\nand carefully tended by Angelica.\n\nThe battle continuing, the Circassians were at last put to flight, and,\nbeing intercepted between the enemy\u2019s lines and the town, sought for\nrefuge under the walls. Angelica ordered the drawbridge to be let down,\nand the gates thrown open to the fugitives. With these Agrican, not\ndistinguished in the crowd, entered the place, driving both Circassians\nand Cathayans before him, and the portcullis being dropped, he was shut\nin.\n\nFor a time the terror which he inspired put to flight all opposers, but\nwhen at last it came to be known that few or none of his followers had\neffected an entrance with him, the fugitives rallied and surrounded him\non all sides. While he was thus apparently reduced to the last\nextremities, he was saved by the very circumstance which threatened him\nwith destruction. The soldiers of Angelica, closing upon him from all\nsides, deserted their defences; and his own besieging army entered the\ncity in a part where the wall was broken down.\n\nIn this way was Agrican rescued, the city taken, and the inhabitants put\nto the sword. Angelica, however, with some of the knights who were her\ndefenders, among whom was Sacripant, saved herself in the citadel, which\nwas planted upon a rock.\n\nThe fortress was impregnable, but it was scantily victualled, and ill\nprovided with other necessaries. Under these circumstances Angelica\nannounced to those blockaded with her in the citadel her intention to go\nin quest of assistance, and, having plighted her promise of a speedy\nreturn, she set out, with the enchanted ring upon her finger. Mounted\nupon her palfrey, the damsel passed through the enemy\u2019s lines, and by\nsunrise was many miles clear of their encampment.\n\nIt so happened that her road led her near the fatal bridge of Oblivion,\nand as she approached it she met a damsel weeping bitterly. It was\nFlordelis, whose lover, Florismart, as we have related, had met the fate\nof Orlando and many more, and fallen a victim to the enchantress of the\ncup. She related her adventures to Angelica, and conjured her to lend\nwhat aid she might to rescue her lord and his companions. Angelica,\naccordingly, watching her opportunity and aided by her ring, slipped\ninto the castle unseen, when the door was opened to admit a new victim.\nHere she speedily disenchanted Orlando and the rest by a touch of her\ntalisman. But Florismart was not there. He had been given up to\nFalerina, a more powerful enchantress, and was still in durance.\nAngelica conjured the rescued captives to assist her in the recovery of\nher kingdom, and all departed together for Albracca.\n\nThe arrival of Orlando, with his companions, nine in all, and among the\nbravest knights of France, changed at once the fortunes of the war.\nWherever the great paladin came, pennon and standard fell before him.\nAgrican in vain attempted to rally his troops. Orlando kept constantly\nin his front, forcing him to attend to nobody else. The Tartar king at\nlength bethought him of a stratagem. He turned his horse, and made a\nshow of flying in despair. Orlando dashed after him as he desired, and\nAgrican fled till he reached a green place in a wood, where there was a\nfountain.\n\nThe place was beautiful, and the Tartar dismounted to refresh himself at\nthe fountain, but without taking off his helmet, or laying aside any of\nhis armor. Orlando was quickly at his back, crying out, \u201cSo bold, and\nyet a fugitive! How could you fly from a single arm and think to\nescape?\u201d\n\nThe Tartar king had leaped on his saddle the moment he saw his enemy,\nand when the paladin had done speaking, he said in a mild voice,\n\u201cWithout doubt you are the best knight I ever encountered, and fain\nwould I leave you untouched for your own sake, if you would cease to\nhinder me from rallying my people. I pretended to fly, in order to bring\nyou out of the field. If you insist upon fighting I must needs fight and\nslay you, but I call the sun in the heavens to witness I would rather\nnot. I should be very sorry for your death.\u201d\n\nThe Count Orlando felt pity for so much gallantry, and he said, \u201cThe\nnobler you show yourself the more it grieves me to think that in dying\nwithout a knowledge of the true faith you will be lost in the other\nworld. Let me advise you to save body and soul at once. Receive baptism,\nand go your way in peace.\u201d\n\nAgrican replied: \u201cI suspect you to be the paladin Orlando. If you are I\nwould not lose this opportunity of fighting with you to be king of\nParadise. Talk to me no more about your things of another world, for you\nwill preach in vain. Each of us for himself, and let the sword be\numpire.\u201d\n\nThe Saracen drew his sword, boldly advancing upon Orlando, and a combat\nbegan, so obstinate and so long, each warrior being a miracle of\nprowess, that the story says it lasted from noon till night. Orlando\nthen seeing the stars come out was the first to propose a respite.\n\n\u201cWhat are we to do,\u201d said he, \u201cnow that daylight has left us?\u201d\n\nAgrican answered readily enough, \u201cLet us repose in this meadow, and\nrenew the combat at dawn.\u201d\n\nThe repose was taken accordingly. Each tied up his horse, and reclined\nhimself on the grass, not far from the other, just as if they had been\nfriends, Orlando by the fountain, Agrican beneath a pine. It was a\nbeautiful clear night, and, as they talked together before addressing\nthemselves to sleep, the champion of Christendom, looking up at the\nfirmament, said, \u201cThat is a fine piece of workmanship, that starry\nspectacle; God made it all, that moon of silver, and those stars of\ngold, and the light of day, and the sun,\u2014all for the sake of human\nkind.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou wish, I see, to talk of matters of faith,\u201d said the Tartar. \u201cNow I\nmay as well tell you at once that I have no sort of skill in such\nmatters, nor learning of any kind. I never could learn anything when I\nwas a boy. I hated it so that I broke the man\u2019s head who was\ncommissioned to teach me; and it produced such an effect on others that\nnobody ever afterwards dared so much as show me a book. My boyhood was\ntherefore passed, as it should be, in horsemanship and hunting, and\nlearning to fight. What is the good of a gentleman\u2019s poring all day over\na book? Prowess to the knight, and preaching to the clergyman, that is\nmy motto.\u201d\n\n\u201cI acknowledge,\u201d returned Orlando, \u201cthat arms are the first\nconsideration of a gentleman; but not at all that he does himself\ndishonor by knowledge. On the contrary, knowledge is as great an\nembellishment of the rest of his attainments, as the flowers are to the\nmeadow before us; and as to the knowledge of his Maker, the man that is\nwithout it is no better than a stock or a stone or a brute beast.\nNeither without study can he reach anything of a due sense of the depth\nand divineness of the contemplation.\u201d\n\n\u201cLearned or not learned,\u201d said Agrican, \u201cyou might show yourself better\nbred than by endeavoring to make me talk on a subject on which you have\nme at a disadvantage. If you choose to sleep I wish you good night; but\nif you prefer talking I recommend you to talk of fighting or of fair\nladies. And, by the way, pray tell me, are you not that Orlando who\nmakes such a noise in the world? And what is it, pray, that brings you\ninto these parts? Were you ever in love? I suppose you must have been;\nfor to be a knight, and never to have been in love, would be like being\na man without a heart in his breast.\u201d\n\nThe count replied: \u201cOrlando I am, and in love I am. Love has made me\nabandon everything, and brought me into these distant regions, and, to\ntell you all in one word, my heart is in the hands of the daughter of\nKing Galafron. You have come against him with fire and sword, to get\npossession of his castles and his dominions; and I have come to help\nhim, for no object in the world but to please his daughter and win her\nbeautiful hand. I care for nothing else in existence.\u201d\n\nNow when the Tartar king, Agrican, heard his antagonist speak in this\nmanner, and knew him to be indeed Orlando, and to be in love with\nAngelica, his face changed color for grief and jealousy, though it could\nnot be seen for the darkness. His heart began beating with such violence\nthat he felt as if he should have died. \u201cWell,\u201d said he to Orlando, \u201cwe\nare to fight when it is daylight, and one or other is to be left here,\ndead on the ground. I have a proposal to make to you\u2014nay, an entreaty.\nMy love is so excessive for the same lady that I beg you to leave her to\nme. I will owe you my thanks, and give up the siege and put an end to\nthe war. I cannot bear that any one should love her, and that I should\nlive to see it. Why, therefore, should either of us perish? Give her up.\nNot a soul shall know it.\u201d\n\n\u201cI never yet,\u201d answered Orlando, \u201cmade a promise which I did not keep,\nand nevertheless I own to you that, were I to make a promise like that,\nand even swear to keep it, I should not. You might as well ask me to\ntear away the limbs from my body, and the eyes out of my head. I could\nas well live without breath itself as cease loving Angelica.\u201d\n\nAgrican had hardly patience to let him finish speaking, ere he leapt\nfuriously on horseback, though it was midnight. \u201cQuit her,\u201d said he, \u201cor\ndie!\u201d\n\nOrlando seeing the infidel getting up, and not being sure that he would\nnot add treachery to fierceness, had been hardly less quick in mounting\nfor the combat. \u201cNever,\u201d exclaimed he; \u201cI never could have quitted her\nif I would, and now I would not if I could. You must seek her by other\nmeans than these.\u201d\n\nFiercely dashed their horses together, in the nighttime, on the green\nmead. Despiteful and terrible were the blows they gave and took by the\nmoonlight. Agrican fought in a rage, Orlando was cooler. And now the\nstruggle had lasted more than five hours, and day began to dawn, when\nthe Tartar king, furious to find so much trouble given him, dealt his\nenemy a blow sharp and violent beyond conception. It cut the shield in\ntwo as if it had been made of wood, and, though blood could not be drawn\nfrom Orlando, because he was fated, it shook and bruised him as if it\nhad started every joint in his body.\n\nHis _body_ only, however, not a particle of his soul. So dreadful was\nthe blow which the paladin gave in return, that not only shield, but\nevery bit of mail on the body of Agrican was broken in pieces, and three\nof his ribs cut asunder.\n\nThe Tartar, roaring like a lion, raised his sword with still greater\nvehemence than before, and dealt a blow on the paladin\u2019s helmet, such as\nhe had never yet received from mortal man. For a moment it took away his\nsenses. His sight failed, his ears tingled, his frightened horse turned\nabout to fly; and he was falling from the saddle, when the very action\nof falling threw his head upwards, and thus recalled his recollection.\n\n\u201cWhat a shame is this!\u201d thought he; \u201chow shall I ever again dare to face\nAngelica! I have been fighting hour after hour with this man, and he is\nbut one, and I call myself Orlando! If the combat last any longer I will\nbury myself in a monastery, and never look on sword again.\u201d\n\nOrlando muttered with his lips closed and his teeth ground together; and\nyou might have thought that fire instead of breath came out of his nose\nand mouth. He raised his sword Durindana with both his hands, and sent\nit down so tremendously on Agrican\u2019s shoulder that it cut through\nbreastplate down to the very haunch, nay, crushed the saddle-bow, though\nit was made of bone and iron, and felled man and horse to the earth.\nAgrican turned as white as ashes, and felt death upon him. He called\nOrlando to come close to him, with a gentle voice, and said, as well as\nhe could: \u201cI believe on Him who died on the cross. Baptize me, I pray\nthee, with the fountain, before my senses are gone. I have lived an evil\nlife, but need not be rebellious to God in death also. May He who came\nto save all the rest of the world save me!\u201d And he shed tears, that\ngreat king, though he had been so lofty and fierce.\n\nOrlando dismounted quickly, with his own face in tears. He gathered the\nking tenderly in his arms, and took and laid him by the fountain, on a\nmarble rim that it had, and then he wept in concert with him heartily,\nand asked his pardon, and so baptized him in the water of the fountain,\nand knelt and prayed to God for him with joined hands.\n\nHe then paused and looked at him; and when he perceived his countenance\nchanged, and that his whole person was cold, he left him there on the\nmarble rim of the fountain, all armed as he was, with the sword by his\nside, and the crown upon his head.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n ADVENTURES OF RINALDO AND ORLANDO\n\nWE left Rinaldo when, having overcome the monster, he quitted the castle\nof Altaripa, and pursued his way on foot. He soon met with a weeping\ndamsel, who, being questioned as to the cause of her sorrow, told him\nshe was in search of one to do battle to rescue her lover, who had been\nmade prisoner by a vile enchantress, together with Orlando and many\nmore. The damsel was Flordelis, the lady-love of Florismart, and Rinaldo\npromised his assistance, trusting to accomplish the adventure either by\nvalor or skill. Flordelis insisted upon Rinaldo\u2019s taking her horse,\nwhich he consented to do, on condition of her mounting behind him.\n\nAs they rode on through a wood, they heard strange noises, and Rinaldo,\nreassuring the damsel, pressed forward towards the quarter from which\nthey proceeded. He soon perceived a giant standing under a vaulted\ncavern, with a huge club in his hand, and of an appearance to strike the\nboldest spirit with dread. By the side of the cavern was chained a\ngriffin, which, together with the giant, was stationed there to guard a\nwonderful horse, the same which was once Argalia\u2019s. This horse was a\ncreature of enchantment, matchless in vigor, speed, and form, which\ndisdained to share the diet of his fellow-steeds,\u2014corn or grass,\u2014and\nfed only on air. His name was Rabican.\n\nThis marvellous horse, after his master Argalia had been slain by\nFerrau, finding himself at liberty, returned to his native cavern, and\nwas here stabled under the protection of the giant and the griffin. As\nRinaldo approached, the giant assailed him with his club. Rinaldo\ndefended himself from the giant\u2019s blows, and gave him one in return,\nwhich, if his skin had not been of the toughest, would have finished the\ncombat. But the giant, though wounded, escaped, and let loose the\ngriffin. This monstrous bird towered in air, and thence pounced down\nupon Rinaldo, who, watching his opportunity, dealt her a desperate\nwound. She had, however, strength for another flight, and kept repeating\nher attacks, which Rinaldo parried as he could, while the damsel stood\ntrembling by, witnessing the contest.\n\nThe battle continued, rendered more terrible by the approach of night,\nwhen Rinaldo determined upon a desperate expedient to bring it to a\nconclusion. He fell, as if fainting from his wounds, and, on the close\napproach of the griffin, dealt her a blow which sheared away one of her\nwings. The beast, though sinking, gripped him fast with her talons,\ndigging through plate and mail; but Rinaldo plied his sword in utter\ndesperation, and at last accomplished her destruction.\n\nRinaldo then entered the cavern, and found there the wonderful horse,\nall caparisoned. He was coal-black, except for a star of white on his\nforehead, and one white foot behind. For speed he was unrivalled, though\nin strength he yielded to Bayard. Rinaldo mounted upon Rabican, and\nissued from the cavern.\n\nAs he pursued his way he met a fugitive from Agrican\u2019s army, who gave\nsuch an account of the prowess of a champion who fought on the side of\nAngelica, that Rinaldo was persuaded this must be Orlando, though at a\nloss to imagine how he could have been freed from captivity. He\ndetermined to repair to the scene of the contest to satisfy his\ncuriosity, and Flordelis, hoping to find Florismart with Orlando,\nconsented to accompany him.\n\nWhile these things were doing, all was rout and dismay in the Tartarian\narmy, from the death of Agrican. King Galafron, arriving at this\njuncture with an army for the relief of his capital, Albracca, assaulted\nthe enemy\u2019s camp, and carried all before him. Rinaldo had now reached\nthe scene of action, and was looking on as an unconcerned spectator,\nwhen he was espied by Galafron. The king instantly recognized the horse\nRabican, which he had given to Argalia when he sent him forth on his\nill-omened mission to Paris. Possessed with the idea that the rider of\nthe horse was the murderer of Argalia, Galafron rode at Rinaldo, and\nsmote him with all his force. Rinaldo was not slow to avenge the blow,\nand it would have gone hard with the king had not his followers\ninstantly closed round him and separated the combatants.\n\nRinaldo thus found himself, almost without his own choice, enlisted on\nthe side of the enemies of Angelica, which gave him no concern, so\ncompletely had his draught from the fountain of hate steeled his mind\nagainst her.\n\nFor several successive days the struggle continued, without any\nimportant results, Rinaldo meeting the bravest knights of Angelica\u2019s\nparty, and defeating them one after the other. At length he encountered\nOrlando, and the two knights bitterly reproached one another for the\ncause they had each adopted, and engaged in a furious combat. Orlando\nwas mounted upon Bayard, Rinaldo\u2019s horse, which Agrican had by chance\nbecome possessed of, and Orlando had taken from him as the prize of\nvictory. Bayard would not fight against his master, and Orlando was\ngetting the worse of the encounter, when suddenly Rinaldo, seeing\nAstolpho, who for love of him had arrayed himself on his side, hard\nbeset by numbers, left Orlando to rush to the defence of his friend.\nNight prevented the combat from being renewed; but a challenge was given\nand accepted for their next meeting.\n\nBut Angelica, sighing in her heart for Rinaldo, was not willing that he\nshould be again exposed to so terrible a venture. She begged a boon of\nOrlando, promising she would be his if he would do her bidding. On\nreceiving his promise, she enjoined him to set out without delay to\ndestroy the garden of the enchantress Falerina, in which many valiant\nknights had been entrapped, and were imprisoned.\n\nOrlando departed on his horse Brigliadoro, leaving Bayard in disgrace\nfor his bad deportment the day before. Angelica, to conciliate Rinaldo,\nsent Bayard to him; but Rinaldo remained unmoved by this as by all her\nformer acts of kindness.\n\nWhen Rinaldo learned Orlando\u2019s departure, he yielded to the entreaties\nof the lady of Florismart, and prepared to fulfil his promise, and\nrescue her lover from the power of the enchantress. Thus both Rinaldo\nand Orlando were bound upon the same adventure, but unknown to one\nanother.\n\nThe castle of Falerina was protected by a river, which was crossed by a\nbridge, kept by a ruffian, who challenged all comers to the combat; and\nsuch was his strength that he had thus far prevailed in every encounter,\nas appeared by the arms of various knights which he had taken from them,\nand piled up as a trophy on the shore. Rinaldo attacked him, but with as\nbad success as the rest, for the bridge-ward struck him so violent a\nblow with an iron mace that he fell to the ground. But when the villain\napproached to strip him of his armor, Rinaldo seized him, and the\nbridge-ward, being unable to free himself, leapt with Rinaldo into the\nlake, where they both disappeared.\n\nOrlando, meanwhile, in discharge of his promise to Angelica, pursued his\nway in quest of the same adventure. In passing through a wood he saw a\ncavalier armed at all points, and mounted, keeping guard over a lady who\nwas bound to a tree, weeping bitterly. Orlando hastened to her relief,\nbut was exhorted by the knight not to interfere, for she had deserved\nher fate by her wickedness. In proof of which he made certain charges\nagainst her. The lady denied them all, and Orlando believed her, defied\nthe knight, overthrew him, and, releasing the lady, departed with her\nseated on his horse\u2019s croup.\n\nWhile they rode another damsel approached on a white palfrey, who warned\nOrlando of impending danger, and informed him that he was near the\ngarden of the enchantress. Orlando was delighted with the intelligence,\nand entreated her to inform him how he was to gain admittance. She\nreplied that the garden could only be entered at sunrise and gave him\nsuch instructions as would enable him to gain admittance. She gave him\nalso a book in which was painted the garden and all that it contained,\ntogether with the palace of the false enchantress, where she had\nsecluded herself for the purpose of executing a magic work in which she\nwas engaged. This was the manufacture of a sword capable of cutting even\nthrough enchanted substances. The object of this labor, the damsel told\nhim, was the destruction of a knight of the west, by name Orlando, who\nshe had read in the book of Fate was coming to demolish her garden.\nHaving thus instructed him, the damsel departed.\n\nOrlando, finding he must delay his enterprise till the next morning, now\nlay down and was soon asleep. Seeing this, the base woman whom he had\nrescued, and who was intent on making her escape to rejoin her paramour,\nmounted Brigliadoro, and rode off, carrying away Durindana.\n\nWhen Orlando awoke, his indignation, as may be supposed, was great on\nthe discovery of the theft; but, like a good knight and true, he was not\nto be diverted from his enterprise. He tore off a huge branch of an elm\nto supply the place of his sword; and, as the sun rose, took his way\ntowards the gate of the garden, where a dragon was on his watch. This he\nslew by repeated blows, and entered the garden, the gate of which closed\nbehind him, barring retreat. Looking round him, he saw a fair fountain,\nwhich overflowed into a river, and in the centre of the fountain a\nfigure, on whose forehead was written:\n\n \u201cThe stream which waters violet and rose,\n From hence to the enchanted palace goes.\u201d\n\nFollowing the banks of this flowing stream, and rapt in the delights of\nthe charming garden, Orlando arrived at the palace, and entering it,\nfound the mistress, clad in white, with a crown of gold upon her head,\nin the act of viewing herself in the surface of the magic sword. Orlando\nsurprised her before she could escape, deprived her of the weapon, and\nholding her fast by her long hair, which floated behind, threatened her\nwith immediate death if she did not yield up her prisoners, and afford\nhim the means of egress. She, however, was firm of purpose, making no\nreply, and Orlando, unable to move her either by threats or entreaties,\nwas under the necessity of binding her to a beech, and pursuing his\nquest as he best might.\n\nHe then bethought him of his book, and, consulting it, found that there\nwas an outlet to the south, but that to reach it a lake was to be\npassed, inhabited by a siren, whose song was so entrancing as to be\nquite irresistible to whoever heard it; but his book instructed him how\nto protect himself against this danger. According to its directions,\nwhile pursuing his path, he gathered abundance of flowers, which sprung\nall around, and filled his helmet and his ears with them; then listened\nif he heard the birds sing. Finding that, though he saw the gaping beak,\nthe swelling throat, and ruffled plumes, he could not catch a note, he\nfelt satisfied with his defence, and advanced toward the lake. It was\nsmall but deep, and so clear and tranquil that the eye could penetrate\nto the bottom.\n\nHe had no sooner arrived upon the banks than the waters were seen to\ngurgle, and the siren, rising midway out of the pool, sung so sweetly\nthat birds and beasts came trooping to the water-side to listen. Of this\nOrlando heard nothing, but, feigning to yield to the charm, sank down\nupon the bank. The siren issued from the water with the intent to\naccomplish his destruction. Orlando seized her by the hair, and while\nshe sang yet louder (song being her only defence) cut off her head.\nThen, following the directions of the book, he stained himself all over\nwith her blood.\n\nGuarded by this talisman, he met successively all the monsters set for\ndefence of the enchantress and her garden, and at length found himself\nagain at the spot where he had made captive the enchantress, who still\ncontinued fastened to the beech. But the scene was changed. The garden\nhad disappeared, and Falerina, before so haughty, now begged for mercy,\nassuring him that many lives depended upon the preservation of hers.\nOrlando promised her life upon her pledging herself for the deliverance\nof her captives.\n\nThis, however, was no easy task. They were not in her possession, but in\nthat of a much more powerful enchantress, Morgana, the Lady of the Lake,\nthe very idea of opposing whom made Falerina turn pale with fear.\nRepresenting to him the hazards of the enterprise, she led him towards\nthe dwelling of Morgana. To approach it he had to encounter the same\nuncourteous bridge-ward who had already defeated and made captive so\nmany knights, and last of all, Rinaldo. He was a churl of the most\nferocious character, named Arridano. Morgana had provided him with\nimpenetrable armor, and endowed him in such a manner that his strength\nalways increased in proportion to that of the adversary with whom he was\nmatched. No one had ever yet escaped from the contest, since, such was\nhis power of endurance, he could breathe freely under water. Hence,\nhaving grappled with a knight, and sunk with him to the bottom of the\nlake, he returned, bearing his enemy\u2019s arms in triumph to the surface.\n\nWhile Falerina was repeating her cautions and her counsels Orlando saw\nRinaldo\u2019s arms erected in form of a trophy, among other spoils made by\nthe villain, and, forgetting their late quarrel, determined upon\nrevenging his friend. Arriving at the pass, the churl presuming to bar\nthe way, a desperate contest ensued, during which Falerina escaped. The\nchurl finding himself over-matched at a contest of arms, resorted to his\npeculiar art, grappled his antagonist, and plunged with him into the\nlake. When he reached the bottom Orlando found himself in another world,\nupon a dry meadow, with the lake overhead, through which shone the beams\nof our sun, while the water stood on all sides like a crystal wall. Here\nthe battle was renewed, and Orlando had in his magic sword an advantage\nwhich none had hitherto possessed. It had been tempered by Falerina so\nthat no spells could avail against it. Thus armed, and countervailing\nthe strength of his adversary by his superior skill and activity, it was\nnot long before he laid him dead upon the field.\n\nOrlando then made all haste to return to the upper air, and, passing\nthrough the water, which opened a way before him (such was the power of\nthe magic sword), he soon regained the shore, and found himself in a\nfield as thickly covered with precious stones as the sky is with stars.\n\nOrlando crossed the field, nor tempted to delay his enterprise by\ngathering any of the brilliant gems spread all around him. He next\npassed into a flowery meadow planted with trees, covered with fruit and\nflowers, and full of all imaginable delights.\n\nIn the middle of this meadow was a fountain, and fast by it lay Morgana\nasleep; a lady of a lovely aspect, dressed in white and vermilion\ngarments, her forehead well furnished with hair, while she had scarcely\nany behind.\n\nWhile Orlando stood in silence contemplating her beauty he heard a voice\nexclaim: \u201cSeize the fairy by the forelock, if thou hopest fair success.\u201d\nBut his attention was arrested by another object, and he heeded not the\nwarning. He saw on a sudden an array of towers, pinnacles and columns,\npalaces with balconies and windows, extended alleys with trees, in short\na scene of architectural magnificence surpassing all he had ever beheld.\nWhile he stood gazing in silent astonishment the scene slowly melted\naway and disappeared.[74]\n\nWhen he had recovered from his amazement he looked again toward the\nfountain. The fairy had awaked and risen, and was dancing round its\nborder with the lightness of a leaf, timing her footsteps to this song:\n\n \u201cWho in this world would wealth and treasure share,\n Honor, delight, and state, and what is best,\n Quick let him catch me by the lock of hair\n Which flutters from my forehead; and be blest.\n\n \u201cBut let him not the proffered good forbear,\n Nor till he seize the fleeting blessing rest;\n For present loss is sought in vain to-morrow,\n And the deluded wretch is left in sorrow.\u201d\n\nThe fairy, having sung thus, bounded off, and fled from the flowery\nmeadow over a high and inaccessible mountain. Orlando pursued her\nthrough thorns and rocks, while the sky gradually became overcast, and\nat last he was assailed by tempest, lightning, and hail.\n\nWhile he thus pursued, a pale and meagre woman issued from a cave, armed\nwith a whip, and, treading close upon his steps, scourged him with\nvigorous strokes. Her name was Repentance, and she told him it was her\noffice to punish those who neglected to obey the voice of Prudence, and\nseize the fairy Fortune when he might.\n\nOrlando, furious at this chastisement, turned upon his tormentor, but\nmight as well have stricken the wind. Finding it useless to resist, he\nresumed his chase of the fairy, gained upon her, and made frequent\nsnatches at her white and vermilion garments, which still eluded his\ngrasp. At last, on her turning her head for an instant, he profited by\nthe chance, and seized her by the forelock. In an instant the tempest\nceased, the sky became serene, and Repentance retreated to her cave.\n\nOrlando now demanded of Morgana the keys of her prison, and the fairy,\nfeigning a complacent aspect, delivered up a key of silver, bidding him\nto be cautious in the use of it, since to break the lock would be to\ninvolve himself and all in inevitable destruction; a caution which gave\nthe Count room for long meditation, and led him to consider\n\n How few amid the suitors who importune\n The dame, know how to turn the keys of Fortune.\n\nKeeping the fairy still fast by the forelock, Orlando proceeded toward\nthe prison, turned the key, without occasioning the mischiefs\napprehended, and delivered the prisoners.\n\nAmong these were Florismart, Rinaldo, and many others of the bravest\nknights of France. Morgana had disappeared, and the knights, under the\nguidance of Orlando, retraced the path by which he had come. They soon\nreached the field of treasure. Rinaldo, finding himself amidst this mass\nof wealth, remembered his needy garrison of Montalban, and could not\nresist the temptation of seizing part of the booty. In particular a\ngolden chain, studded with diamonds, was too much for his self-denial,\nand he took it and was bearing it off, notwithstanding the remonstrances\nof Orlando, when a violent wind caught him and whirled him back, as he\napproached the gate. This happened a second and a third time, and\nRinaldo at length yielded to necessity, rather than to the entreaties of\nhis friends, and cast away his prize.\n\nThey soon reached the bridge and passed over without hindrance to the\nother side, where they found the trophy decorated with their arms. Here\neach knight resumed his own, and all, except the paladins and their\nfriends, separated as their inclinations or duty prompted. Dudon, the\nDane, one of the rescued knights, informed the cousins that he had been\nmade prisoner by Morgana while in the discharge of an embassy to them\nfrom Charlemagne, who called upon them to return to the defence of\nChristendom. Orlando was too much fascinated by Angelica to obey this\nsummons, and, followed by the faithful Florismart, who would not leave\nhim, returned towards Albracca. Rinaldo, Dudon, Iroldo, Prasildo, and\nthe others took their way toward the west.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n THE INVASION OF FRANCE\n\nAgramant, King of Africa, convoked the kings, his vassals, to deliberate\nin council. He reminded them of the injuries he had sustained from\nFrance, that his father had fallen in battle with Charlemagne, and that\nhis early years had hitherto not allowed him to wipe out the stain of\nformer defeats. He now proposed to them to carry war into France.\n\nSobrino, his wisest councillor, opposed the project, representing the\nrashness of it; but Rodomont, the young and fiery king of Algiers,\ndenounced Sobrino\u2019s counsel as base and cowardly, declaring himself\nimpatient for the enterprise. The king of the Garamantes, venerable for\nhis age and renowned for his prophetic lore, interposed, and assured the\nKing that such an attempt would be sure to fail, unless he could first\nget on his side a youth marked out by destiny as the fitting compeer of\nthe most puissant knights of France, the young Rogero, descended in\ndirect line from Hector of Troy. This prince was now a dweller upon the\nmountain Carena, where Atlantes, his foster-father, a powerful magician,\nkept him in retirement, having discovered by his art that his pupil\nwould be lost to him if allowed to mingle with the world. To break the\nspells of Atlantes, and draw Rogero from his retirement, one only means\nwas to be found. It was a ring possessed by Angelica, Princess of\nCathay, which was a talisman against all enchantments. If this ring\ncould be procured all would go well; without it the enterprise was\ndesperate.\n\nRodomont treated this declaration of the old prophet with scorn, and it\nwould probably have been held of little weight by the council, had not\nthe aged king, oppressed by the weight of years, expired in the very act\nof reaffirming his prediction. This made so deep an impression on the\ncouncil that it was unanimously resolved to postpone the war until an\neffort should be made to win Rogero to the camp.\n\nKing Agramant thereupon proclaimed that the sovereignty of a kingdom\nshould be the reward of whoever should succeed in obtaining the ring of\nAngelica. Brunello, the dwarf, the subtlest thief in all Africa,\nundertook to procure it.\n\nIn prosecution of this design, he made the best of his way to Angelica\u2019s\nkingdom, and arrived beneath the walls of Albracca while the besieging\narmy was encamped before the fortress. While the attention of the\ngarrison was absorbed by the battle that raged below he scaled the\nwalls, approached the Princess unnoticed, slipped the ring from her\nfinger, and escaped unobserved. He hastened to the seaside, and, finding\na vessel ready to sail, embarked, and arrived at Biserta, in Africa.\nHere he found Agramant impatient for the talisman which was to foil the\nenchantments of Atlantes and to put Rogero into his hands. The dwarf,\nkneeling before the king, presented him with the ring, and Agramant,\ndelighted at the success of his mission, crowned him in recompense King\nof Tingitana.\n\nAll were now anxious to go in quest of Rogero. The cavalcade accordingly\ndeparted, and in due time arrived at the mountain of Carena.\n\nAt the bottom of this was a fruitful and well-wooded plain, watered by a\nlarge river, and from this plain was descried a beautiful garden on the\nmountain-top, which contained the mansion of Atlantes; but the ring,\nwhich discovered what was before invisible, could not, though it\nrevealed this paradise, enable Agramant or his followers to enter it. So\nsteep and smooth was the rock by nature, that even Brunello failed in\nevery attempt to scale it. He did not, for this, despair of\naccomplishing the object; but, having obtained Agramant\u2019s consent,\ncaused the assembled courtiers and knights to celebrate a tournament\nupon the plain below. This was done with the view of seducing Rogero\nfrom his fastness, and the stratagem was attended with success.\n\nRogero joined the tourney, and was presented by Agramant with a splendid\nhorse, Frontino, and a magnificent sword. Having learned from Agramant\nhis intended invasion of France, he gladly consented to join the\nexpedition.\n\nRodomont, meanwhile, was too impatient to wait for Agramant\u2019s\narrangements, and embarked with all the forces he could raise, made good\nhis landing on the coast of France, and routed the Christians in several\nencounters. Previously to this, however, Gano, or Ganelon (as he is\nsometimes called), the traitor, enemy of Orlando and the other nephews\nof Charlemagne, had entered into a traitorous correspondence with\nMarsilius, the Saracen king of Spain, whom he invited into France.\nMarsilius, thus encouraged, led an army across the frontiers, and joined\nRodomont. This was the situation of things when Rinaldo and the other\nknights who had obeyed the summons of Dudon set forward on their return\nto France.\n\nWhen they arrived at Buda in Hungary they found the king of that country\nabout despatching his son, Ottachiero, with an army to the succor of\nCharlemagne. Delighted with the arrival of Rinaldo, he placed his son\nand troops under his command. In due time the army arrived on the\nfrontiers of France, and, united with the troops of Desiderius, king of\nLombardy, poured down into Provence. The confederate armies had not\nmarched many days through this gay tract before they heard a crash of\ndrums and trumpets behind the hills, which spoke the conflict between\nthe paynims, led by Rodomont, and the Christian forces. Rinaldo,\nwitnessing from a mountain the prowess of Rodomont, left his troops in\ncharge of his friends, and galloped towards him with his lance in rest.\nThe impulse was irresistible, and Rodomont was unhorsed. But Rinaldo,\nunwilling to avail himself of his advantage, galloped back to the hill,\nand having secured Bayard among the baggage, returned to finish the\ncombat on foot.\n\nDuring this interval the battle had become general, the Hungarians were\nrouted, and Rinaldo, on his return, had the mortification to find that\nOttachiero was wounded, and Dudon taken prisoner. While he sought\nRodomont in order to renew the combat a new sound of drums and trumpets\nwas heard, and Charlemagne, with the main body of his army, was descried\nadvancing in battle array.\n\nRodomont, seeing this, mounted the horse of Dudon, left Rinaldo, who was\non foot, and galloped off to encounter this new enemy.\n\nAgramant, accompanied by Rogero, had by this time made good his landing,\nand joined Rodomont with all his forces. Rogero eagerly embraced this\nfirst opportunity of distinguishing himself, and spread terror wherever\nhe went, encountering in turn and overthrowing many of the bravest\nknights of France. At length he found himself opposite to Rinaldo, who,\nbeing interrupted, as we have said, in his combat with Rodomont, and\nunable to follow him, being on foot, was shouting to his late foe to\nreturn and finish their combat. Rogero also was on foot, and seeing the\nChristian knight so eager for a contest, proffered himself to supply the\nplace of his late antagonist. Rinaldo saw at a glance that the Moorish\nprince was a champion worthy of his arm, and gladly accepted the\ndefiance. The combat was stoutly maintained for a time; but now fortune\ndeclared decisively in favor of the infidel army, and Charlemagne\u2019s\nforces gave way at all points in irreparable confusion. The two\ncombatants were separated by the crowd of fugitives and pursuers, and\nRinaldo hastened to recover possession of his horse. But Bayard, in the\nconfusion, had got loose, and Rinaldo followed him into a thick wood,\nthus becoming effectually separated from Rogero.\n\nRogero, also seeking his horse in the medley, came where two warriors\nwere engaged in mortal combat. Though he knew not who they were, he\ncould distinguish that one was a paynim and the other a Christian; and\nmoved by the spirit of courtesy he approached them and exclaimed, \u201cLet\nhim of the two who worships Christ pause, and hear what I have to say.\nThe army of Charles is routed and in flight, so that if he wishes to\nfollow his leader he has no time for delay.\u201d The Christian knight, who\nwas none other than Bradamante, a female warrior, in prowess equal to\nthe best of knights, was thunderstruck with the tidings, and would\ngladly leave the contest undecided, and retire from the field; but\nRodomont, her antagonist, would by no means consent. Rogero, indignant\nat his discourtesy, insisted upon her departure, while he took up her\nquarrel with Rodomont.\n\nThe combat, obstinately maintained on both sides, was interrupted by the\nreturn of Bradamante. Finding herself unable to overtake the fugitives,\nand reluctant to leave to another the burden and risk of a contest which\nbelonged to herself, she had returned to reclaim the combat. She\narrived, however, when her champion had dealt his enemy such a blow as\nobliged him to drop both his sword and bridle. Rogero, disdaining to\nprofit by his adversary\u2019s defenceless situation, sat apart upon his\nhorse, while that of Rodomont bore his rider, stunned and stupefied,\nabout the field.\n\nBradamante approached Rogero, conceiving a yet higher opinion of his\nvalor on beholding such an instance of forbearance. She addressed him,\nexcusing herself for leaving him exposed to an enemy from his\ninterference in her cause; pleading her duty to her sovereign as the\nmotive. While she spoke Rodomont, recovered from his confusion, rode up\nto them. His bearing was, however, changed; and he disclaimed all\nthoughts of further contest with one who, he said, \u201chad already\nconquered him by his courtesy.\u201d So saying, he quitted his antagonist,\npicked up his sword, and spurred out of sight.\n\nBradamante was now again desirous of retiring from the field, and Rogero\ninsisted on accompanying her, though yet unaware of her sex.\n\nAs they pursued their way, she inquired the name and quality of her new\nassociate; and Rogero informed her of his nation and family. He told her\nthat Astyanax, the son of Hector of Troy, established the kingdom of\nMessina in Sicily. From him were derived two branches, which gave origin\nto two families of renown. From one sprang the royal race of Pepin and\nCharlemagne, and from the other, that of Reggio, in Italy. \u201cFrom that of\nReggio am I derived,\u201d he continued. \u201cMy mother, driven from her home by\nthe chance of war, died in giving me life, and I was taken in charge by\na sage enchanter, who trained me to feats of arms amidst the dangers of\nthe desert and the chase.\u201d\n\nHaving thus ended his tale, Rogero entreated a similar return of\ncourtesy from his companion, who replied, without disguise, that she was\nof the race of Clermont, and sister to Rinaldo, whose fame was perhaps\nknown to him. Rogero, much moved by this intelligence, entreated her to\ntake off her helmet, and at the discovery of her face remained\ntransported with delight.\n\nWhile absorbed in this contemplation, an unexpected danger assailed\nthem. A party which was placed in a wood, in order to intercept the\nretreating Christians, broke from its ambush upon the pair, and\nBradamante, who was uncasqued, was wounded in the head. Rogero was in a\nfury at this attack; and Bradamante, replacing her helmet, joined him in\ntaking speedy vengeance on their enemies. They cleared the field of\nthem, but became separated in the pursuit, and Rogero, quitting the\nchase, wandered by hill and vale in search of her whom he had no sooner\nfound than lost.\n\nWhile pursuing this quest he fell in with two knights, whom he joined,\nand engaged them to assist him in the search of his companion,\ndescribing her arms, but concealing, from a certain feeling of jealousy,\nher quality and sex.\n\nIt was evening when they joined company, and having ridden together\nthrough the night the morning was beginning to break, when one of the\nstrangers, fixing his eyes upon Rogero\u2019s shield, demanded of him by what\nright he bore the Trojan arms. Rogero declared his origin and race, and\nthen, in his turn, interrogated the inquirer as to his pretensions to\nthe cognizance of Hector, which he bore. The stranger replied, \u201cMy name\nis Mandricardo, son of Agrican, the Tartar king, whom Orlando\ntreacherously slew. I say _treacherously_, for in fair fight he could\nnot have done it. It is in search of him that I have come to France, to\ntake vengeance for my father, and to wrest from him Durindana, that\nfamous sword, which belongs to me, and not to him.\u201d When the knights\ndemanded to know by what right he claimed Durindana, Mandricardo thus\nrelated his history:\n\n\u201cI had been, before the death of my father, a wild and reckless youth.\nThat event awakened my energies, and drove me forth to seek for\nvengeance. Determined to owe success to nothing but my own exertions, I\ndeparted without attendants or horse or arms. Travelling thus alone, and\non foot, I espied one day a pavilion, pitched near a fountain, and\nentered it, intent on adventure. I found therein a damsel of gracious\naspect, who replied to my inquiries that the fountain was the work of a\nfairy, whose castle stood beyond a neighboring hill, where she kept\nwatch over a treasure which many knights had tried to win, but\nfruitlessly, having lost their life or liberty in the attempt. This\ntreasure was the armor of Hector, prince of Troy, whom Achilles\ntreacherously slew. Nothing was wanting but his sword, Durindana, and\nthis had fallen into the possession of a queen named Penthesilea, from\nwhom it passed through her descendants to Almontes, whom Orlando slew,\nand thus became possessed of the sword. The rest of Hector\u2019s arms were\nsaved and carried off by \u00c6neas, from whom this fairy received them in\nrecompense of service rendered. \u2018If you have the courage to attempt\ntheir acquisition,\u2019 said the damsel, \u2018I will be your guide.\u2019\u201d\n\nMandricardo went on to say that he eagerly embraced the proposal, and\nbeing provided with horse and armor by the damsel, set forth on his\nenterprise, the lady accompanying him.\n\nAs they rode she explained the dangers of the quest. The armor was\ndefended by a champion, one of the numerous unsuccessful adventurers for\nthe prize, all of whom had been made prisoners by the fairy, and\ncompelled to take their turn, day by day, in defending the arms against\nall comers. Thus speaking they arrived at the castle, which was of\nalabaster, overlaid with gold. Before it, on a lawn, sat an armed knight\non horseback, who was none other than Gradasso, king of Sericane, who,\nin his return home from his unsuccessful inroad into France, had fallen\ninto the power of the fairy, and was held to do her bidding.\nMandricardo, upon seeing him, dropt his visor, and laid his lance in\nrest. The champion of the castle was equally ready, and each spurred\ntowards his opponent. They met one another with equal force, splintered\ntheir spears, and, returning to the charge, encountered with their\nswords. The contest was long and doubtful, when Mandricardo, determined\nto bring it to an end, threw his arms about Gradasso, grappled with him,\nand both fell to the ground. Mandricardo, however, fell uppermost, and,\npreserving his advantage, compelled Gradasso to yield himself conquered.\nThe damsel now interfered, congratulating the victor, and consoling the\nvanquished as well as she might.\n\nMandricardo and the damsel proceeded to the gate of the castle, which\nthey found undefended. As they entered they beheld a shield suspended\nfrom a pilaster of gold. The device was a white eagle on an azure field,\nin memory of the bird of Jove, which bore away Ganymede, the flower of\nthe Phrygian race. Beneath was engraved the following couplet:\n\n \u201cLet none with hand profane my buckler wrong\n Unless he be himself as Hector strong.\u201d\n\nThe damsel, alighting from her palfrey, made obeisance to the arms,\nbending herself to the ground. The Tartar king bowed his head with equal\nreverence; then advancing towards the shield, touched it with his sword.\nThereupon an earthquake shook the ground, and the way by which he had\nentered closed. Another and an opposite gate opened, and displayed a\nfield bristling with stalks and grain of gold. The damsel, upon this,\ntold him that he had no means of retreat but by cutting down the harvest\nwhich was before him, and by uprooting a tree which grew in the middle\nof the field. Mandricardo, without replying, began to mow the harvest\nwith his sword, but had scarce smitten thrice when he perceived that\nevery stalk that fell was instantly transformed into some poisonous or\nravenous animal, which prepared to assail him. Instructed by the damsel,\nhe snatched up a stone and cast it among the pack. A strange wonder\nfollowed; for no sooner had the stone fallen among the beasts, than they\nturned their rage against one another, and rent each other to pieces.\nMandricardo did not stop to marvel at the miracle, but proceeded to\nfulfil his task, and uproot the tree. He clasped it round the trunk, and\nmade vigorous efforts to tear it up by the roots. At each effort fell a\nshower of leaves, that were instantly changed into birds of prey, which\nattacked the knight, flapping their wings in his face, with horrid\nscreeching. But undismayed by this new annoyance, he continued to tug at\nthe trunk till it yielded to his efforts. A burst of wind and thunder\nfollowed, and the hawks and vultures flew screaming away.\n\nBut these only gave place to a new foe; for from the hole made by\ntearing up the tree issued a furious serpent, and, darting at\nMandricardo, wound herself about his limbs with a strain that almost\ncrushed him. Fortune, however, again stood his friend, for, writhing\nunder the folds of the monster, he fell backwards into the hole, and his\nenemy was crushed beneath his weight.\n\nMandricardo, when he was somewhat recovered, and assured himself of the\ndestruction of the serpent, began to contemplate the place into which he\nhad fallen, and saw that he was in a vault, incrusted with costly\nmetals, and illuminated by a live coal. In the middle was a sort of\nivory bier, and upon this was extended what appeared to be a knight in\narmor, but was in truth an empty trophy, composed of the rich and\nprecious arms once Hector\u2019s, to which nothing was wanting but the sword.\nWhile Mandricardo stood contemplating the prize a door opened behind\nhim, and a bevy of fair damsels entered, dancing, who, taking up the\narmor piece by piece, led him away to the place where the shield was\nsuspended; where he found the fairy of the castle seated in state. By\nher he was invested with the arms he had won, first pledging his solemn\noath to wear no other blade but Durindana, which he was to wrest from\nOrlando, and thus complete the conquest of Hector\u2019s arms.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n THE INVASION OF FRANCE (_Continued_)\n\nMandricardo, having completed his story, now turned to Rogero, and\nproposed that arms should decide which of the two was most worthy to\nbear the symbol of the Trojan knight.\n\nRogero felt no other objection to this proposal than the scruple which\narose on observing that his antagonist was without a sword. Mandricardo\ninsisted that this need be no impediment, since his oath prevented him\nfrom using a sword until he should have achieved the conquest of\nDurindana.\n\nThis was no sooner said than a new antagonist started up in Gradasso,\nwho now accompanied Mandricardo. Gradasso vindicated his prior right to\nDurindana, to obtain which he had embarked (as was related in the\nbeginning) in that bold inroad upon France. A quarrel was thus kindled\nbetween the kings of Tartary and Sericane. While the dispute was raging\na knight arrived upon the ground, accompanied by a damsel, to whom\nRogero related the cause of the strife. The knight was Florismart, and\nhis companion Flordelis. Florismart succeeded in bringing the two\nchampions to accord, by informing them that he could bring them to the\npresence of Orlando, the master of Durindana.\n\nGradasso and Mandricardo readily made truce, in order to accompany\nFlorismart, nor would Rogero be left behind.\n\nAs they proceeded on their quest they were met by a dwarf, who entreated\ntheir assistance in behalf of his lady, who had been carried off by an\nenchanter, mounted on a winged horse. However unwilling to leave the\nquestion of the sword undecided, it was not possible for the knights to\nresist this appeal. Two of their number, Gradasso and Rogero, therefore\naccompanied the dwarf. Mandricardo persisted in his search for Orlando,\nand Florismart, with Flordelis, pursued their way to the camp of\nCharlemagne.\n\nAtlantes, the enchanter, who had brought up Rogero, and cherished for\nhim the warmest affection, knew by his art that his pupil was destined\nto be severed from him, and converted to the Christian faith through the\ninfluence of Bradamante, that royal maiden with whom chance had brought\nhim acquainted. Thinking to thwart the will of Heaven in this respect,\nhe now put forth all his arts to entrap Rogero into his power. By the\naid of his subservient demons he reared a castle on an inaccessible\nheight, in the Pyrenean mountains, and to make it a pleasant abode to\nhis pupil, contrived to entrap and convey thither knights and damsels\nmany a one, whom chance had brought into the vicinity of his castle.\nHere, in a sort of sensual paradise, they were but too willing to forget\nglory and duty, and to pass their time in indolent enjoyment.\n\nIt was by the enchanter that the dwarf had now been sent to tempt the\nknights into his power.\n\nBut we must now return to Rinaldo, whom we left interrupted in his\ncombat with Rodomont. In search of his late antagonist and intent on\nbringing their combat to a decision he entered the forest of Arden,\nwhither he suspected Rodomont had gone. While engaged on this quest he\nwas surprised by the vision of a beautiful child dancing naked, with\nthree damsels as beautiful as himself. While he was lost in admiration\nat the sight the child approached him, and, throwing at him handfuls of\nroses and lilies, struck him from his horse. He was no sooner down than\nhe was seized by the dancers, by whom he was dragged about and scourged\nwith flowers till he fell into a swoon. When he began to revive one of\nthe group approached him, and told him that his punishment was the\nconsequence of his rebellion against that power before whom all things\nbend; that there was but one remedy to heal the wounds that had been\ninflicted, and that was to drink of the waters of Love. Then they left\nhim.\n\nRinaldo, sore and faint, dragged himself toward a fountain which flowed\nnear by, and, being parched with thirst, drank greedily and almost\nunconsciously of the water, which was sweet to the taste, but bitter to\nthe heart. After repeated draughts he recovered his strength and\nrecollection, and found himself in the same place where Angelica had\nformerly awakened him with a rain of flowers, and whence he had fled in\ncontempt of her courtesy.\n\nThis remembrance of the scene was followed by the recognition of his\ncrime; and, repenting bitterly his ingratitude, he leaped upon Bayard,\nwith the intention of hastening to Angelica\u2019s country, and soliciting\nhis pardon at her feet.\n\nLet us now retrace our steps, and revert to the time when the paladins\nhaving learned from Dudon the summons of Charlemagne to return to France\nto repel the invaders, had all obeyed the command with the exception of\nOrlando, whose passion for Angelica still held him in attendance on her.\nOrlando, arriving before Albracca, found it closely beleaguered. He,\nhowever, made his way into the citadel, and related his adventures to\nAngelica, from the time of his departure up to his separation from\nRinaldo and the rest, when they departed to the assistance of\nCharlemagne. Angelica, in return, described the distresses of the\ngarrison, and the force of the besiegers; and in conclusion prayed\nOrlando to favor her escape from the pressing danger, and escort her\ninto France. Orlando, who did not suspect that love for Rinaldo was her\nsecret motive, joyfully agreed to the proposal, and the sally was\nresolved upon.\n\nLeaving lights burning in the fortress, they departed at nightfall, and\npassed in safety through the enemy\u2019s camp. After encountering numerous\nadventures they reached the sea-side, and embarked on board a pinnace\nfor France. The vessel arrived safely, and the travellers, disembarking\nin Provence, pursued their way by land. One day, heated and weary, they\nsought shelter from the sun in the forest of Arden, and chance directed\nAngelica to the fountain of Disdain, of whose waters she eagerly drank.\n\nIssuing thence, the Count and damsel encountered a stranger-knight. It\nwas no other than Rinaldo, who was just on the point of setting off on a\npilgrimage in search of Angelica, to implore her pardon for his\ninsensibility, and urge his new found passion. Surprise and delight at\nfirst deprived him of utterance, but soon recovering himself, he\njoyfully saluted her, claiming her as his, and exhorting her to put\nherself under his protection. His presumption was repelled by Angelica\nwith disdain, and Orlando, enraged at the invasion of his rights,\nchallenged him to decide their claims by arms.\n\nTerrified at the combat which ensued, Angelica fled amain through the\nforest, and came out upon a plain covered with tents. This was the camp\nof Charlemagne, who led the army of reserve destined to support the\ntroops which had advanced to oppose Marsilius. Charles having heard the\ndamsel\u2019s tale, with difficulty separated the two cousins, and then\nconsigned Angelica, as the cause of quarrel, to the care of Namo, Duke\nof Bavaria, promising that she should be his who should best deserve her\nin the impending battle.\n\nBut these plans and hopes were frustrated. The Christian army, beaten at\nall points, fled from the Saracens; and Angelica, indifferent to both\nher lovers, mounted a swift palfrey and plunged into the forest,\nrejoicing, in spite of her terror, at having regained her liberty. She\nstopped at last in a tufted grove, where a gentle zephyr blew, and whose\nyoung trees were watered by two clear runnels, which came and mingled\ntheir waters, making a pleasing murmur. Believing herself far from\nRinaldo, and overcome by fatigue and the summer heat, she saw with\ndelight a bank covered with flowers so thick that they almost hid the\ngreen turf, inviting her to alight and rest. She dismounted from her\npalfrey, and turned him loose to recruit his strength with the tender\ngrass which bordered the streamlets. Then, in a sheltered nook\ntapestried with moss and fenced in with roses and hawthorn-flowers, she\nyielded herself to grateful repose.\n\nShe had not slept long when she was awakened by the noise made by the\napproach of a horse. Starting up, she saw an armed knight who had\narrived at the bank of the stream. Not knowing whether he was to be\nfeared or not, her heart beat with anxiety. She pressed aside the leaves\nto allow her to see who it was, but scarce dared to breathe for fear of\nbetraying herself. Soon the knight threw himself on the flowery bank,\nand leaning his head on his hand fell into a profound reverie. Then\narousing himself from his silence he began to pour forth complaints,\nmingled with deep sighs. Rivers of tears flowed down his cheeks, and his\nbreast seemed to labor with a hidden flame. \u201cAh, vain regrets!\u201d he\nexclaimed; \u201ccruel fortune! others triumph, while I endure hopeless\nmisery! Better a thousand times to lose life, than wear a chain so\ndisgraceful and so oppressive!\u201d\n\nAngelica by this time had recognized the stranger, and perceived that it\nwas Sacripant, king of Circassia, one of the worthiest of her suitors.\nThis prince had followed Angelica from his country, at the very gates of\nthe day, to France, where he heard with dismay that she was under the\nguardianship of the Paladin Orlando, and that the Emperor had announced\nhis decree to award her as the prize of valor to that one of his nephews\nwho should best deserve her.\n\nAs Sacripant continued to lament, Angelica, who had always opposed the\nhardness of marble to his sighs, thought with herself that nothing\nforbade her employing his good offices in this unhappy crisis. Though\nfirmly resolved never to accept him as a spouse, she yet felt the\nnecessity of giving him a gleam of hope in reward for the service she\nrequired of him. All at once, like Diana, she stepped forth from the\narbor. \u201cMay the gods preserve thee,\u201d she said, \u201cand put far from thee\nall hard thoughts of me!\u201d Then she told him all that had befallen her\nsince she parted with him at her father\u2019s court, and how she had availed\nherself of Orlando\u2019s protection to escape from the beleaguered city. At\nthat moment the noise of horse and armor was heard as of one\napproaching; and Sacripant, furious at the interruption, resumed his\nhelmet, mounted his horse, and placed his lance in rest. He saw a knight\nadvancing, with scarf and plume of snowy whiteness. Sacripant regarded\nhim with angry eyes, and, while he was yet some distance off, defied him\nto the combat. The other, not moved by his angry tone to make reply, put\nhimself on his defence. Their horses, struck at the same moment with the\nspur, rushed upon one another with the impetuosity of a tempest. Their\nshields were pierced each with the other\u2019s lance, and only the temper of\ntheir breastplates saved their lives. Both the horses recoiled with the\nviolence of the shock; but the unknown knight\u2019s recovered itself at the\ntouch of the spur; the Saracen king\u2019s fell dead, and bore down his\nmaster with him. The white knight, seeing his enemy in this condition,\ncared not to renew the combat, but, thinking he had done enough for\nglory, pursued his way through the forest, and was a mile off before\nSacripant had got free from his horse.\n\nAs a ploughman, stunned by a thunder-clap which has stricken dead the\noxen at his plough, stands motionless, sadly contemplating his loss, so\nSacripant stood confounded and overwhelmed with mortification at having\nAngelica a witness of his defeat. He groaned, he sighed, less from the\npain of his bruises than for the shame of being reduced to such a state\nbefore her. The princess took pity on him, and consoled him as well as\nshe could. \u201cBanish your regrets, my lord,\u201d she said, \u201cthis accident has\nhappened solely in consequence of the feebleness of your horse, which\nhad more need of rest and food than of such an encounter as this. Nor\ncan your adversary gain any credit by it, since he has hurried away, not\nventuring a second trial.\u201d While she thus consoled Sacripant they\nperceived a person approach, who seemed a courier, with bag and horn. As\nsoon as he came up, he accosted Sacripant, and inquired if he had seen a\nknight pass that way, bearing a white shield and with a white plume to\nhis helmet. \u201cI have, indeed, seen too much of him,\u201d said Sacripant, \u201cit\nis he who has brought me to the ground; but at least I hope to learn\nfrom you who that knight is.\u201d \u201cThat I can easily inform you,\u201d said the\nman; \u201cknow then that, if you have been overthrown, you owe your fate to\nthe high prowess of a lady as beautiful as she is brave. It is the fair\nand illustrious Bradamante who has won from you the honors of victory.\u201d\n\nAt these words the courier rode on his way, leaving Sacripant more\nconfounded and mortified than ever. In silence he mounted the horse of\nAngelica, taking the lady behind him on the croup, and rode away in\nsearch of a more secure asylum. Hardly had they ridden two miles when a\nnew sound was heard in the forest, and they perceived a gallant and\npowerful horse, which, leaping the ravines and dashing aside the\nbranches that opposed his passage, appeared before them, accoutred with\na rich harness adorned with gold.\n\n\u201cIf I may believe my eyes, which penetrate with difficulty the\nunderwood,\u201d said Angelica, \u201cthat horse that dashes so stoutly through\nthe bushes is Bayard, and I marvel how he seems to know the need we have\nof him, mounted as we are both on one feeble animal.\u201d Sacripant,\ndismounting from the palfrey, approached the fiery courser, and\nattempted to seize his bridle, but the disdainful animal, turning from\nhim, launched at him a volley of kicks enough to have shattered a wall\nof marble. Bayard then approached Angelica with an air as gentle and\nloving as a faithful dog could his master after a long separation. For\nhe remembered how she had caressed him, and even fed him, in Albracca.\nShe took his bridle in her left hand, while with her right she patted\nhis neck. The beautiful animal, gifted with wonderful intelligence,\nseemed to submit entirely. Sacripant, seizing the moment to vault upon\nhim, controlled his curvetings, and Angelica, quitting the croup of the\npalfrey, regained her seat.\n\nBut, turning his eyes toward a place where was heard a noise of arms,\nSacripant beheld Rinaldo. That hero now loves Angelica more than his\nlife, and she flies him as the timid crane the falcon.\n\nThe fountain of which Angelica had drunk produced such an effect on the\nbeautiful queen that, with distressed countenance and trembling voice,\nshe conjured Sacripant not to wait the approach of Rinaldo, but to join\nher in flight.\n\n\u201cAm I, then,\u201d said Sacripant, \u201cof so little esteem with you that you\ndoubt my power to defend you? Do you forget the battle of Albracca, and\nhow, in your defence, I fought single-handed against Agrican and all his\nknights?\u201d\n\nAngelica made no reply, uncertain what to do; but already Rinaldo was\ntoo near to be escaped. He advanced menacingly to the Circassian king,\nfor he recognized his horse.\n\n\u201cVile thief,\u201d he cried, \u201cdismount from that horse, and prevent the\npunishment that is your due for daring to rob me of my property. Leave,\nalso, the princess in my hands; for it would indeed be a sin to suffer\nso charming a lady and so gallant a charger to remain in such keeping.\u201d\n\nThe king of Circassia, furious at being thus insulted, cried out, \u201cThou\nliest, villain, in giving me the name of thief, which better belongs to\nthyself than to me. It is true, the beauty of this lady and the\nperfection of this horse are unequalled; come on, then, and let us try\nwhich of us is most worthy to possess them.\u201d\n\nAt these words the king of Circassia and Rinaldo attacked one another\nwith all their force, one fighting on foot, the other on horseback. You\nneed not, however, suppose that the Saracen king found any advantage in\nthis; for a young page, unused to horsemanship, could not have failed\nmore completely to manage Bayard than did this accomplished knight. The\nfaithful animal loved his master too well to injure him, and refused his\naid as well as his obedience to the hand of Sacripant, who could strike\nbut ineffectual blows, the horse backing when he wished him to go\nforward, and dropping his head and arching his back, throwing out with\nhis legs, so as almost to shake the knight out of the saddle. Sacripant,\nseeing that he could not manage him, watched his opportunity, rose on\nhis saddle, and leapt lightly to the earth; then, relieved from the\nembarrassment of the horse, renewed the combat on more equal terms.\nTheir skill to thrust and parry were equal; one rises, the other stoops;\nwith one foot set firm they turn and wind, to lay on strokes or to dodge\nthem. At last Rinaldo, throwing himself on the Circassian, dealt him a\nblow so terrible that Fusberta, his good sword, cut in two the buckler\nof Sacripant, although it was made of bone, and covered with a thick\nplate of steel well tempered. The arm of the Saracen was deprived of its\ndefence, and almost palsied with the stroke. Angelica, perceiving how\nvictory was likely to incline, and shuddering at the thought of becoming\nthe prize of Rinaldo, hesitated no longer. Turning her horse\u2019s head, she\nfled with the utmost speed; and, in spite of the round pebbles which\ncovered a steep descent, she plunged into a deep valley, trembling with\nthe fear that Rinaldo was in pursuit. At the bottom of this valley she\nencountered an aged hermit, whose white beard flowed to his middle, and\nwhose venerable appearance seemed to assure his piety.\n\nThis hermit, who appeared shrunk by age and fasting, travelled slowly,\nmounted upon a wretched ass. The princess, overcome with fear, conjured\nhim to save her life; and to conduct her to some port of the sea, whence\nshe might embark and quit France, never more to hear the odious name of\nRinaldo.\n\nThe old hermit was something of a wizard. He comforted Angelica, and\npromised to protect her from all peril. Then he opened his scrip, and\ntook from thence a book, and had read but a single page when a goblin,\nobedient to his incantations, appeared, under the form of a laboring\nman, and demanded his orders. He received them, transported himself to\nthe place where the knights still maintained their conflict, and boldly\nstepped between the two.\n\n\u201cTell me, I pray you,\u201d he said, \u201cwhat benefit will accrue to him who\nshall get the better in this contest? The object you are contending for\nis already disposed of; for the Paladin Orlando, without effort and\nwithout opposition, is now carrying away the princess Angelica to Paris.\nYou had better pursue them promptly; for if they reach Paris you will\nnever see her again.\u201d\n\nAt these words you might have seen those rival warriors confounded,\nstupefied, silently agreeing that they were affording their rival a fair\nopportunity to triumph over them. Rinaldo, approaching Bayard, breathes\na sigh of shame and rage, and swears a terrible oath that, if he\novertakes Orlando, he will tear his heart out. Then mounting Bayard and\npressing his flanks with his spurs, he leaves the king of Circassia on\nfoot in the forest.\n\nLet it not appear strange that Rinaldo found Bayard obedient at last,\nafter having so long prevented any one from even touching his bridle;\nfor that fine animal had an intelligence almost human; he had fled from\nhis master only to draw him on the track of Angelica, and enable him to\nrecover her. He saw when the princess fled from the battle, and Rinaldo\nbeing then engaged in a fight on foot, Bayard found himself free to\nfollow the traces of Angelica. Thus he had drawn his master after him,\nnot permitting him to approach, and had brought him to the sight of the\nprincess. But Bayard now, deceived like his master with the false\nintelligence of the goblin, submits to be mounted and to serve his\nmaster as usual, and Rinaldo, animated with rage, makes him fly toward\nParis, more slowly than his wishes, though the speed of Bayard\noutstripped the winds. Full of impatience to encounter Orlando, he gave\nbut a few hours that night to sleep. Early the next day he saw before\nhim the great city, under the walls of which the Emperor Charles had\ncollected the scattered remains of his army. Foreseeing that he would\nsoon be attacked on all sides, the Emperor had caused the ancient\nfortifications to be repaired, and new ones to be built, surrounded by\nwide and deep ditches. The desire to hold the field against the enemy\nmade him seize every means of procuring new allies. He hoped to receive\nfrom England aid sufficient to enable him to form a new camp, and as\nsoon as Rinaldo rejoined him he selected him to go as his ambassador\ninto England, to plead for auxiliaries. Rinaldo was far from pleased\nwith his commission, but he obeyed the Emperor\u2019s commands, without\ngiving himself time to devote a single day to the object nearest his\nheart. He hastened to Calais, and lost not a moment in embarking for\nEngland, ardently desiring a hasty despatch of his commission, and a\nspeedy return to France.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n BRADAMANTE AND ROGERO\n\nBradamante, the knight of the white plume and shield, whose sudden\nappearance and encounter with Sacripant we have already told, was in\nquest of Rogero, from whom chance had separated her, almost at the\nbeginning of their acquaintance. After her encounter with Sacripant\nBradamante pursued her way through the forest, in hopes of rejoining\nRogero, and arrived at last on the brink of a fair fountain.\n\nThis fountain flowed through a broad meadow. Ancient trees overshadowed\nit, and travellers, attracted by the sweet murmur of its waters, stopped\nthere to cool themselves. Bradamante, casting her eyes on all sides to\nenjoy the beauties of the spot, perceived, under the shade of a tree, a\nknight reclining, who seemed to be oppressed with the deepest grief.\n\nBradamante accosted him, and asked to be informed of the cause of his\ndistress. \u201cAlas! my lord,\u201d said he, \u201cI lament a young and charming\nfriend, my affianced wife, who has been torn from me by a villain,\u2014let\nme rather call him a demon,\u2014who, on a winged horse, descended from the\nair, seized her, and bore her screaming to his den. I have pursued them\nover rocks and through ravines till my horse is no longer able to bear\nme, and I now wait only for death.\u201d He added that already a vain attempt\non his behalf had been made by two knights, whom chance had brought to\nthe spot. Their names were Gradasso, king of Sericane, and Rogero, the\nMoor. Both had been overcome by the wiles of the enchanter, and were\nadded to the number of the captives, whom he held in an impregnable\ncastle, situated on the height of the mountain. At the mention of\nRogero\u2019s name Bradamante started with delight, which was soon changed to\nan opposite sentiment when she heard that her lover was a prisoner in\nthe toils of the enchanter. \u201cSir Knight,\u201d she said, \u201cdo not surrender\nyourself to despair; this day may be more happy for you than you think,\nif you will only lead me to the castle which enfolds her whom you\ndeplore.\u201d\n\nThe knight responded, \u201cAfter having lost all that made life dear to me I\nhave no motive to avoid the dangers of the enterprise, and I will do as\nyou request; but I forewarn you of the perils you will have to\nencounter. If you fall impute it not to me.\u201d\n\nHaving thus spoken, they took their way to the castle, but were\novertaken by a messenger from the camp, who had been sent in quest of\nBradamante to summon her back to the army, where her presence was needed\nto reassure her disheartened forces, and withstand the advance of the\nMoors.\n\nThe mournful knight, whose name was Pinabel, thus became aware that\nBradamante was a scion of the house of Clermont, between which and his\nown of Mayence there existed an ancient feud. From this moment the\ntraitor sought only how he might be rid of the company of Bradamante,\nfrom whom he feared no good would come to him, but rather mortal injury,\nif his name and lineage became known to her. For he judged her by his\nown base model, and, knowing his ill deserts, he feared to receive his\ndue.\n\nBradamante, in spite of the summons to return to the army, could not\nresolve to leave her lover in captivity, and determined first to finish\nthe adventure on which she was engaged. Pinabel leading the way, they at\nlength arrived at a wood, in the centre of which rose a steep, rocky\nmountain. Pinabel, who now thought of nothing else but how he might\nescape from Bradamante, proposed to ascend the mountain to extend his\nview, in order to discover a shelter for the night, if any there might\nbe within sight. Under this pretence he left Bradamante, and advanced up\nthe side of the mountain till he came to a cleft in the rock, down which\nhe looked, and perceived that it widened below into a spacious cavern.\nMeanwhile Bradamante, fearful of losing her guide, had followed close on\nhis footsteps, and rejoined him at the mouth of the cavern. Then the\ntraitor, seeing the impossibility of escaping her, conceived another\ndesign. He told her that before her approach he had seen in the cavern a\nyoung and beautiful damsel, whose rich dress announced her high birth,\nwho with tears and lamentations implored assistance; that before he\ncould descend to relieve her a ruffian had seized her, and hurried her\naway into the recesses of the cavern.\n\nBradamante, full of truth and courage, readily believed this lie of the\nMayencian traitor. Eager to succor the damsel, she looked round for the\nmeans of facilitating the descent, and seeing a large elm with spreading\nbranches she lopped off with her sword one of the largest, and thrust it\ninto the opening. She told Pinabel to hold fast to the larger end,\nwhile, grasping the branches with her hands, she let herself down into\nthe cavern.\n\nThe traitor smiled at seeing her thus suspended, and, asking her in\nmockery, \u201cAre you a good leaper?\u201d he let go the branch with perfidious\nglee, and saw Bradamante precipitated to the bottom of the cave. \u201cI wish\nyour whole race were there with you,\u201d he muttered, \u201cthat you might all\nperish together.\u201d\n\nBut Pinabel\u2019s atrocious design was not accomplished. The twigs and\nfoliage of the branch broke its descent, and Bradamante, not seriously\ninjured, though stunned with her fall, was reserved for other\nadventures.\n\nAs soon as she recovered from the shock Bradamante cast her eyes around\nand perceived a door, through which she passed into a second cavern,\nlarger and loftier than the first. It had the appearance of a\nsubterranean temple. Columns of the purest alabaster adorned it, and\nsupported the roof; a simple altar rose in the middle; a lamp, whose\nradiance was reflected by the alabaster walls, cast a mild light around.\n\nBradamante, inspired by a sense of religious awe, approached the altar,\nand, falling on her knees, poured forth her prayers and thanks to the\nPreserver of her life, invoking the protection of his power. At that\nmoment a small door opened, and a female issued from it with naked feet,\nand flowing robe and hair, who called her by her name, and thus\naddressed her: \u201cBrave and generous Bradamante, know that it is a power\nfrom above that has brought you hither. The spirit of Merlin, whose last\nearthly abode was in this place, has warned me of your arrival, and of\nthe fate that awaits you. This famous grotto,\u201d she continued, \u201cwas the\nwork of the enchanter Merlin; here his ashes repose. You have no doubt\nheard how this sage and virtuous enchanter ceased to be. Victim of the\nartful fairy of the lake, Merlin, by a fatal compliance with her\nrequest, laid himself down living in his tomb, without power to resist\nthe spell laid upon him by that ingrate, who retained him there as long\nas he lived. His spirit hovers about this spot, and will not leave it,\nuntil the last trumpet shall summon the dead to judgment. He answers the\nquestions of those who approach his tomb, where perhaps you may be\nprivileged to hear his voice.\u201d\n\nBradamante, astonished at these words, and the objects which met her\nview, knew not whether she was awake or asleep. Confused, but modest,\nshe cast down her eyes, and a blush overspread her face. \u201cAh, what am\nI,\u201d said she, \u201cthat so great a prophet should deign to speak to me!\u201d\nStill, with a secret satisfaction, she followed the priestess, who led\nher to the tomb of Merlin. This tomb was constructed of a species of\nstone hard and resplendent like fire. The rays which beamed from the\nstone sufficed to light up that terrible place, where the sun\u2019s rays\nnever penetrated; but I know not whether that light was the effect of a\ncertain phosphorescence of the stone itself, or of the many talismans\nand charms with which it was wrought over.\n\nBradamante had hardly passed the threshold of this sacred place when the\nspirit of the enchanter saluted her with a voice firm and distinct: \u201cMay\nthy designs be prosperous, O chaste and noble maiden, the future mother\nof heroes, the glory of Italy, and destined to fill the whole world with\ntheir fame. Great captains, renowned knights, shall be numbered among\nyour descendants, who shall defend the Church and restore their country\nto its ancient splendor. Princes, wise as Augustus and the sage Numa,\nshall bring back the age of gold.[75] To accomplish these grand\ndestinies it is ordained that you shall wed the illustrious Rogero. Fly\nthen to his deliverance, and lay prostrate in the dust the traitor who\nhas snatched him from you, and now holds him in chains!\u201d\n\nMerlin ceased with these words, and left to Melissa, the priestess, the\ncharge of more fully instructing the maiden in her future course.\n\u201cTo-morrow,\u201d said she, \u201cI will conduct you to the castle on the rock\nwhere Rogero is held captive. I will not leave you till I have guided\nyou through this wild wood, and I will direct you on your way so that\nyou shall be in no danger of mistaking it.\u201d\n\nThe next morning Melissa conducted Bradamante between rocks and\nprecipices, crossing rapid torrents, and traversing intricate passes,\nemploying the time in imparting to her such information as was necessary\nto enable her to bring her design to a successful issue.\n\n\u201cNot only would the castle, impenetrable by force, and that winged horse\nof his baffle your efforts, but know that he possesses also a buckler\nwhence flashes a light so brilliant that the eyes of all who look upon\nit are blinded. Think not to avoid it by shutting your eyes, for how\nthen will you be able to avoid his blows, and make him feel your own?\nBut I will teach you the proper course to pursue.\n\n\u201cAgramant, the Moorish prince, possesses a ring stolen from a queen of\nIndia, which has power to render of no avail all enchantments. Agramant,\nknowing that Rogero is of more importance to him than any one of his\nwarriors, is desirous of rescuing him from the power of the enchanter,\nand has sent for that purpose Brunello, the most crafty and sagacious of\nhis servants, provided with his wonderful ring, and he is even now at\nhand, bent on this enterprise. But, beautiful Bradamante, as I desire\nthat no one but yourself shall have the glory of delivering from\nthraldom your future spouse, listen while I disclose the means of\nsuccess. Following this path which leads by the seashore, you will come\nere long to a hostelry, where the Saracen Brunello will arrive shortly\nbefore you. You will readily know him by his stature, under four feet,\nhis great disproportioned head, his squint eyes, his livid hue, his\nthick eyebrows joining his tufted beard. His dress, moreover, that of a\ncourier, will point him out to you.\n\n\u201cIt will be easy for you to enter into conversation with him, announcing\nyourself as a knight seeking combat with the enchanter, but let not the\nknave suspect that you know anything about the ring. I doubt not that he\nwill be your guide to the castle of the enchanter. Accept his offer, but\ntake care to keep behind him till you come in sight of the brilliant\ndome of the castle. Then hesitate not to strike him dead, for the wretch\ndeserves no pity, and take from him the ring. But let him not suspect\nyour intention, for by putting the ring into his mouth he will instantly\nbecome invisible, and disappear from your eyes.\u201d\n\nSaying thus, the sage Melissa and the fair Bradamante arrived near the\ncity of Bordeaux, where the rich and wide river Garonne pours the\ntribute of its waves into the sea. They parted with tender embraces.\nBradamante, intent wholly on her purpose, hastened to arrive at the\nhostelry, where Brunello had preceded her a few moments only. The young\nheroine knew him without difficulty. She accosted him, and put to him\nsome slight questions, to which he replied with adroit falsehoods.\nBradamante, on her part, concealed from him her sex, her religion, her\ncountry, and the blood from whence she sprung. While they talk together,\nsudden cries are heard from all parts of the hostelry. \u201cO queen of\nheaven!\u201d exclaimed Bradamante, \u201cwhat can be the cause of this sudden\nalarm?\u201d She soon learned the cause. Host, children, domestics, all, with\nupturned eyes, as if they saw a comet or a great eclipse, were gazing on\na prodigy which seemed to pass the bounds of possibility. She beheld\ndistinctly a winged horse, mounted with a cavalier in rich armor,\ncleaving the air with rapid flight. The wings of this strange courser\nwere wide extended, and covered with feathers of various colors. The\npolished armor of the knight made them shine with rainbow tints. In a\nshort time the horse and rider disappeared behind the summits of the\nmountains.\n\n\u201cIt is an enchanter,\u201d said the host, \u201ca magician who often is seen\ntraversing the air in that way. Sometimes he flies aloft as if among the\nstars, and at others skims along the land. He possesses a wonderful\ncastle on the top of the Pyrenees. Many knights have shown their courage\nby going to attack him, but none have ever returned, from which it is to\nbe feared they have lost either their life or their liberty.\u201d\n\nBradamante, addressing the host, said, \u201cCould you furnish me a guide to\nconduct me to the castle of this enchanter?\u201d \u201cBy my faith,\u201d said\nBrunello, interrupting, \u201cthat you shall not seek in vain; I have it all\nin writing, and I will myself conduct you.\u201d Bradamante, with thanks,\naccepted him for her guide.\n\nThe host had a tolerable horse to dispose of, which Bradamante bargained\nfor, and the next day, at the first dawn of morning, she took her route\nby a narrow valley, taking care to have the Saracen Brunello lead the\nway.\n\nThey reached the summit of the Pyrenees, whence one may look down on\nFrance, Spain, and the two seas. From this height they descended again\nby a fatiguing road into a deep valley. From the middle of this valley\nan isolated mountain rose, composed of rough and perpendicular rock, on\nwhose summit was the castle, surrounded with a wall of brass. Brunello\nsaid, \u201cYonder is the stronghold where the enchanter keeps his prisoners;\none must have wings to mount thither; it is easy to see that the aid of\na flying horse must be necessary for the master of this castle, which he\nuses for his prison and for his abode.\u201d\n\nBradamante, sufficiently instructed, saw that the time had now come to\npossess herself of the ring; but she could not resolve to slay a\ndefenceless man. She seized Brunello before he was aware, bound him to a\ntree, and took from him the ring which he wore on one of his fingers.\nThe cries and entreaties of the perfidious Saracen moved her not. She\nadvanced to the foot of the rock whereon the castle stood, and, to draw\nthe magician to the combat, sounded her horn, adding to it cries of\ndefiance.\n\nThe enchanter delayed not to present himself, mounted on his winged\nhorse. Bradamante was struck with surprise mixed with joy when she saw\nthat this person, described as so formidable, bore no lance nor club,\nnor any other deadly weapon. He had only on his arm a buckler, covered\nwith a cloth, and in his hand an open book. As to the winged horse,\nthere was no enchantment about him. He was a natural animal, of a\nspecies which exists in the Riph\u00e6an mountains. Like a griffin, he had\nthe head of an eagle, claws armed with talons, and wings covered with\nfeathers, the rest of his body being that of a horse. This strange\nanimal is called a Hippogriff.\n\nThe heroine attacked the enchanter on his approach, striking on this\nside and on that, with all the energy of a violent combat, but wounding\nonly the wind; and after this pretended attack had lasted some time\ndismounted from her horse, as if hoping to do battle more effectually on\nfoot. The enchanter now prepares to employ his sole weapon, by\nuncovering the magic buckler which never failed to subdue an enemy by\ndepriving him of his senses. Bradamante, confiding in her ring, observed\nall the motions of her adversary, and, at the unveiling of the shield,\ncast herself on the ground, pretending that the splendor of the shield\nhad overcome her, but in reality to induce the enchanter to dismount and\napproach her.\n\nIt happened according to her wish. When the enchanter saw her prostrate\nhe made his horse alight on the ground, and, dismounting, fixed the\nshield on the pommel of his saddle, and approached in order to secure\nthe fallen warrior. Bradamante, who watched him intently, as soon as she\nsaw him near at hand, sprang up, seized him vigorously, threw him down,\nand, with the same chain which the enchanter had prepared for herself,\nbound him fast, without his being able to make any effectual resistance.\n\nThe enchanter, with the accents of despair, exclaimed, \u201cTake my life,\nyoung man!\u201d but Bradamante was far from complying with such a wish.\nDesirous of knowing the name of the enchanter, and for what purpose he\nhad formed with so much art this impregnable fortress, she commanded him\nto inform her.\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d replied the magician, while tears flowed down his cheeks, \u201cit is\nnot to conceal booty, nor for any culpable design that I have built this\ncastle; it was only to guard the life of a young knight, the object of\nmy tenderest affection, my art having taught me that he is destined to\nbecome a Christian, and to perish, shortly after, by the blackest of\ntreasons.\n\n\u201cThis youth, named Rogero, is the most beautiful and most accomplished\nof knights. It is I, the unhappy Atlantes, who have reared him from his\nchildhood. The call of honor and the desire of glory led him from me to\nfollow Agramant, his prince, in his invasion of France, and I, more\ndevoted to Rogero than the tenderest of parents, have sought the means\nof bringing him back to this abode, in the hope of saving him from the\ncruel fate that menaces him.\n\n\u201cFor this purpose I have got him in my possession by the same means as I\nattempted to employ against you; and by which I have succeeded in\ncollecting a great many knights and ladies in my castle. My purpose was\nto render my beloved pupil\u2019s captivity light, by affording him society\nto amuse him, and keep his thoughts from running on subjects of war and\nglory. Alas! my cares have been in vain! Yet, take, I beseech you,\nwhatever else I have, but spare me my beloved pupil. Take this shield,\ntake this winged courser, deliver such of your friends as you may find\namong my prisoners, deliver them all if you will, but leave me my\nbeloved Rogero; or if you will snatch him too from me, take also my\nlife, which will cease then to be to me worth preserving.\u201d\n\nBradamante replied: \u201cOld man, hope not to move me by your vain\nentreaties. It is precisely the liberty of Rogero that I require. You\nwould keep him here in bondage and in slothful pleasure, to save him\nfrom a fate which you foresee. Vain old man! how can you foresee his\nfate when you could not foresee your own? You desire me to take your\nlife. No, my arm and my soul refuse the request.\u201d This said, she\nrequired the magician to go before, and guide her to the castle. The\nprisoners were set at liberty, though some, in their secret hearts,\nregretted the voluptuous life which was thus brought to an end.\nBradamante and Rogero met one another with transports of joy.\n\nThey descended from the mountain to the spot where the encounter had\ntaken place. There they found the Hippogriff, with the magic buckler in\nits wrapper, hanging to his saddle-bow. Bradamante advanced to seize the\nbridle; the Hippogriff seemed to wait her approach, but before she\nreached him he spread his wings and flew away to a neighboring hill, and\nin the same manner, a second time, eluded her efforts. Rogero and the\nother liberated knights dispersed over the plain and hill-tops to secure\nhim, and at last the animal allowed Rogero to seize his rein. The\nfearless Rogero hesitated not to vault upon his back, and let him feel\nhis spurs, which so roused his mettle that, after galloping a short\ndistance, he suddenly spread his wings, and soared into the air.\nBradamante had the grief to see her lover snatched away from her at the\nvery moment of reunion. Rogero, who knew not the art of directing the\nhorse, was unable to control his flight. He found himself carried over\nthe tops of the mountains, so far above them that he could hardly\ndistinguish what was land and what water. The Hippogriff directed his\nflight to the west, and cleaved the air as swiftly as a new-rigged\nvessel cuts the waves, impelled by the freshest and most favorable\ngales.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n ASTOLPHO AND THE ENCHANTRESS\n\nIn the long flight which Rogero took on the back of the Hippogriff he\nwas carried over land and sea, unknowing whither. As soon as he had\ngained some control over the animal he made him alight on the nearest\nland. When he came near enough to earth Rogero leapt lightly from his\nback, and tied the animal to a myrtle-tree. Near the spot flowed the\npure waters of a fountain, surrounded by cedars and palm-trees. Rogero\nlaid aside his shield, and, removing his helmet, breathed with delight\nthe fresh air, and cooled his lips with the waters of the fountain. For\nwe cannot wonder that he was excessively fatigued, considering the ride\nhe had taken. He was preparing to taste the sweets of repose when he\nperceived that the Hippogriff, which he had tied by the bridle to a\nmyrtle-tree, frightened at something, was making violent efforts to\ndisengage himself. His struggle shook the myrtle-tree so that many of\nits beautiful leaves were torn off, and strewed the ground.\n\nA sound like that which issues from burning wood seemed to come from the\nmyrtle-tree, at first faint and indistinct, but growing stronger by\ndegrees, and at length was audible as a voice which spoke in this\nmanner: \u201cO knight, if the tenderness of your heart corresponds to the\nbeauty of your person, relieve me, I pray you, from this tormenting\nanimal. I suffer enough inwardly without having outward evils added to\nmy lot.\u201d\n\nRogero, at the first accents of this voice, turned his eyes promptly on\nthe myrtle, hastened to it, and stood fixed in astonishment when he\nperceived that the voice issued from the tree itself. He immediately\nuntied his horse, and, flushed with surprise and regret, exclaimed,\n\u201cWhoever thou art, whether mortal or the goddess of these woods, forgive\nme, I beseech you, my involuntary fault. Had I imagined that this hard\nbark covered a being possessed of feeling, could I have exposed such a\nbeautiful myrtle to the insults of this steed? May the sweet influences\nof the sky and air speedily repair the injury I have done! For my part,\nI promise by the sovereign lady of my heart to do everything you wish in\norder to merit your forgiveness.\u201d\n\nAt these words the myrtle seemed to tremble from root to stem, and\nRogero remarked that a moisture as of tears trickled down its bark, like\nthat which exudes from a log placed on the fire. It then spoke:\n\n\u201cThe kindness which inspires your words compels me to disclose to you\nwho I once was, and by what fatality I have been changed into this\nshape. My name was Astolpho, cousin of Orlando and Rinaldo, whose fame\nhas filled the earth. I was myself reckoned among the bravest paladins\nof France, and was by birth entitled to reign over England, after Otho,\nmy father. Returning from the distant East, with Rinaldo and many other\nbrave knights, called home to aid with our arms the great Emperor of\nFrance, we reached a spot where the powerful enchantress Alcina\npossessed a castle on the borders of the sea. She had gone to the\nwater-side to amuse herself with fishing, and we paused to see how, by\nher art, without hook or line, she drew from the water whatever she\nwould.\n\n\u201cNot far from the shore an enormous whale showed a back so broad and\nmotionless that it looked like an island. Alcina had fixed her eyes on\nme, and planned to get me into her power. Addressing us, she said: \u2018This\nis the hour when the prettiest mermaid in the sea comes regularly every\nday to the shore of yonder island. She sings so sweetly that the very\nwaves flow smoother at the sound. If you wish to hear her come with me\nto her resort.\u2019 So saying, Alcina pointed to the fish, which we all\nsupposed to be an island. I, who was rash, did not hesitate to follow\nher; but swam my horse over, and mounted on the back of the fish. In\nvain Rinaldo and Dudon made signs to me to beware; Alcina, smiling, took\nme in charge, and led the way. No sooner were we mounted upon him than\nthe whale moved off, spreading his great fins, and cleft rapidly the\nwaters. I then saw my folly, but it was too late to repent. Alcina\nsoothed my anger, and professed that what she had done was for love of\nme. Ere long we arrived at this island, where at first everything was\ndone to reconcile me to my lot, and to make my days pass happily away.\nBut soon Alcina, sated with her conquest, grew indifferent, then weary\nof me, and at last, to get rid of me, changed me into this form, as she\nhad done to many lovers before me, making some of them olives, some\npalms, some cedars, changing others into fountains, rocks, or even into\nwild beasts. And thou, courteous knight, whom accident has brought to\nthis enchanted isle, beware that she get not the power over thee, or\nthou shalt haply be made like us, a tree, a fountain, or a rock.\u201d\n\nRogero expressed his astonishment at this recital. Astolpho added that\nthe island was in great part subject to the sway of Alcina. By the aid\nof her sister Morgana, she had succeeded in dispossessing a third\nsister, Logestilla, of nearly the whole of her patrimony, for the whole\nisle was hers originally by her father\u2019s bequest. But Logestilla was\ntemperate and sage, while the other sisters were false and voluptuous.\nHer empire was divided from theirs by a gulf and chain of mountains,\nwhich alone had thus far prevented her sister from usurping it.\n\nAstolpho here ended his tale, and Rogero, who knew that he was the\ncousin of Bradamante, would gladly have devised some way for his relief;\nbut, as that was out of his power, he consoled him as well as he could,\nand then begged to be told the way to the palace of Logestilla, and how\nto avoid that of Alcina. Astolpho directed him to take the road to the\nleft, though rough and full of rocks. He warned him that this road would\npresent serious obstacles; that troops of monsters would oppose his\npassage, employed by the art of Alcina to prevent her subjects from\nescaping from her dominion. Rogero thanked the myrtle, and prepared to\nset out on his way.\n\nHe at first thought he would mount the winged horse, and scale the\nmountain on his back; but he was too uncertain of his power to control\nhim to wish to encounter the hazard of another flight through the air,\nbesides that he was almost famished for the want of food. So he led the\nhorse after him, and took the road on foot, which for some distance led\nequally to the dominions of both the sisters.\n\nHe had not advanced more than two miles when he saw before him the\nsuperb city of Alcina. It was surrounded with a wall of gold, which\nseemed to reach the skies. I know that some think that this wall was not\nof real gold, but only the work of alchemy; it matters not; I prefer to\nthink it gold, for it certainly shone like gold.\n\nA broad and level road led to the gates of the city, and from this\nanother branched off, narrow and rough, which led to the mountain\nregion. Rogero took without hesitation the narrow road; but he had no\nsooner entered upon it than he was assailed by a numerous troop which\nopposed his passage.\n\nYou never have seen anything so ridiculous, so extraordinary, as this\nhost of hobgoblins were. Some of them bore the human form from the neck\nto the feet, but had the head of a monkey or a cat; others had the legs\nand the ears of a horse; old men and women, bald and hideous, ran hither\nand thither as if out of their senses, half clad in the shaggy skins of\nbeasts; one rode full speed on a horse without a bridle, another jogged\nalong mounted on an ass or a cow; others, full of agility, skipped\nabout, and clung to the tails and manes of the animals which their\ncompanions rode. Some blew horns, others brandished drinking-cups; some\nwere armed with spits, and some with pitchforks. One, who appeared to be\nthe captain, had an enormous belly and a gross fat head; he was mounted\non a tortoise, that waddled, now this way, now that, without keeping any\none direction.\n\nOne of these monsters, who had something approaching the human form,\nthough he had the neck, ears, and muzzle of a dog, set himself to bark\nfuriously at Rogero, to make him turn off to the right, and reenter upon\nthe road to the gay city; but the brave chevalier exclaimed, \u201cThat will\nI not, so long as I can use this sword,\u201d\u2014and he thrust the point\ndirectly at his face. The monster tried to strike him with a lance, but\nRogero was too quick for him, and thrust his sword through his body, so\nthat it appeared a hand\u2019s breadth behind his back. The paladin, now\ngiving full vent to his rage, laid about him vigorously among the\nrabble, cleaving one to the teeth, another to the girdle; but the troop\nwere so numerous, and in spite of his blows pressed around him so close,\nthat, to clear his way, he must have had as many arms as Briareus.\n\nIf Rogero had uncovered the shield of the enchanter, which hung at his\nsaddle-bow, he might easily have vanquished this monstrous rout; but\nperhaps he did not think of it, and perhaps he preferred to seek his\ndefence nowhere but in his good sword. At that moment, when his\nperplexity was at its height, he saw issue from the city gate two young\nbeauties, whose air and dress proclaimed their rank and gentle nurture.\nEach of them was mounted on a unicorn, whose whiteness surpassed that of\nermine. They advanced to the meadow where Rogero was contending so\nvaliantly against the hobgoblins, who all retired at their approach.\nThey drew near, they extended their hands to the young warrior, whose\ncheeks glowed with the flush of exercise and modesty. Grateful for their\nassistance, he expressed his thanks, and, having no heart to refuse\nthem, followed their guidance to the gate of the city.\n\nThis grand and beautiful entrance was adorned by a portico of four vast\ncolumns, all of diamond. Whether they were real diamond or artificial I\ncannot say. What matter is it, so long as they appeared to the eye like\ndiamond, and nothing could be more gay and splendid.\n\nOn the threshold, and between the columns, was seen a bevy of charming\nyoung women, who played and frolicked together. They all ran to receive\nRogero, and conducted him into the palace, which appeared like a\nparadise.\n\nWe might well call by that name this abode, where the hours flew by,\nwithout account, in ever-new delights. The bare idea of satiety, want,\nand, above all, of age, never entered the minds of the inhabitants. They\nexperienced no sensations except those of luxury and gayety; the cup of\nhappiness seemed for them ever-flowing and exhaustless. The two young\ndamsels to whom Rogero owed his deliverance from the hobgoblins\nconducted him to the apartment of their mistress. The beautiful Alcina\nadvanced, and greeted him with an air at once dignified and courteous.\nAll her court surrounded the paladin, and rendered him the most\nflattering attentions. The castle was less admirable for its\nmagnificence than for the charms of those who inhabited it. They were of\neither sex, well matched in beauty, youth, and grace; but among this\ncharming group the brilliant Alcina shone, as the sun outshines the\nstars. The young warrior was fascinated. All that he had heard from the\nmyrtle-tree appeared to him but a vile calumny. How could he suspect\nthat falsehood and treason veiled themselves under smiles and the\ningenuous air of truth? He doubted not that Astolpho had deserved his\nfate, and perhaps a punishment more severe; he regarded all his stories\nas dictated by a disappointed spirit, and a thirst for revenge. But we\nmust not condemn Rogero too harshly, for he was the victim of magic\npower.\n\nThey seated themselves at table, and immediately harmonious lyres and\nharps waked the air with the most ravishing notes. The charms of poetry\nwere added in entertaining recitals; the magnificence of the feast would\nhave done credit to a royal board. The traitress forgot nothing which\nmight charm the paladin, and attach him to the spot, meaning, when she\nshould grow tired of him, to metamorphose him as she had done others. In\nthe same manner passed each succeeding day. Games of pleasant exercise,\nthe chase, the dance, or rural sports, made the hours pass quickly;\nwhile they gave zest to the refreshment of the bath, or sleep.\n\nThus Rogero led a life of ease and luxury, while Charlemagne and\nAgramant were struggling for empire. But I cannot linger with him while\nthe amiable and courageous Bradamante is night and day directing her\nuncertain steps to every spot where the slightest chance invites her, in\nthe hope of recovering Rogero.\n\nI will therefore say that, having sought him in vain in fields and in\ncities, she knew not whither next to direct her steps. She did not\napprehend the death of Rogero. The fall of such a hero would have\nre\u00ebchoed from the Hydaspes to the farthest river of the West; but, not\nknowing whether he was on the earth or in the air, she concluded, as a\nlast resource, to return to the cavern which contained the tomb of\nMerlin, to ask of him some sure direction to the object of her search.\n\nWhile this thought occupied her mind, Melissa, the sage enchantress,\nsuddenly appeared before her. This virtuous and beneficent magician had\ndiscovered by her spells that Rogero was passing his time in pleasure\nand idleness, forgetful of his honor and his sovereign. Not able to\nendure the thought that one who was born to be a hero should waste his\nyears in base repose, and leave a sullied reputation in the memory of\nsurvivors, she saw that vigorous measures must be employed to draw him\nforth into the paths of virtue. Melissa was not blinded by her affection\nfor the amiable paladin, like Atlantes, who, intent only on preserving\nRogero\u2019s life, cared nothing for his fame. It was that old enchanter\nwhose arts had guided the Hippogriff to the isle of the too charming\nAlcina, where he hoped his favorite would learn to forget honor, and\nlose the love of glory.\n\nAt the sight of Melissa joy lighted up the countenance of Bradamante,\nand hope animated her breast. Melissa concealed nothing from her, but\ntold her how Rogero was in the toils of Alcina. Bradamante was plunged\nin grief and terror; but the kind enchantress calmed her, dispelled her\nfears, and promised that before many days she would lead back the\npaladin to her feet.\n\n\u201cMy daughter,\u201d she said, \u201cgive me the ring which you wear, and which\npossesses the power to overcome enchantments. By means of it I doubt not\nbut that I may enter the stronghold where the false Alcina holds Rogero\nin durance, and may succeed in vanquishing her and liberating him.\u201d\nBradamante unhesitatingly delivered her the ring, recommending Rogero to\nher best efforts. Melissa then summoned by her art a huge palfrey, black\nas jet, excepting one foot, which was bay. Mounted upon this animal, she\nrode with such speed that by the next morning she had reached the abode\nof Alcina.\n\nShe here transformed herself into the perfect resemblance of the old\nmagician Atlantes, adding a palm-breadth to her height, and enlarging\nher whole figure. Her chin she covered with a long beard, and seamed her\nwhole visage well with wrinkles. She assumed also his voice and manner,\nand watched her chance to find Rogero alone. At last she found him,\ndressed in a rich tunic of silk and gold, a collar of precious stones\nabout his neck, and his arms, once so rough with exercise, decorated\nwith bracelets. His air and his every motion indicated effeminacy, and\nhe seemed to retain nothing of Rogero but the name; such power had the\nenchantress obtained over him.\n\nMelissa, under the form of his old instructor, presented herself before\nhim, wearing a stern and serious visage. \u201cIs this, then,\u201d she said, \u201cthe\nfruit of all my labors? Is it for this that I fed you on the marrow of\nbears and lions, that I taught you to subdue dragons, and, like\nHercules, strangle serpents in your youthful grasp, only to make you, by\nall my cares, a feeble Adonis? My nightly watchings of the stars, of the\nyet warm fibres of animals, the lots I have cast, the points of nativity\nthat I have calculated, have they all falsely indicated that you were\nborn for greatness? Who could have believed that you would become the\nslave of a base enchantress? O Rogero, learn to know this Alcina, learn\nto understand her arts and to countervail them. Take this ring, place it\non your finger, return to her presence, and see for yourself what are\nher real charms.\u201d\n\nAt these words, Rogero, confused, abashed, cast his eyes upon the\nground, and knew not what to answer. Melissa seized the moment, slipped\nthe ring on his finger, and the paladin was himself again. What a\nthunderclap to him! Overcome by shame, he dared not to encounter the\nlooks of his instructor. When at last he raised his eyes he beheld not\nthat venerable form, but the priestess Melissa, who in virtue of the\nring now appeared in her true person. She told him of the motives which\nhad led her to come to his rescue, of the griefs and regrets of\nBradamante, and of her unwearied search for him. \u201cThat charming Amazon,\u201d\nshe said, \u201csends you this ring, which is a sovereign antidote to all\nenchantments. She would have sent you her heart in my hands, if it would\nhave had greater power to serve you.\u201d\n\nIt was needless for Melissa to say more. Rogero\u2019s love for Alcina, being\nbut the work of enchantment, vanished as soon as the enchantment was\nwithdrawn, and he now hated her with an equal intensity, seeing no\nlonger anything in her but her vices, and feeling only resentment for\nthe shame that she had put upon him.\n\nHis surprise when he again beheld Alcina was no less than his\nindignation. Fortified by his ring from her enchantments, he saw her as\nshe was, a monster of ugliness. All her charms were artificial, and,\ntruly viewed, were rather deformities. She was, in fact, older than\nHecuba or the Sibyl of Cum\u00e6; but an art, which it is to be regretted our\ntimes have lost, enabled her to appear charming, and to clothe herself\nin all the attractions of youth. Rogero now saw all this, but, governed\nby the counsels of Melissa, he concealed his surprise, assumed under\nsome pretext his armor, long neglected, and bound to his side Belisarda,\nhis trusty sword, taking also the buckler of Atlantes, covered with its\nveil.\n\nHe then selected a horse from the stables of Alcina, without exciting\nher suspicions; but he left the Hippogriff, by the advice of Melissa,\nwho promised to take him in charge, and train him to a more manageable\nstate. The horse he took was Rabican, which belonged to Astolpho. He\nrestored the ring to Melissa.\n\nRogero had not ridden far when he met one of the huntsmen of Alcina,\nbearing a falcon on his wrist, and followed by a dog. The huntsman was\nmounted on a powerful horse, and came boldly up to the paladin,\ndemanding, in a somewhat imperious manner, whither he was going so\nrapidly. Rogero disdained to stop or to reply; whereupon the huntsman,\nnot doubting that he was about making his escape, said, \u201cWhat if I, with\nmy falcon, stop your ride?\u201d So saying, he threw off the bird, which even\nRabican could not equal in speed. The huntsman then leapt from his\nhorse, and the animal, open-mouthed, darted after Rogero with the\nswiftness of an arrow. The huntsman also ran as if the wind or fire bore\nhim, and the dog was equal to Rabican in swiftness. Rogero, finding\nflight impossible, stopped and faced his pursuers; but his sword was\nuseless against such foes. The insolent huntsman assailed him with\nwords, and struck him with his whip, the only weapon he had; the dog bit\nhis feet, and the horse drove at him with his hoofs. At the same time\nthe falcon flew over his head and over Rabican\u2019s and attacked them with\nclaws and wings, so that the horse in his fright began to be\nunmanageable. At that moment the sound of trumpets and cymbals was heard\nin the valley, and it was evident that Alcina had ordered out all her\narray to go in pursuit. Rogero felt that there was no time to be lost,\nand luckily remembered the shield of Atlantes, which he bore suspended\nfrom his neck. He unveiled it, and the charm worked wonderfully. The\nhuntsman, the dog, the horse, fell flat; the trembling wings of the\nfalcon could no longer sustain her, and she fell senseless to the\nground. Rogero, rid of their annoyances, left them in their trance, and\nrode away.\n\nMeanwhile Alcina, with all the force she could muster, sallied forth\nfrom her palace in pursuit. Melissa, left behind, took advantage of the\nopportunity to ransack all the rooms, protected by the ring. She undid\none by one all the talismans and spells which she found, broke the\nseals, burned the images, and untied the hag-knots. Thence, hurrying\nthrough the fields, she disenchanted the victims changed into trees,\nfountains, stones, or brutes; all of whom recovered their liberty, and\nvowed eternal gratitude to their deliverer. They made their escape, with\nall possible despatch, to the realms of the good Logestilla, whence they\ndeparted to their several homes.\n\nAstolpho was the first whom Melissa liberated, for Rogero had\nparticularly recommended him to her care. She aided him to recover his\narms, and particularly that precious golden-headed lance which once was\nArgalia\u2019s. The enchantress mounted with him upon the winged horse, and\nin a short time arrived through the air at the castle of Logestilla,\nwhere Rogero joined them soon after.\n\nIn this abode the friends passed a short period of delightful and\nimproving intercourse with the sage Logestilla and her virtuous court;\nand then each departed, Rogero with the Hippogriff, ring, and buckler;\nAstolpho with his golden lance, and mounted on Rabican, the fleetest of\nsteeds. To Rogero Logestilla gave a bit and bridle suited to govern the\nHippogriff; and to Astolpho a horn of marvellous powers, to be sounded\nonly when all other weapons were unavailing.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n THE ORC\n\nWe left the charming Angelica at the moment when, in her flight from her\ncontending lovers, Sacripant and Rinaldo, she met an aged hermit. We\nhave seen that her request to the hermit was to furnish her the means of\ngaining the sea-coast, eager to avoid Rinaldo, whom she hated, by\nleaving France and Europe itself. The pretended hermit, who was no other\nthan a vile magician, knowing well that it would not be agreeable to his\nfalse gods to aid Angelica in this undertaking, feigned to comply with\nher desire. He supplied her a horse, into which he had by his arts\ncaused a subtle devil to enter, and, having mounted Angelica on the\nanimal, directed her what course to take to reach the sea.\n\nAngelica rode on her way without suspicion, but when arrived at the\nshore, the demon urged the animal headlong into the water. Angelica in\nvain attempted to turn him back to the land; he continued his course\ntill, as night approached, he landed with his burden on a sandy\nheadland.\n\nAngelica, finding herself alone, abandoned in this frightful solitude,\nremained without movement, as if stupefied, with hands joined and eyes\nturned towards heaven, till at last, pouring forth a torrent of tears,\nshe exclaimed: \u201cCruel fortune, have you not yet exhausted your rage\nagainst me? To what new miseries do you doom me? Alas! then finish your\nwork! Deliver me a prey to some ferocious beast, or by whatever fate you\nchoose bring me to an end. I will be thankful to you for terminating my\nlife and my misery.\u201d At last, exhausted by her sorrows, she fell asleep,\nand sunk prostrate on the sand.\n\nBefore recounting what next befell, we must declare what place it was\nupon which the unhappy lady was now thrown. In the sea that washes the\ncoast of Ireland there is an island called Ebuda, whose inhabitants,\nonce numerous, had been wasted by the anger of Proteus till there were\nnow but few left. This deity was incensed by some neglect of the usual\nhonors which he had in old times received from the inhabitants of the\nland, and, to execute his vengeance, had sent a horrid sea-monster,\ncalled an Orc, to devour them. Such were the terrors of his ravages that\nthe whole people of the isle had shut themselves up in the principal\ntown, and relied on their walls alone to protect them. In this distress\nthey applied to the Oracle for advice, and were directed to appease the\nwrath of the sea-monster by offering to him the fairest virgin that the\ncountry could produce.\n\nNow it so happened that the very day when this dreadful oracle was\nannounced, and when the fatal mandate had gone forth to seek among the\nfairest maidens of the land one to be offered to the monster, some\nsailors, landing on the beach where Angelica was, beheld that beauty as\nshe lay asleep.\n\nO blind Chance! whose power in human affairs is but too great, canst\nthou then abandon to the teeth of a horrible monster those charms which\ndifferent sovereigns took arms against one another to possess? Alas! the\nlovely Angelica is destined to be the victim of those cruel islanders.\n\nStill asleep, she was bound by the Ebudians, and it was not until she\nwas carried on board the vessel that she came to a knowledge of her\nsituation. The wind filled the sails and wafted the ship swiftly to the\nport, where all that beheld her agreed that she was unquestionably the\nvictim selected by Proteus himself to be his prey. Who can tell the\nscreams, the mortal anguish of this unhappy maiden, the reproaches she\naddressed even to the heavens themselves, when the dreadful information\nof her cruel fate was made known to her? I cannot; let me rather turn to\na happier part of my story.\n\nRogero left the palace of Logestilla, careering on his flying courser\nfar above the tops of the mountains, and borne westward by the\nHippogriff, which he guided with ease, by means of the bridle that\nMelissa had given him. Anxious as he was to recover Bradamante, he could\nnot fail to be delighted at the view his rapid flight presented of so\nmany vast regions and populous countries as he passed over in his\ncareer. At last he approached the shores of England, and perceived an\nimmense army in all the splendor of military pomp, as if about to go\nforth flushed with hopes of victory. He caused the Hippogriff to alight\nnot far from the scene, and found himself immediately surrounded by\nadmiring spectators, knights and soldiers, who could not enough indulge\ntheir curiosity and wonder. Rogero learned, in reply to his questions,\nthat the fine array of troops before him was the army destined to go to\nthe aid of the French Emperor, in compliance with the request presented\nby the illustrious Rinaldo, as ambassador of King Charles, his uncle.\n\nBy this time the curiosity of the English chevaliers was partly\ngratified in beholding the Hippogriff at rest, and Rogero, to renew\ntheir surprise and delight, remounted the animal, and, slapping spurs to\nhis sides, made him launch into the air with the rapidity of a meteor,\nand directed his flight still westwardly, till he came within sight of\nthe coasts of Ireland. Here he descried what seemed to be a fair damsel,\nalone, fast chained to a rock which projected into the sea. What was his\nastonishment when, drawing nigh, he beheld the beautiful princess\nAngelica! That day she had been led forth and bound to the rock, there\nto wait till the sea-monster should come to devour her. Rogero exclaimed\nas he came near, \u201cWhat cruel hands, what barbarous soul, what fatal\nchance can have loaded thee with those chains?\u201d Angelica replied by a\ntorrent of tears, at first her only response; then, in a trembling\nvoice, she disclosed to him the horrible destiny for which she was there\nexposed. While she spoke, a terrible roaring was heard far off on the\nsea. The huge monster soon came in sight, part of his body appearing\nabove the waves and part concealed. Angelica, half dead with fear,\nabandoned herself to despair.\n\nRogero, lance in rest, spurred his Hippogriff toward the Orc, and gave\nhim a thrust. The horrible monster was like nothing that nature\nproduces. It was but one mass of tossing and twisting body, with nothing\nof the animal but head, eyes, and mouth, the last furnished with tusks\nlike those of the wild boar. Rogero\u2019s lance had struck him between the\neyes; but rock and iron are not more impenetrable than were his scales.\nThe knight, seeing the fruitlessness of the first blow, prepared to give\na second. The animal, beholding upon the water the shadow of the great\nwings of the Hippogriff, abandoned his prey, and turned to seize what\nseemed nearer. Rogero took the opportunity, and dealt him furious blows\non various parts of his body, taking care to keep clear of his murderous\nteeth; but the scales resisted every attack. The Orc beat the water with\nhis tail till he raised a foam which enveloped Rogero and his steed, so\nthat the knight hardly knew whether he was in the water or the air. He\nbegan to fear that the wings of the Hippogriff would be so drenched with\nwater that they would cease to sustain him. At that moment Rogero\nbethought him of the magic shield which hung at his saddle-bow; but the\nfear that Angelica would also be blinded by its glare discouraged him\nfrom employing it. Then he remembered the ring which Melissa had given\nhim, the power of which he had so lately proved. He hastened to Angelica\nand placed it on her finger. Then, uncovering the buckler, he turned its\nbright disk full in the face of the detestable Orc. The effect was\ninstantaneous. The monster, deprived of sense and motion, rolled over on\nthe sea, and lay floating on his back. Rogero would fain have tried the\neffect of his lance on the now exposed parts, but Angelica implored him\nto lose no time in delivering her from her chains before the monster\nshould revive. Rogero, moved with her entreaties, hastened to do so,\nand, having unbound her, made her mount behind him on the Hippogriff.\nThe animal, spurning the earth, shot up into the air, and rapidly sped\nhis way through it. Rogero, to give time to the princess to rest after\nher cruel agitations, soon sought the earth again, alighting on the\nshore of Brittany. Near the shore a thick wood presented itself, which\nresounded with the songs of birds. In the midst, a fountain of\ntransparent water bathed the turf of a little meadow. A gentle hill rose\nnear by. Rogero, making the Hippogriff alight in the meadow, dismounted,\nand took Angelica from the horse.\n\nWhen the first tumults of emotion had subsided Angelica, casting her\neyes downward, beheld the precious ring upon her finger, whose virtues\nshe was well acquainted with, for it was the very ring which the Saracen\nBrunello had robbed her of. She drew it from her finger and placed it in\nher mouth, and, quicker than we can tell it, disappeared from the sight\nof the paladin.\n\nRogero looked around him on all sides, like one frantic, but soon\nremembered the ring which he had so lately placed on her finger. Struck\nwith the ingratitude which could thus recompense his services, he\nexclaimed: \u201cThankless beauty, is this then the reward you make me? Do\nyou prefer to rob me of my ring rather than receive it as a gift?\nWillingly would I have given it to you, had you but asked it.\u201d Thus he\nsaid, searching on all sides with arms extended like a blind man, hoping\nto recover by the touch what was lost to sight; but he sought in vain.\nThe cruel beauty was already far away.\n\nThough sensible of her obligations to her deliverer, her first necessity\nwas for clothing, food, and repose. She soon reached a shepherd\u2019s hut,\nwhere, entering unseen, she found what sufficed for her present relief.\nAn old herdsman inhabited the hut, whose charges consisted of a drove of\nmares. When recruited by repose Angelica selected one of the mares from\nthe flock, and, mounting the animal, felt the desire revive in her mind\nof returning to her home in the East, and for that purpose would gladly\nhave accepted the protection of Orlando or of Sacripant across those\nwide regions which divided her from her own country. In hopes of meeting\nwith one or the other of them she pursued her way.\n\nMeanwhile Rogero, despairing of seeing Angelica again, returned to the\ntree where he had left his winged horse, but had the mortification to\nfind that the animal had broken his bridle and escaped. This loss, added\nto his previous disappointment, overwhelmed him with vexation. Sadly he\ngathered up his arms, threw his buckler over his shoulders, and, taking\nthe first path that offered, soon found himself within the verge of a\ndense and widespread forest.\n\nHe had proceeded for some distance when he heard a noise on his right,\nand, listening attentively, distinguished the clash of arms. He made his\nway toward the place whence the sound proceeded, and found two warriors\nengaged in mortal combat. One of them was a knight of a noble and manly\nbearing, the other a fierce giant. The knight appeared to exert\nconsummate address in defending herself against the massive club of the\ngiant, evading his strokes, or parrying them with sword or shield.\nRogero stood spectator of the combat, for he did not allow himself to\ninterfere in it, though a secret sentiment inclined him strongly to take\npart with the knight. At length he saw with grief the massive club fall\ndirectly on the head of the knight, who yielded to the blow, and fell\nprostrate. The giant sprang forward to despatch him, and for that\npurpose unlaced his helmet, when Rogero, with dismay, recognized the\nface of Bradamante. He cried aloud, \u201cHold, miscreant!\u201d and sprang\nforward with drawn sword. Whereupon the giant, as if he cared not to\nenter upon another combat, lifted Bradamante on his shoulders, and ran\nwith her into the forest.\n\nRogero plunged after him, but the long legs of the giant carried him\nforward so fast that the paladin could hardly keep him in sight. At\nlength they issued from the wood, and Rogero perceived before him a rich\npalace, built of marble, and adorned with sculptures executed by a\nmaster hand. Into this edifice, through a golden door, the giant passed,\nand Rogero followed; but, on looking round, saw nowhere either the giant\nor Bradamante. He ran from room to room, calling aloud on his cowardly\nfoe to turn and meet him; but got no response, nor caught another\nglimpse of the giant or his prey. In his vain pursuit he met, without\nknowing them, Ferrau, Florismart, King Gradasso, Orlando, and many\nothers, all of whom had been entrapped like himself into this enchanted\ncastle. It was a new stratagem of the magician Atlantes to draw Rogero\ninto his power, and to secure also those who might by any chance\nendanger his safety. What Rogero had taken for Bradamante was a mere\nphantom. That charming lady was far away, full of anxiety for her\nRogero, whose coming she had long expected.\n\nThe Emperor had committed to her charge the city and garrison of\nMarseilles, and she held the post against the infidels with valor and\ndiscretion. One day Melissa suddenly presented herself before her.\nAnticipating her questions, she said, \u201cFear not for Rogero; he lives,\nand is as ever true to you; but he has lost his liberty. The fell\nenchanter has again succeeded in making him a prisoner. If you would\ndeliver him, mount your horse and follow me.\u201d She told her in what\nmanner Atlantes had deceived Rogero, in deluding his eyes with the\nphantom of herself in peril. \u201cSuch,\u201d she continued, \u201cwill be his arts in\nyour own case, if you penetrate the forest and approach that castle. You\nwill think you behold Rogero, when, in fact, you see only the enchanter\nhimself. Be not deceived, plunge your sword into his body, and trust me\nwhen I tell you that, in slaying him, you will restore not only Rogero,\nbut with him many of the bravest knights of France, whom the wizard\u2019s\narts have withdrawn from the camp of their sovereign.\u201d\n\nBradamante promptly armed herself, and mounted her horse. Melissa led\nher by forced journeys, by field and forest, beguiling the way with\nconversation on the theme which interested her hearer most. When at last\nthey reached the forest, she repeated once more her instructions, and\nthen took her leave, for fear the enchanter might espy her, and be put\non his guard.\n\nBradamante rode on about two miles when suddenly she beheld Rogero, as\nit appeared to her, hard pressed by two fierce giants. While she\nhesitated she heard his voice calling on her for help. At once the\ncautions of Melissa lost their weight. A sudden doubt of the faith and\ntruth of her kind monitress flashed across her mind. \u201cShall I not\nbelieve my own eyes and ears?\u201d she said, and rushed forward to his\ndefence. Rogero fled, pursued by the giants, and Bradamante followed,\npassing with them through the castle gate. When there, Bradamante was\nundeceived, for neither giant nor knight was to be seen. She found\nherself a prisoner, but had not the consolation of knowing that she\nshared the imprisonment of her beloved. She saw various forms of men and\nwomen, but could recognize none of them; and their lot was the same with\nrespect to her. Each viewed the others under some illusion of the fancy,\nwearing the semblance of giants, dwarfs, or even four-footed animals, so\nthat there was no companionship or communication between them.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n ASTOLPHO\u2019S ADVENTURES CONTINUED, AND ISABELLA\u2019S BEGUN\n\nWhen Astolpho escaped from the cruel Alcina, after a short abode in the\nrealm of the virtuous Logestilla, he desired to return to his native\ncountry. Logestilla lent him the best vessel of her fleet to convey him\nto the mainland. She gave him at parting a wonderful book, which taught\nthe secret of overcoming all manners of enchantments, and begged him to\ncarry it always with him, out of regard for her. She also gave him\nanother gift, which surpassed everything of the kind that mortal\nworkmanship can frame; yet it was nothing in appearance but a simple\nhorn.\n\nAstolpho, protected by these gifts, thanked the good fairy, took leave\nof her, and set out on his return to France. His voyage was prosperous,\nand on reaching the desired port he took leave of the faithful mariners,\nand continued his journey by land. As he proceeded over mountains and\nthrough valleys he often met with bands of robbers, wild beasts, and\nvenomous serpents, but he had only to sound his horn to put them all to\nflight.\n\nHaving landed in France, and traversed many provinces on his way to the\narmy, he one day, in crossing a forest, arrived beside a fountain, and\nalighted to drink. While he stooped at the fountain a young rustic\nsprang from the copse, mounted Rabican, and rode away. It was a new\ntrick of the enchanter Atlantes. Astolpho, hearing the noise, turned his\nhead just in time to see his loss; and, starting up, pursued the thief,\nwho, on his part, did not press the horse to his full speed, but just\nkept in sight of his pursuer till they both issued from the forest; and\nthen Rabican and his rider took shelter in a castle which stood near.\nAstolpho followed, and penetrated without difficulty within the\ncourtyard of the castle, where he looked around for the rider and his\nhorse, but could see no trace of either, nor any person of whom he could\nmake inquiry. Suspecting that enchantment was employed to embarrass him,\nhe bethought him of his book, and on consulting it discovered that his\nsuspicions were well founded. He also learned what course to pursue. He\nwas directed to raise the stone which served as a threshold, under which\na spirit lay pent, who would willingly escape, and leave the castle free\nof access. Astolpho applied his strength to lift aside the stone.\nThereupon the magician put his arts in force. The castle was full of\nprisoners, and the magician caused that to all of them Astolpho should\nappear in some false guise\u2014to some a wild beast, to others a giant, to\nothers a bird of prey. Thus all assailed him, and would quickly have\nmade an end of him, if he had not bethought him of his horn. No sooner\nhad he blown a blast than, at the horrid larum, fled the cavaliers and\nthe necromancer with them, like a flock of pigeons at the sound of the\nfowler\u2019s gun. Astolpho then renewed his efforts on the stone, and turned\nit over. The under face was all inscribed with magical characters, which\nthe knight defaced, as directed by his book; and no sooner had he done\nso, than the castle, with its walls and turrets, vanished into smoke.\n\nThe knights and ladies set at liberty were, besides Rogero and\nBradamante, Orlando, Gradasso, Florismart, and many more. At the sound\nof the horn they fled, one and all, men and steeds, except Rabican,\nwhich Astolpho secured, in spite of his terror. As soon as the sound had\nceased Rogero recognized Bradamante, whom he had daily met during their\nimprisonment, but had been prevented from knowing by the enchanter\u2019s\narts. No words can tell the delight with which they recognized each\nother, and recounted mutually all that had happened to each since they\nwere parted. Rogero took advantage of the opportunity to press his suit,\nand found Bradamante as propitious as he could wish, were it not for a\nsingle obstacle, the difference of their faiths. \u201cIf he would obtain her\nin marriage,\u201d she said, \u201che must in due form demand her of her father,\nDuke Aymon, and must abandon his false prophet, and become a Christian.\u201d\nThe latter step was one which Rogero had for some time intended taking,\nfor reasons of his own. He therefore gladly accepted the terms, and\nproposed that they should at once repair to the abbey of Vallombrosa,\nwhose towers were visible at no great distance. Thither they turned\ntheir horses\u2019 heads, and we will leave them to find their way without\nour company.\n\nI know not if my readers recollect that at the moment when Rogero had\njust delivered Angelica from the voracious Orc that scornful beauty\nplaced her ring in her mouth, and vanished out of sight. At the same\ntime the Hippogriff shook off his bridle, soared away, and flew to\nrejoin his former master, very naturally returning to his accustomed\nstable. Here Astolpho found him, to his very great delight. He knew the\nanimal\u2019s powers, having seen Rogero ride him, and he longed to fly\nabroad over all the earth, and see various nations and peoples from his\nairy course. He had heard Logestilla\u2019s directions how to guide the\nanimal, and saw her fit a bridle to his head. He therefore was able, out\nof all the bridles he found in the stable, to select one suitable, and,\nplacing Rabican\u2019s saddle on the Hippogriff\u2019s back, nothing seemed to\nprevent his immediate departure. Yet before he went he bethought him of\nplacing Rabican in hands where he would be safe, and whence he might\nrecover him in time of need. While he stood deliberating where he should\nfind a messenger, he saw Bradamante approach. That fair warrior had been\nparted from Rogero on their way to the abbey of Vallombrosa, by an\ninopportune adventure which had called the knight away. She was now\nreturning to Montalban, having arranged with Rogero to join her there.\nTo Bradamante, therefore, his fair cousin, Astolpho committed Rabican,\nand also the lance of gold, which would only be an incumbrance in his\naerial excursion. Bradamante took charge of both; and Astolpho, bidding\nher farewell, soared in air.\n\nAmong those delivered by Astolpho from the magician\u2019s castle was\nOrlando. Following the guide of chance, the paladin found himself at the\nclose of day in a forest, and stopped at the foot of a mountain.\nSurprised to discern a light which came from a cleft in the rock, he\napproached, guided by the ray, and discovered a narrow passage in the\nmountain-side, which led into a deep grotto.\n\nOrlando fastened his horse, and then, putting aside the bushes that\nresisted his passage, stepped down from rock to rock till he reached a\nsort of cavern. Entering it, he perceived a lady, young and handsome, as\nwell as he could discover through the signs of distress which agitated\nher countenance. Her only companion was an old woman, who seemed to be\nregarded by her young partner with terror and indignation. The courteous\npaladin saluted the women respectfully, and begged to know by whose\nbarbarity they had been subjected to such imprisonment.\n\nThe younger lady replied, in a voice often broken with sobs:\n\n\u201cThough I know well that my recital will subject me to worse treatment\nby the barbarous man who keeps me here, to whom this woman will not fail\nto report it, yet I will not hide from you the facts. Ah! why should I\nfear his rage? If he should take my life, I know not what better boon\nthan death I can ask.\n\n\u201cMy name is Isabella. I am the daughter of the king of Galicia, or\nrather I should say misfortune and grief are my parents. Young, rich,\nmodest, and of tranquil temper, all things appeared to combine to render\nmy lot happy. Alas! I see myself to-day poor, humbled, miserable, and\ndestined perhaps to yet further afflictions. It is a year since, my\nfather having given notice that he would open the lists for a tournament\nat Bayonne, a great number of chevaliers from all quarters came together\nat our court. Among these Zerbino, son of the king of Scotland,\nvictorious in all combats, eclipsed by his beauty and his valor all the\nrest. Before departing from the court of Galicia he testified the wish\nto espouse me, and I consented that he should demand my hand of the\nking, my father. But I was a Mahometan, and Zerbino a Christian, and my\nfather refused his consent. The prince, called home by his father to\ntake command of the forces destined to the assistance of the French\nEmperor, prevailed on me to be married to him secretly, and to follow\nhim to Scotland. He caused a galley to be prepared to receive me, and\nplaced in command of it the chevalier Oderic, a Biscayan, famous for his\nexploits both by land and sea. On the day appointed, Oderic brought his\nvessel to a seaside resort of my father\u2019s, where I embarked. Some of my\ndomestics accompanied me, and thus I departed from my native land.\n\n\u201cSailing with a fair wind, after some hours we were assailed by a\nviolent tempest. It was to no purpose that we took in all sail; we were\ndriven before the wind directly upon the rocky shore. Seeing no other\nhopes of safety, Oderic placed me in a boat, followed himself with a few\nof his men, and made for land. We reached it through infinite peril, and\nI no sooner felt the firm land beneath my feet, than I knelt down and\npoured out heartfelt thanks to the Providence that had preserved me.\n\n\u201cThe shore where we landed appeared to be uninhabited. We saw no\ndwelling to shelter us, no road to lead us to a more hospitable spot. A\nhigh mountain rose before us, whose base stretched into the sea. It was\nhere the infamous Oderic, in spite of my tears and entreaties, sold me\nto a band of pirates, who fancied I might be an acceptable present to\ntheir prince, the Sultan of Morocco. This cavern is their den, and here\nthey keep me under the guard of this woman, until it shall suit their\nconvenience to carry me away.\u201d\n\nIsabella had hardly finished her recital when a troop of armed men began\nto enter the cavern. Seeing the prince Orlando, one said to the rest,\n\u201cWhat bird is this we have caught, without even setting a snare for\nhim?\u201d Then addressing Orlando, \u201cIt was truly civil in you, friend, to\ncome hither with that handsome coat of armor and vest, the very things I\nwant.\u201d \u201cYou shall pay for them, then,\u201d said Orlando; and seizing a\nhalf-burnt brand from the fire, he hurled it at him, striking his head,\nand stretching him lifeless on the floor.\n\nThere was a massy table in the middle of the cavern, used for the\npirates\u2019 repasts. Orlando lifted it and hurled it at the robbers as they\nstood clustered in a group toward the entrance. Half the gang were laid\nprostrate, with broken heads and limbs; the rest got away as nimbly as\nthey could.\n\nLeaving the den and its inmates to their fate, Orlando, taking Isabella\nunder his protection, pursued his way for some days, without meeting\nwith any adventure.\n\nOne day they saw a band of men advancing, who seemed to be guarding a\nprisoner, bound hand and foot, as if being carried to execution. The\nprisoner was a youthful cavalier, of a noble and ingenuous appearance.\nThe band bore the ensigns of Count Anselm, head of the treacherous house\nof Maganza. Orlando desired Isabella to wait, while he rode forward to\ninquire the meaning of this array. Approaching, he demanded of the\nleader who his prisoner was, and of what crime he had been guilty. The\nman replied that the prisoner was a murderer, by whose hand Pinabel, the\nson of Count Anselm, had been treacherously slain. At these words the\nprisoner exclaimed, \u201cI am no murderer, nor have I been in any way the\ncause of the young man\u2019s death.\u201d Orlando, knowing the cruel and\nferocious character of the chiefs of the house of Maganza, needed no\nmore to satisfy him that the youth was the victim of injustice. He\ncommanded the leader of the troop to release his victim, and, receiving\nan insolent reply, dashed him to the earth with a stroke of his lance;\nthen by a few vigorous blows dispersed the band, leaving deadly marks on\nthose who were slowest to quit the field.\n\nOrlando then hastened to unbind the prisoner, and to assist him to\nreclothe himself in his armor, which the false Magencian had dared to\nassume. He then led him to Isabella, who now approached the scene of\naction. How can we picture the joy, the astonishment, with which\nIsabella recognized in him Zerbino, her husband, and the prince\ndiscovered her whom he had believed overwhelmed in the waves! They\nembraced one another, and wept for joy. Orlando, sharing in their\nhappiness, congratulated himself in having been the instrument of it.\nThe princess recounted to Zerbino what the illustrious paladin had done\nfor her, and the prince threw himself at Orlando\u2019s feet, and thanked him\nas having twice preserved his life.\n\nWhile these exchanges of congratulation and thankfulness were going on,\na sound in the underwood attracted their attention, and caused the two\nknights to brace their helmets and stand on their guard. What the cause\nof the interruption was we shall record in another chapter.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n MEDORO\n\nFrance was at this time the theatre of dreadful events. The Saracens and\nthe Christians, in numerous encounters, slew one another. On one\noccasion Rinaldo led an attack on the infidel columns, broke and\nscattered them, till he found himself opposite to a knight whose armor\n(whether by accident or by choice, it matters not) bore the blazon of\nOrlando. It was Dardinel, the young and brave prince of Zumara, and\nRinaldo remarked him by the slaughter he spread all around. \u201cAh,\u201d said\nhe to himself, \u201clet us pluck up this dangerous plant before it has grown\nto its full height.\u201d\n\nAs Rinaldo advanced, the crowd opened before him, the Christians to let\nhis sword have free course, the Pagans to escape its sweep. Dardinel and\nhe stood face to face. Rinaldo exclaimed, fiercely, \u201cYoung man, whoever\ngave you that noble buckler to bear made you a dangerous gift; I should\nlike to see how you are able to defend those quarterings, red and white.\nIf you cannot defend them against me, how pray will you do so when\nOrlando challenges them?\u201d Dardinel replied: \u201cThou shalt learn that I can\ndefend the arms I bear, and shed new glory upon them. No one shall rend\nthem from me but with life.\u201d Saying these words, Dardinel rushed upon\nRinaldo with sword uplifted.\n\nThe chill of mortal terror filled the souls of the Saracens when they\nbeheld Rinaldo advance to attack the prince, like a lion against a young\nbull. The first blow came from the hand of Dardinel, and the weapon\nrebounded from Mambrino\u2019s helmet without effect. Rinaldo smiled, and\nsaid, \u201cI will now show you if my strokes are more effectual.\u201d At these\nwords he thrust the unfortunate Dardinel in the middle of his breast.\nThe blow was so violent that the cruel weapon pierced the body, and came\nout a palm-breadth behind his back. Through this wound the life of\nDardinel issued with his blood, and his body fell helpless to the\nground.\n\nAs a flower which the passing plough has uprooted languishes, and droops\nits head, so Dardinel, his visage covered with the paleness of death,\nexpires, and the hopes of an illustrious race perish with him.\n\nLike waters kept back by a dike, which, when the dike is broken, spread\nabroad through all the country, so the Moors, no longer kept in column\nby the example of Dardinel, fled in all directions. Rinaldo despised too\nmuch such easy victories to pursue them; he wished for no combats but\nwith brave men. At the same time, the other paladins made terrible\nslaughter of the Moors. Charles himself, Oliver, Guido, and Ogier the\nDane, carried death into their ranks on all sides.\n\nThe infidels seemed doomed to perish to a man on that dreadful day; but\nthe wise king, Marsilius, at last put some slight degree of method into\nthe general rout. He collected the remnant of the troops, formed them\ninto a battalion, and retreated in tolerable order to his camp. That\ncamp was well fortified by intrenchments and a broad ditch. Thither the\nfugitives hastened, and by degrees all that remained of the Moorish army\nwas brought together there.\n\nThe Emperor might perhaps that night have crushed his enemy entirely;\nbut not thinking it prudent to expose his troops, fatigued as they were,\nto an attack upon a camp so well fortified, he contented himself with\nencompassing the enemy with his troops, prepared to make a regular\nsiege. During the night the Moors had time to see the extent of their\nloss. Their tents resounded with lamentations. This warrior had to mourn\na brother, that a friend; many suffered with grievous wounds, all\ntrembled at the fate in store for them.\n\nThere were two young Moors, both of humble rank, who gave proof at that\ntime of attachment and fidelity rare in the history of man. Cloridan and\nMedoro had followed their prince, Dardinel, to the wars of France.\nCloridan, a bold huntsman, combined strength with activity. Medoro was a\nmere youth, his cheeks yet fair and blooming. Of all the Saracens, no\none united so much grace and beauty. His light hair was set off by his\nblack and sparkling eyes. The two friends were together on guard at the\nrampart. About midnight they gazed on the scene in deep dejection.\nMedoro, with tears in his eyes, spoke of the good prince Dardinel, and\ncould not endure the thought that his body should be cast out on the\nplain, deprived of funeral honors. \u201cO my friend,\u201d said he, \u201cmust then\nthe body of our prince be the prey of wolves and ravens? Alas! when I\nremember how he loved me, I feel that if I should sacrifice my life to\ndo him honor, I should not do more than my duty. I wish, dear friend, to\nseek out his body on the battlefield, and give it burial, and I hope to\nbe able to pass through King Charles\u2019s camp without discovery, as they\nare probably all asleep. You, Cloridan, will be able to say for me, if I\nshould die in the adventure, that gratitude and fidelity to my prince\nwere my inducements.\u201d\n\nCloridan was both surprised and touched with this proof of the young\nman\u2019s devotion. He loved him tenderly, and tried for a long time every\neffort to dissuade him from his design; but he found Medoro determined\nto accomplish his object or die in the endeavor.\n\nCloridan, unable to change his purpose, said, \u201cI will go with you,\nMedoro, and help you in this generous enterprise. I value not life\ncompared with honor, and if I did, do you suppose, dear friend, that I\ncould live without you? I would rather fall by the arms of our enemies\nthan die of grief for the loss of you.\u201d\n\nWhen the two friends were relieved from their guard duty they went\nwithout any followers into the camp of the Christians. All there was\nstill; the fires were dying out; there was no fear of any attempt on the\npart of the Saracens, and the soldiers, overcome by fatigue or wine,\nslept secure, lying upon the ground in the midst of their arms and\nequipage. Cloridan stopped, and said, \u201cMedoro, I am not going to quit\nthis camp without taking vengeance for the death of our prince. Keep\nwatch, be on your guard that no one shall surprise us; I mean to mark a\nroad with my sword through the ranks of our enemies.\u201d So saying, he\nentered the tent where Alpheus slept, who a year before had joined the\ncamp of Charles, and pretended to be a great physician and astrologer.\nBut his science had deceived him, if it gave him hope of dying\npeacefully in his bed at a good old age; his lot was to die with little\nwarning. Cloridan ran his sword through his heart. A Greek and a German\nfollowed, who had been playing late at dice: fortunate if they had\ncontinued their game a little longer; but they never reckoned a throw\nlike this among their chances. Cloridan next came to the unlucky\nGrillon, whose head lay softly on his pillow. He dreamed probably of the\nfeast from which he had but just retired; for when Cloridan cut off his\nhead wine flowed forth with the blood.\n\nThe two young Moors might have penetrated even to the tent of\nCharlemagne; but knowing that the paladins encamped around him kept\nwatch by turns, and judging that it was impossible they should all be\nasleep, they were afraid to go too near. They might also have obtained\nrich booty; but, intent only on their object, they crossed the camp, and\narrived at length at the bloody field, where bucklers, lances, and\nswords lay scattered in the midst of corpses of poor and rich, common\nsoldier and prince, horses and pools of blood. This terrible scene of\ncarnage would have destroyed all hope of finding what they were in\nsearch of until dawn of day, were it not that the moon lent the aid of\nher uncertain rays.\n\nMedoro raised his eyes to the planet, and exclaimed, \u201cO holy goddess,\nwhom our fathers have adored under three different forms,\u2014thou who\ndisplayest thy power in heaven, on earth, and in the underworld,\u2014thou\nwho art seen foremost among the nymphs chasing the beasts of the\nforest,\u2014cause me to see, I implore thee, the spot where my dear master\nlies, and make me all my life long follow the example which thou dost\nexhibit of works of charity and love.\u201d\n\nEither by accident, or that the moon was sensible of the prayer of\nMedoro, the cloud broke away, and the moonlight burst forth as bright as\nday. The rays seemed especially to gild the spot where lay the body of\nPrince Dardinel; and Medoro, bathed in tears and with bleeding heart,\nrecognized him by the quarterings of red and white on his shield.\n\nWith groans stifled by his tears, and lamentations in accents\nsuppressed, not from any fear for himself, for he cared not for life,\nbut lest any one should be roused to interrupt their pious duty while\nyet incomplete, he proposed to his companion that they should together\nbear Dardinel on their shoulders, sharing the burden of the beloved\nremains.\n\nMarching with rapid strides under their precious load, they perceived\nthat the stars began to grow pale, and that the shades of night would\nsoon be dispersed by the dawn. Just then Zerbino, whose extreme valor\nhad urged him far from the camp in pursuit of the fugitives, returning,\nentered the wood in which they were. Some knights in his train perceived\nat a distance the two brothers-in-arms. Cloridan saw the troop, and,\nobserving that they dispersed themselves over the plain as if in search\nof booty, told Medoro to lay down the body, and let each save himself by\nflight. He dropped his part, thinking that Medoro would do the same; but\nthe good youth loved his prince too well to abandon him, and continued\nto carry his load singly as well as he might, while Cloridan made his\nescape. Near by there was a part of the wood tufted as if nothing but\nwild animals had ever penetrated it. The unfortunate youth, loaded with\nthe weight of his dead master, plunged into its recesses.\n\nCloridan, when he perceived that he had evaded his foes, discovered that\nMedoro was not with him. \u201cAh!\u201d exclaimed he, \u201chow could I, dear Medoro,\nso forget myself as to consult my own safety without heeding yours?\u201d So\nsaying, he retraced the tangled passes of the wood toward the place from\nwhence he had fled. As he approached he heard the noise of horses, and\nthe menacing voices of armed men. Soon he perceived Medoro, on foot,\nwith the cavaliers surrounding him. Zerbino, their commander, bade them\nseize him. The unhappy Medoro turned now this way, now that, trying to\nconceal himself behind an oak or a rock, still bearing the body, which\nhe would by no means leave. Cloridan not knowing how to help him, but\nresolved to perish with him, if he must perish, takes an arrow, fits it\nto his bow, discharges it, and pierces the breast of a Christian knight,\nwho falls helpless from his horse. The others look this way and that, to\ndiscover whence the fatal bolt was sped. One, while demanding of his\ncomrades in what direction the arrow came, received a second in his\nthroat, which stopped his words, and soon closed his eyes to the scene.\n\nZerbino, furious at the death of his two comrades, ran upon Medoro,\nseized his golden hair, and dragged him forward to slay him. But the\nsight of so much youth and beauty commanded pity. He stayed his arm. The\nyoung man spoke in suppliant tones. \u201cAh! signor,\u201d said he, \u201cI conjure\nyou by the God whom you serve, deprive me not of life until I shall have\nburied the body of the prince, my master. Fear not that I will ask you\nany other favor; life is not dear to me; I desire death as soon as I\nshall have performed this sacred duty. Do with me then as you please.\nGive my limbs a prey to the birds and beasts; only let me first bury my\nprince.\u201d Medoro pronounced these words with an air so sweet and tender\nthat a heart of stone would have been moved by them. Zerbino was so to\nthe bottom of his soul. He was on the point of uttering words of mercy,\nwhen a cruel subaltern, forgetting all respect to his commander, plunged\nhis lance into the breast of the young Moor. Zerbino, enraged at his\nbrutality, turned upon the wretch to take vengeance, but he saved\nhimself by a precipitate flight.\n\nCloridan, who saw Medoro fall, could contain himself no longer. He\nrushed from his concealment, threw down his bow, and, sword in hand,\nseemed only desirous of vengeance for Medoro, and to die with him. In a\nmoment, pierced through and through with many wounds, he exerts the last\nremnant of his strength in dragging himself to Medoro, to die embracing\nhim. The cavaliers left them thus to rejoin Zerbino, whose rage against\nthe murderer of Medoro had drawn him away from the spot.\n\nCloridan died; and Medoro, bleeding copiously, was drawing near his end\nwhen help arrived.\n\nA young maiden approached the fallen knights at this critical moment.\nHer dress was that of a peasant-girl, but her air was noble, and her\nbeauty celestial; sweetness and goodness reigned in her lovely\ncountenance. It was no other than Angelica, the Princess of Cathay.\n\nWhen she had recovered that precious ring, as we have before related,\nAngelica, knowing its value, felt proud in the power it conferred,\ntravelled alone without fear, not without a secret shame that she had\never been obliged to seek protection in her wanderings of the Count\nOrlando and of Sacripant. She reproached herself too as with a weakness\nthat she had ever thought of marrying Rinaldo; in fine, her pride grew\nso high as to persuade her that no man living was worthy to aspire to\nher hand.\n\nMoved with pity at the sight of the young man wounded, and melted to\ntears at hearing the cause, she quickly recalled to remembrance the\nknowledge she had acquired in India, where the virtues of plants and the\nart of healing formed part of the education even of princesses. The\nbeautiful queen ran into the adjoining meadow to gather plants of virtue\nto staunch the flow of blood. Meeting on her way a countryman on\nhorseback seeking a strayed heifer, she begged him to come to her\nassistance, and endeavor to remove the wounded man to a more secure\nasylum.\n\nAngelica, having prepared the plants by bruising them between two\nstones, laid them with her fair hand on Medoro\u2019s wound. The remedy soon\nrestored in some degree the strength of the wounded man, who, before he\nwould quit the spot, made them cover with earth and turf the bodies of\nhis friend and of the prince. Then surrendering himself to the pity of\nhis deliverers, he allowed them to place him on the horse of the\nshepherd, and conduct him to his cottage. It was a pleasant farmhouse on\nthe borders of the wood, bearing marks of comfort and competency. There\nthe shepherd lived with his wife and children. There Angelica tended\nMedoro, and there, by the devoted care of the beautiful queen, his sad\nwound closed over, and he recovered his perfect health.\n\nO Count Rinaldo, O King Sacripant! what availed it you to possess so\nmany virtues and such fame? What advantage have you derived from all\nyour high deserts? O hapless king, great Agrican! if you could return to\nlife, how would you endure to see yourself rejected by one who will bow\nto the yoke of Hymen in favor of a young soldier of humble birth? And\nthou, Ferrau, and ye numerous others who a hundred times have put your\nlives at hazard for this cruel beauty, how bitter will it be to you to\nsee her sacrifice you all to the claims of the humble Medoro!\n\nThere, under the low roof of a shepherd, the flame of Hymen was lighted\nfor this haughty queen. She takes the shepherd\u2019s wife to serve in place\nof mother, the shepherd and his children for witnesses, and marries the\nhappy Medoro.\n\nAngelica, after her marriage, wishing to endow Medoro with the\nsovereignty of the countries which yet remained to her, took with him\nthe road to the East. She had preserved through all her adventures a\nbracelet of gold enriched with precious stones, the present of the Count\nOrlando. Having nothing else wherewith to reward the good shepherd and\nhis wife, who had served her with so much care and fidelity, she took\nthe bracelet from her arm and gave it to them, and then the\nnewly-married couple directed their steps toward those mountains which\nseparate France and Spain, intending to wait at Barcelona a vessel which\nshould take them on their way to the East.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n ORLANDO MAD\n\nOrlando, on the loss of Angelica, laid aside his crest and arms, and\narrayed himself in a suit of black armor expressive of his despair. In\nthis guise he carried such slaughter among the ranks of the infidels\nthat both armies were astonished at the achievements of the stranger\nknight. Mandricardo, who had been absent from the battle, heard the\nreport of these achievements, and determined to test for himself the\nvalor of the knight so extolled. He it was who broke in upon the\nconference of Zerbino and Isabella, and their benefactor Orlando, as\nthey stood occupied in mutual felicitations, after the happy reunion of\nthe lovers by the prowess of the paladin.\n\nMandricardo, after contemplating the group for a moment, addressed\nhimself to Orlando in these words: \u201cThou must be the man I seek. For ten\ndays and more I have been on thy track. The fame of thy exploits has\nbrought me hither, that I may measure my strength with thine. Thy crest\nand shield prove thee the same who spread such slaughter among our\ntroops. But these marks are superfluous, and if I saw thee among a\nhundred I should know thee by thy martial bearing to be the man I seek.\u201d\n\n\u201cI respect thy courage,\u201d said Orlando; \u201csuch a design could not have\nsprung up in any but a brave and generous soul. If the desire to see me\nhas brought thee hither, I would, if it were possible, show thee my\ninmost soul. I will remove my visor, that you may satisfy your\ncuriosity; but when you have done so I hope that you will also try and\nsee if my valor corresponds to my appearance.\u201d\n\n\u201cCome on,\u201d said the Saracen, \u201cmy first wish was to see and know thee; I\nwill not gratify my second.\u201d\n\nOrlando, observing Mandricardo, was surprised to see no sword at his\nside, nor mace at his saddle-bow. \u201cAnd what weapon hast thou,\u201d said he,\n\u201cif thy lance fail thee?\u201d\n\n\u201cDo not concern yourself about that,\u201d said Mandricardo; \u201cI have made\nmany good knights give ground with no other weapon than you see. Know\nthat I have sworn an oath never to bear a sword until I win back that\nfamous Durindana that Orlando, the paladin, carries. That sword belongs\nto the suit of armor which I wear; that only is wanting. Without doubt\nit was stolen, but how it got into the hands of Orlando I know not. But\nI will make him pay dearly for it when I find him. I seek him the more\nanxiously that I may avenge with his blood the death of King Agrican, my\nfather, whom he treacherously slew. I am sure he must have done it by\ntreachery, for it was not in his power to subdue in fair fight such a\nwarrior as my father.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou liest,\u201d cried Orlando; \u201cand all who say so lie. I am Orlando, whom\nyou seek; yes, I am he who slew your father honorably. Hold, here is the\nsword: you shall have it if your courage avails to merit it. Though it\nbelongs to me by right, I will not use it in this dispute. See, I hang\nit on this tree; you shall be master of it, if you bereave me of life;\nnot else.\u201d\n\nAt these words Orlando drew Durindana, and hung it on one of the\nbranches of a tree near by.\n\nBoth knights, boiling with equal ardor, rode off in a semicircle; then\nrushed together with reins thrown loose, and struck one another with\ntheir lances. Both kept their seats, immovable. The splinters of their\nlances flew into the air, and no weapon remained for either but the\nfragment which he held in his hand. Then those two knights, covered with\niron mail, were reduced to the necessity of fighting with staves, in the\nmanner of two rustics, who dispute the boundary of a meadow, or the\npossession of a spring.\n\nThese clubs could not long keep whole in the hands of such sturdy\nsmiters, who were soon reduced to fight with naked fists. Such warfare\nwas more painful to him that gave than to him that received the blows.\nThey next clasped, and strained each his adversary, as Hercules did\nAnt\u00e6us. Mandricardo, more enraged than Orlando, made violent efforts to\nunseat the paladin, and dropped the rein of his horse. Orlando, more\ncalm, perceived it. With one hand he resisted Mandricardo, with the\nother he twitched the horse\u2019s bridle over the ears of the animal. The\nSaracen dragged Orlando with all his might, but Orlando\u2019s thighs held\nthe saddle like a vise. At last the efforts of the Saracen broke the\ngirths of Orlando\u2019s horse; the saddle slipped; the knight, firm in his\nstirrups, slipped with it, and came to the ground hardly conscious of\nhis fall. The noise of his armor in falling startled Mandricardo\u2019s\nhorse, now without a bridle. He started off in full career, heeding\nneither trees nor rocks nor broken ground. Urged by fright, he ran with\nfurious speed, carrying his master, who, almost distracted with rage,\nshouted and beat the animal with his fists, and thereby impelled his\nflight. After running thus three miles or more, a deep ditch opposed\ntheir progress. The horse and rider fell headlong into it, and did not\nfind the bottom covered with feather-beds or roses. They got sadly\nbruised; but were lucky enough to escape without any broken limbs.\n\nMandricardo, as soon as he gained his feet, seized the horse by his mane\nwith fury; but, having no bridle, could not hold him. He looked round in\nhopes of finding something that would do for a rein. Just then fortune,\nwho seemed willing to help him at last, brought that way a peasant with\na bridle in his hand, who was in search of his farm horse that had\nstrayed away.\n\nOrlando, having speedily repaired his horse\u2019s girths, remounted, and\nwaited a good hour for the Saracen to return. Not seeing him, he\nconcluded to go in search of him. He took an affectionate leave of\nZerbino and Isabella, who would willingly have followed him; but this\nthe brave paladin would by no means permit. He held it unknightly to go\nin search of an enemy accompanied by a friend, who might act as a\ndefender. Therefore, desiring them to say to Mandricardo, if they should\nmeet him, that his purpose was to tarry in the neighborhood three days,\nand then repair to the camp of Charlemagne, he took down Durindana from\nthe tree, and proceeded in the direction which the Saracen\u2019s horse had\ntaken. But the animal, having no guide but its terror, had so doubled\nand confused its traces that Orlando, after two days spent in the\nsearch, gave up the attempt.\n\nIt was about the middle of the third day when the paladin arrived on the\npleasant bank of a stream which wound through a meadow enamelled with\nflowers. High trees, whose tops met and formed an arbor, overshadowed\nthe fountain; and the breeze which blew through their foliage tempered\nthe heat. Hither the shepherds used to resort to quench their thirst,\nand to enjoy the shelter from the midday sun. The air, perfumed with the\nflowers, seemed to breathe fresh strength into their veins. Orlando felt\nthe influence, though covered with his armor. He stopped in this\ndelicious arbor, where everything seemed to invite to repose. But he\ncould not have chosen a more fatal asylum. He there spent the most\nmiserable moments of his life.\n\nHe looked around, and noted with pleasure all the charms of the spot. He\nsaw that some of the trees were carved with inscriptions\u2014he drew near,\nand read them, and what was his surprise to find that they composed the\nname of Angelica! Farther on he found the name of Medoro mixed with\nhers. The paladin thought he dreamed. He stood like one amazed\u2014like a\nbird that, rising to fly, finds its feet caught in a net.\n\nOrlando followed the course of the stream, and came to one of its turns\nwhere the rocks of the mountain bent in such a way as to form a sort of\ngrotto. The twisted stems of ivy and the wild vine draped the entrance\nof this recess, scooped by the hand of nature.\n\nThe unhappy paladin, on entering the grotto, saw letters which appeared\nto have been lately carved. They were verses which Medoro had written in\nhonor of his happy nuptials with the beautiful queen. Orlando tried to\npersuade himself it must be some other Angelica whom those verses\ncelebrated, and as for Medoro, he had never heard his name. The sun was\nnow declining, and Orlando remounted his horse, and went on his way. He\nsoon saw the roof of a cottage whence the smoke ascended; he heard the\nbarking of dogs and the lowing of cattle, and arrived at a humble\ndwelling which seemed to offer an asylum for the night. The inmates, as\nsoon as they saw him, hastened to render him service. One took his\nhorse, another his shield and cuirass, another his golden spurs. This\ncottage was the very same where Medoro had been carried, deeply\nwounded,\u2014where Angelica had tended him, and afterwards married him. The\nshepherd who lived in it loved to tell everybody the story of this\nmarriage, and soon related it, with all its details, to the miserable\nOrlando.\n\nHaving finished it, he went away, and returned with the precious\nbracelet which Angelica, grateful for his services, had given him as a\nmemorial. It was the one which Orlando had himself given her.\n\nThis last touch was the finishing stroke to the excited paladin.\nFrantic, exasperated, he exclaimed, against the ungrateful and cruel\nprincess who had disdained him, the most renowned, the most indomitable\nof all the paladins of France,\u2014him, who had rescued her from the most\nalarming perils,\u2014him, who had fought the most terrible battles for her\nsake,\u2014she to prefer to him a young Saracen! The pride of the noble\nCount was deeply wounded. Indignant, frantic, a victim to ungovernable\nrage, he rushed into the forest, uttering the most frightful shrieks.\n\n\u201cNo, no!\u201d cried he, \u201cI am not the man they take me for! Orlando is dead!\nI am only the wandering ghost of that unhappy Count, who is now\nsuffering the torments of hell!\u201d\n\nOrlando wandered all night, as chance directed, through the wood, and at\nsunrise his destiny led him to the fountain where Medoro had engraved\nthe fatal inscription. The frantic paladin saw it a second time with\nfury, drew his sword, and hacked it from the rock.\n\nUnlucky grotto! you shall no more attract by your shade and coolness,\nyou shall no more shelter with your arch either shepherd or flock. And\nyou, fresh and pure fountain, you may not escape the rage of the furious\nOrlando! He cast into the fountain branches, trunks of trees which he\ntore up, pieces of rocks which he broke off, plants uprooted, with the\nearth adhering, and turf and brushes, so as to choke the fountain, and\ndestroy the purity of its waters. At length, exhausted by his violent\nexertions, bathed in sweat, breathless, Orlando sunk panting upon the\nearth, and lay there insensible three days and three nights.\n\nThe fourth day he started up and seized his arms. His helmet, his\nbuckler, he cast far from him; his hauberk and his clothes he rent\nasunder; the fragments were scattered through the wood. In fine, he\nbecame a furious madman. His insanity was such that he cared not to\nretain even his sword. But he had no need of Durindana, nor of other\narms, to do wonderful things. His prodigious strength sufficed. At the\nfirst wrench of his mighty arm he tore up a pine-tree by the roots.\nOaks, beeches, maples, whatever he met in his path, yielded in like\nmanner. The ancient forest soon became as bare as the borders of a\nmorass, where the fowler has cleared away the bushes to spread his nets.\nThe shepherds, hearing the horrible crashing in the forest, abandoned\ntheir flocks to run and see the cause of this unwonted uproar. By their\nevil star, or for their sins, they were led thither. When they saw the\nfurious state the Count was in, and his incredible force, they would\nfain have fled out of his reach, but in their fears lost their presence\nof mind. The madman pursued them, seized one and rent him limb from\nlimb, as easily as one would pull ripe apples from a tree. He took\nanother by the feet, and used him as a club to knock down a third. The\nshepherds fled; but it would have been hard for any to escape, if he had\nnot at that moment left them to throw himself with the same fury upon\ntheir flocks. The peasants, abandoning their ploughs and harrows,\nmounted on the roofs of buildings and pinnacles of the rocks, afraid to\ntrust themselves even to the oaks and pines. From such heights they\nlooked on, trembling at the raging fury of the unhappy Orlando. His\nfists, his teeth, his nails, his feet, seize, break, and tear cattle,\nsheep, and swine; the most swift in flight alone being able to escape\nhim.\n\nWhen at last terror had scattered everything before him, he entered a\ncottage which was abandoned by its inhabitants, and there found that\nwhich served for food. His long fast had caused him to feel the most\nravenous hunger. Seizing whatever he found that was eatable, whether\nroots, acorns, or bread, raw meat or cooked, he gorged it\nindiscriminately.\n\nIssuing thence again, the frantic Orlando gave chase to whatever living\nthing he saw, whether men or animals. Sometimes he pursued the deer and\nhind, sometimes he attacked bears and wolves, and with his naked hands\nkilled and tore them, and devoured their flesh.\n\nThus he wandered, from place to place, through France, imperilling his\nlife a thousand ways, yet always preserved by some mysterious providence\nfrom a fatal result. But here we leave Orlando for a time, that we may\nrecord what befell Zerbino and Isabella after their parting with him.\n\nThe prince and his fair bride waited, by Orlando\u2019s request, near the\nscene of the battle for three days, that, if Mandricardo should return,\nthey might inform him where Orlando would give him another meeting. At\nthe end of that time their anxiety to know the issue led them to follow\nOrlando\u2019s traces, which led them at last to the wood where the trees\nwere inscribed with the names of Angelica and Medoro. They remarked how\nall these inscriptions were defaced, and how the grotto was disordered,\nand the fountain clogged with rubbish. But that which surprised them and\ndistressed them most of all was to find on the grass the cuirass of\nOrlando, and not far from it his helmet, the same which the renowned\nAlmontes once wore.\n\nHearing a horse neigh in the forest, Zerbino turned his eyes in that\ndirection, and saw Brigliadoro, with the bridle yet hanging at the\nsaddle-bow. He looked round for Durindana, and found that famous sword,\nwithout the scabbard, lying on the grass. He saw also the fragments of\nOrlando\u2019s other arms and clothing scattered on all sides over the plain.\n\nZerbino and Isabella stood in astonishment and grief, not knowing what\nto think, but little imagining the true cause. If they had found any\nmarks of blood on the arms or on the fragments of the clothing, they\nwould have supposed him slain, but there were none. While they were in\nthis painful uncertainty they saw a young peasant approach. He, not yet\nrecovered from the terror of the scene, which he had witnessed from the\ntop of a rock, told them the whole of the sad events.\n\nZerbino, with his eyes full of tears, carefully collected all the\nscattered arms. Isabella also dismounted to aid him in the sad duty.\nWhen they had collected all the pieces of that rich armor they hung them\nlike a trophy on a pine; and to prevent their being violated by any\npassers-by, Zerbino inscribed on the bark this caution: \u201cThese are the\narms of the Paladin Orlando.\u201d\n\nHaving finished this pious work, he remounted his horse, and just then a\nknight rode up, and requested Zerbino to tell him the meaning of the\ntrophy. The prince related the facts as they had happened; and\nMandricardo, for it was that Saracen knight, full of joy, rushed\nforward, and seized the sword, saying, \u201cNo one can censure me for what I\ndo; this sword is mine; I can take my own wherever I find it. It is\nplain that Orlando, not daring to defend it against me, has\ncounterfeited madness to excuse him in surrendering it.\u201d\n\nZerbino vehemently exclaimed, \u201cTouch not that sword. Think not to\npossess it without a contest. If it be true that the arms you wear are\nthose of Hector, you must have got them by theft, and not by prowess.\u201d\n\nImmediately they attacked one another with the utmost fury. The air\nresounded with thick-falling blows. Zerbino, skilful and alert, evaded\nfor a time with good success the strokes of Durindana; but at length a\nterrible blow struck him on the neck. He fell from his horse, and the\nTartar king, possessed of the spoils of his victory, rode away.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n ZERBINO AND ISABELLA\n\nZerbino\u2019s pain at seeing the Tartar prince go off with the sword\nsurpassed the anguish of his wound; but now the loss of blood so reduced\nhis strength that he could not move from where he fell. Isabella, not\nknowing whither to resort for help, could only bemoan him, and chide her\ncruel fate. Zerbino said, \u201cIf I could but leave thee, my best beloved,\nin some secure abode, it would not distress me to die; but to abandon\nthee so, without protection, is sad indeed.\u201d She replied, \u201cThink not to\nleave me, dearest; our souls shall not be parted; this sword will give\nme the means to follow thee.\u201d Zerbino\u2019s last words implored her to\nbanish such a thought, but live, and be true to his memory. Isabella\npromised, with many tears, to be faithful to him so long as life should\nlast.\n\nWhen he ceased to breathe, Isabella\u2019s cries resounded through the\nforest, and reached the ears of a reverend hermit, who hastened to the\nspot. He soothed and calmed her, urging those consolations which the\nword of God supplies; and at last brought her to wish for nothing else\nbut to devote herself for the rest of life wholly to religion.\n\nAs she could not bear the thoughts of leaving her dead lord abandoned,\nthe body was, by the good hermit\u2019s aid, placed upon the horse, and taken\nto the nearest inhabited place, where a chest was made for it, suitable\nto be carried with them on their way. The hermit\u2019s plan was to escort\nhis charge to a monastery, not many days\u2019 journey distant, where\nIsabella resolved to spend the remainder of her days. Thus they\ntravelled day after day, choosing the most retired ways, for the country\nwas full of armed men. One day a cavalier met them, and barred their\nway. It was no other than Rodomont, king of Algiers, who had just left\nthe camp of Agramant, full of indignation at the treatment he had\nreceived from Doralice. At sight of the lovely lady and her reverend\nattendant, with their horse laden with a burden draped with black, he\nasked the meaning of their journey. Isabella told him her affliction,\nand her resolution to renounce the world and devote herself to religion,\nand to the memory of the friend she had lost. Rodomont laughed\nscornfully at this, and told her that her project was absurd; that\ncharms like hers were meant to be enjoyed, not buried, and that he\nhimself would more than make amends for her dead lover. The monk, who\npromptly interposed to rebuke this impious talk, was commanded to hold\nhis peace; and still persisting was seized by the knight and hurled over\nthe edge of the cliff, where he fell into the sea, and was drowned.\n\nRodomont, when he had got rid of the hermit, again applied to the sad\nlady, heartless with affright, and, in the language used by lovers,\nsaid, \u201cshe was his very heart, his life, his light.\u201d Having laid aside\nall violence, he humbly sued that she would accompany him to his\nretreat, near by. It was a ruined chapel from which the monks had been\ndriven by the disorders of the time, and which Rodomont had taken\npossession of. Isabella, who had no choice but to obey, followed him,\nmeditating as she went what resource she could find to escape out of his\npower, and keep her vow to her dead husband, to be faithful to his\nmemory as long as life should last. At length she said, \u201cIf, my lord,\nyou will let me go and fulfil my vow, and my intention, as I have\nalready declared it, I will bestow upon you what will be to you of more\nvalue than a hundred women\u2019s hearts. I know an herb, and I have seen it\non our way, which, rightly prepared, affords a juice of such power, that\nthe flesh, if laved with it, becomes impenetrable to sword or fire. This\nliquor I can make, and will, to-day, if you will accept my offer; and\nwhen you have seen its virtue you will value it more than if all Europe\nwere made your own.\u201d\n\nRodomont, at hearing this, readily promised all that was asked, so eager\nwas he to learn a secret that would make him as Achilles was of yore.\nIsabella, having collected such herbs as she thought proper, and boiled\nthem, with certain mysterious signs and words, at length declared her\nlabor done, and, as a test, offered to try its virtue on herself. She\nbathed her neck and bosom with the liquor, and then called on Rodomont\nto smite with all his force, and see whether his sword had power to\nharm. The pagan, who during the preparations had taken frequent draughts\nof wine, and scarce knew what he did, drew his sword at the word, and\nstruck across her neck with all his might, and the fair head leapt\nsundered from the snowy neck and breast.\n\nRude and unfeeling as he was, the pagan knight lamented bitterly this\nsad result. To honor her memory he resolved to do a work as unparalleled\nas her devotion. From all parts round he caused laborers to be brought,\nand had a tower built to enclose the chapel, within which the remains of\nZerbino and Isabella were entombed. Across the stream which flowed near\nby he built a bridge, scarce two yards wide, and added neither parapet\nnor rail. On the top of the tower a sentry was placed, who, when any\ntraveller approached the bridge, gave notice to his master. Rodomont\nthereupon sallied out, and defied the approaching knight to fight him\nupon the bridge, where any chance step a little aside would plunge the\nrider headlong in the stream. This bridge he vowed to keep until a\nthousand suits of armor should be won from conquered knights, wherewith\nto build a trophy to his victim and her lord.\n\nWithin ten days the bridge was built, and the tower was in progress. In\na short time many knights, either seeking the shortest route, or tempted\nby a desire of adventure, had made the attempt to pass the bridge. All,\nwithout exception, had lost either arms or life, or both; some falling\nbefore Rodomont\u2019s lance, others precipitated into the river. One day, as\nRodomont stood urging his workmen, it chanced that Orlando in his\nfurious mood came thither, and approached the bridge. Rodomont halloed\nto him, \u201cHalt, churl; presume not to set foot upon that bridge; it was\nnot made for such as you!\u201d Orlando took no notice, but pressed on. Just\nthen a gentle damsel rode up. It was Flordelis, who was seeking her\nFlorismart. She saw Orlando, and, in spite of his strange appearance,\nrecognized him. Rodomont, not used to have his commands disobeyed, laid\nhands on the madman, and would have thrown him into the river, but to\nhis astonishment found himself in the grip of one not so easily disposed\nof. \u201cHow can a fool have such strength?\u201d he growled between his teeth.\nFlordelis stopped to see the issue, where each of these two puissant\nwarriors strove to throw the other from the bridge. Orlando at last had\nstrength enough to lift his foe with all his armor, and fling him over\nthe side, but had not wit to clear himself from him, so both fell\ntogether. High flashed the wave as they together smote its surface. Here\nOrlando had the advantage; he was naked, and could swim like a fish. He\nsoon reached the bank, and, careless of praise or blame, stopped not to\nsee what came of the adventure. Rodomont, entangled with his armor,\nescaped with difficulty to the bank. Meantime, Flordelis passed the\nbridge unchallenged.\n\nAfter long wandering without success she returned to Paris, and there\nfound the object of her search; for Florismart, after the fall of\nAlbracca, had repaired thither. The joy of meeting was clouded to\nFlorismart by the news which Flordelis brought of Orlando\u2019s wretched\nplight. The last she had seen of him was when he fell with Rodomont into\nthe stream. Florismart, who loved Orlando like a brother, resolved to\nset out immediately, under the guidance of the lady, to find him, and\nbring him where he might receive the treatment suited to his case. A few\ndays brought them to the place where they found the Tartar king still\nguarding the bridge. The usual challenge and defiance was made, and the\nknights rode to encounter one another on the bridge. At the first\nencounter both horses were overthrown; and, having no space to regain\ntheir footing, fell with their riders into the water. Rodomont, who knew\nthe soundings of the stream, soon recovered the land; but Florismart was\ncarried downward by the current, and landed at last on a bank of mud\nwhere his horse could hardly find footing. Flordelis, who watched the\nbattle from the bridge, seeing her lover in this piteous case, exclaimed\naloud, \u201cAh! Rodomont, for love of her whom dead you honor, have pity on\nme, who love this knight, and slay him not. Let it suffice he yields his\narmor to the pile, and none more glorious will it bear than his.\u201d Her\nprayer, so well directed, touched the pagan\u2019s heart, though hard to\nmove, and he lent his aid to help the knight to land. He kept him a\nprisoner, however, and added his armor to the pile. Flordelis, with a\nheavy heart, went her way.\n\nWe must now return to Rogero, who, when we parted with him, was engaged\nin an adventure which arrested his progress to the monastery whither he\nwas bound with the intention of receiving baptism, and thus qualifying\nhimself to demand Bradamante as his bride. On his way he met with\nMandricardo, and the quarrel was revived respecting the right to wear\nthe badge of Hector. After a warm discussion both parties agreed to\nsubmit the question to King Agramant, and for that purpose took their\nway to the Saracen camp. Here they met Gradasso, who had his controversy\nalso with Mandricardo. This warrior claimed the sword of Orlando,\ndenying the right of Mandricardo to possess it in virtue of his having\nfound it abandoned by its owner. King Agramant strove in vain to\nreconcile these quarrels, and was forced at last to consent that the\npoints in dispute should be settled by one combat, in which Mandricardo\nshould meet one of the other champions, to whom should be committed the\ncause of both. Rogero was chosen by lot to maintain Gradasso\u2019s cause and\nhis own. Great preparations were made for this signal contest. On the\nappointed day it was fought in the presence of Agramant, and of the\nwhole army. Rogero won it; and Mandricardo, the conqueror of Hector\u2019s\narms, the challenger of Orlando, and the slayer of Zerbino, lost his\nlife. Gradasso received Durindana as his prize, which lost half its\nvalue in his eyes, since it was won by another\u2019s prowess, not his own.\n\nRogero, though victorious, was severely wounded, and lay helpless many\nweeks in the camp of Agramant, while Bradamante, ignorant of the cause\nof his delay, expected him at Montalban. Thither he had promised to\nrepair in fifteen days, or twenty at furthest, hoping to have obtained\nby that time an honorable discharge from his obligations to the Saracen\ncommander. The twenty days were passed, and a month more, and still\nRogero came not, nor did any tidings reach Bradamante accounting for his\nabsence. At the end of that time, a wandering knight brought news of the\nfamous combat, and of Rogero\u2019s wound. He added, what alarmed Bradamante\nstill more, that Marphisa, a female warrior, young and fair, was in\nattendance on the wounded knight. He added that the whole army expected\nthat, as soon as Rogero\u2019s wounds were healed, the pair would be united\nin marriage.\n\nBradamante, distressed by this news, though she believed it but in part,\nresolved to go immediately and see for herself. She mounted Rabican, the\nhorse of Astolpho, which he had committed to her care, and took with her\nthe lance of gold, though unaware of its wonderful powers. Thus\naccoutred, she left the castle, and took the road toward Paris and the\ncamp of the Saracens.\n\nMarphisa, whose devotion to Rogero in his illness had so excited the\njealousy of Bradamante, was the twin sister of Rogero. She, with him,\nhad been taken in charge when an infant by Atlantes, the magician, but\nwhile yet a child she had been stolen away by an Arab tribe. Adopted by\ntheir chief, she had early learned horsemanship and skill in arms, and\nat this time had come to the camp of Agramant with no other view than to\nsee and test for herself the prowess of the warriors of either camp,\nwhose fame rang through the world. Arriving at the very moment of the\nlate encounter, the name of Rogero, and some few facts of his story\nwhich she learned, were enough to suggest the idea that it was her\nbrother whom she saw victorious in the single combat. Inquiry satisfied\nthe two of their near kindred, and from that moment Marphisa devoted\nherself to the care of her new-found and much-loved brother.\n\nIn those moments of seclusion Rogero informed his sister of what he had\nlearned of their parentage from old Atlantes. Rogero, their father, a\nChristian knight, had won the heart of Galaciella, daughter of the\nSultan of Africa, and sister of King Agramant, converted her to the\nChristian faith, and secretly married her. The Sultan, enraged at his\ndaughter\u2019s marriage, drove her husband into exile, and caused her with\nher infant children, Rogero and Marphisa, to be placed in a boat and\ncommitted to the winds and waves, to perish; from which fate they were\nsaved by Atlantes. On hearing this, Marphisa exclaimed, \u201cHow can you,\nbrother, leave our parents unavenged so long, and even submit to serve\nthe son of the tyrant who so wronged them?\u201d Rogero replied that it was\nbut lately he had learned the full truth; that when he learned it he was\nalready embarked with Agramant, from whom he had received knighthood,\nand that he only waited for a suitable opportunity when he might with\nhonor desert his standard, and at the same time return to the faith of\nhis fathers. Marphisa hailed this resolution with joy, and declared her\nintention to join with him in embracing the Christian faith.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\nWe left Bradamante when, mounted on Rabican and armed with Astolpho\u2019s\nlance, she rode forth, determined to learn the cause of Rogero\u2019s long\nabsence. One day, as she rode, she met a damsel, of visage and of\nmanners fair, but overcome with grief. It was Flordelis, who was seeking\nfar and near a champion capable of liberating and avenging her lord.\nFlordelis marked the approaching warrior, and, judging from appearances,\nthought she had found the champion she sought. \u201cAre you, Sir Knight,\u201d\nshe said, \u201cso daring and so kind as to take up my cause against a fierce\nand cruel warrior who has made prisoner of my lord, and forced me thus\nto be a wanderer and a suppliant?\u201d Then she related the events which had\nhappened at the bridge. Bradamante, to whom noble enterprises were\nalways welcome, readily embraced this, and the rather as in her gloomy\nforebodings she felt as if Rogero was forever lost to her.\n\nNext day the two arrived at the bridge. The sentry descried them\napproaching, and gave notice to his lord, who thereupon donned his armor\nand went forth to meet them. Here, as usual, he called on the advancing\nwarrior to yield his horse and arms an oblation to the tomb. Bradamante\nreplied, asking by what right he called on the innocent to do penance\nfor his crime. \u201cYour life and your armor,\u201d she added, \u201care the fittest\noffering to her tomb, and I, a woman, the fittest champion to take\nthem.\u201d With that she couched her spear, spurred her horse, and ran to\nthe encounter. King Rodomont came on with speed. The trampling sounded\non the bridge like thunder. It took but a moment to decide the contest.\nThe golden lance did its office, and that fierce Moor, so renowned in\ntourney, lay extended on the bridge. \u201cWho is the loser now?\u201d said\nBradamante; but Rodomont, amazed that a woman\u2019s hand should have laid\nhim low, could not or would not answer. Silent and sad, he raised\nhimself, unbound his helm and mail, and flung them against the tomb;\nthen, sullen and on foot, left the ground; but first gave orders to one\nof his squires to release all his prisoners. They had been sent off to\nAfrica. Besides Florismart, there were Sansonnet and Oliver, who had\nridden that way in quest of Orlando, and had both in turn been\noverthrown in the encounter.\n\nBradamante after her victory resumed her route, and in due time reached\nthe Christian camp, where she readily learned an explanation of the\nmystery which had caused her so much anxiety. Rogero and his fair and\nbrave sister, Marphisa, were too illustrious by their station and\nexploits not to be the frequent topic of discourse even among their\nadversaries, and all that Bradamante was anxious to know reached her\near, almost without inquiry.\n\nWe now return to Gradasso, who by Rogero\u2019s victory had been made\npossessor of Durindana. There now only remained to him to seek the horse\nof Rinaldo; and the challenge, given and accepted, was yet to be fought\nwith that warrior, for it had been interrupted by the arts of Malagigi.\nGradasso now sought another meeting with Rinaldo, and met with no\nreluctance on his part. As the combat was for the possession of Bayard,\nthe knights dismounted and fought on foot. Long time the battle lasted.\nRinaldo, knowing well the deadly stroke of Durindana, used all his art\nto parry or avoid its blow. Gradasso struck with might and main, but\nwellnigh all his strokes were spent in air, or if they smote they fell\nobliquely and did little harm.\n\nThus had they fought long, glancing at one another\u2019s eyes, and seeing\nnaught else, when their attention was arrested perforce by a strange\nnoise. They turned, and beheld the good Bayard attacked by a monstrous\nbird. Perhaps it was a bird, for such it seemed; but when or where such\na bird was ever seen I have nowhere read, except in Turpin; and I am\ninclined to believe that it was not a bird, but a fiend, evoked from\nunderground by Malagigi, and thither sent on purpose to interrupt the\nfight. Whether a fiend or a fowl, the monster flew right at Bayard, and\nclapped his wings in his face. Thereat the steed broke loose, and ran\nmadly across the plain, pursued by the bird, till Bayard plunged into\nthe wood, and was lost to sight.\n\nRinaldo and Gradasso, seeing Bayard\u2019s escape, agreed to suspend their\nbattle till they could recover the horse, the object of contention.\nGradasso mounted his steed, and followed the foot-marks of Bayard into\nthe forest. Rinaldo, never more vexed in spirit, remained at the spot,\nGradasso having promised to return thither with the horse, if he found\nhim. He did find him, after long search, for he had the good fortune to\nhear him neigh. Thus he became possessed of both the objects for which\nhe had led an army from his own country, and invaded France. He did not\nforget his promise to bring Bayard back to the place where he had left\nRinaldo, but only muttering, \u201cNow I have got him, he little knows me who\nexpects me to give him up; if Rinaldo wants the horse let him seek him\nin India, as I have sought him in France,\u201d\u2014he made the best of his way\nto Arles, where his vessels lay; and in possession of the two objects of\nhis ambition, the horse and the sword, sailed away to his own country.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n ASTOLPHO IN ABYSSINIA\n\nWhen we last parted with the adventurous paladin Astolpho, he was just\ncommencing that flight over the countries of the world from which he\npromised himself so much gratification. Our readers are aware that the\neagle and the falcon have not so swift a flight as the Hippogriff on\nwhich Astolpho rode. It was not long, therefore, before the paladin,\ndirecting his course toward the southeast, arrived over that part of\nAfrica where the great river Nile has its source. Here he alighted, and\nfound himself in the neighborhood of the capital of Abyssinia, ruled by\nSenapus, whose riches and power were immense. His palace was of\nsurpassing splendor; the bars of the gates, the hinges and locks, were\nall of pure gold; in fact, this metal, in that country, is put to all\nthose uses for which we employ iron. It is so common that they prefer\nfor ornamental purposes rock crystal, of which all the columns were\nmade. Precious stones of different kinds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires,\nand topazes were set in ornamental designs, and the walls and ceilings\nwere adorned with pearls.\n\nIt is in this country those famous balms grow of which there are some\nfew plants in that part of Jud\u00e6a called Gilead. Musk, ambergris, and\nnumerous gums, so precious in Europe, are here in their native climate.\nIt is said the Sultan of Egypt pays a vast tribute to the monarch of\nthis country to hire him not to cut off the source of the Nile, which he\nmight easily do, and cause the river to flow in some other direction,\nthus depriving Egypt of the source of its fertility.\n\nAt the time of Astolpho\u2019s arrival in his dominions, this monarch was in\ngreat affliction. In spite of his riches and the precious productions of\nhis country, he was in danger of dying of hunger. He was a prey to a\nflock of obscene birds called Harpies, which attacked him whenever he\nsat at meat, and with their claws snatched, tore, and scattered\neverything, overturning the vessels, devouring the food, and infecting\nwhat they left with their filthy touch. It was said this punishment was\ninflicted upon the king because when young, and filled with pride and\npresumption, he had attempted to invade with an army the terrestrial\nparadise, which is situated on the top of a mountain whence the Nile\ndraws its source. Nor was this his only punishment. He was struck blind.\n\nAstolpho, on arriving in the dominions of this monarch, hastened to pay\nhim his respects. King Senapus received him graciously, and ordered a\nsplendid repast to be prepared in honor of his arrival. While the guests\nwere seated at table, Astolpho filling the place of dignity at the\nking\u2019s right hand, the horrid scream of the Harpies was heard in the\nair, and soon they approached, hovering over the tables, seizing the\nfood from the dishes, and overturning everything with the flapping of\ntheir broad wings. In vain the guests struck at them with knives and any\nweapons which they had, and Astolpho drew his sword and gave them\nrepeated blows, which seemed to have no more effect upon them than if\ntheir bodies had been made of tow.\n\nAt last Astolpho thought of his horn. He first gave warning to the king\nand his guests to stop their ears; then blew a blast. The Harpies,\nterrified at the sound, flew away as fast as their wings could carry\nthem. The paladin mounted his Hippogriff, and pursued them, blowing his\nhorn as often as he came near them. They stretched their flight towards\nthe great mountain, at the foot of which there is a cavern, which is\nthought to be the mouth of the infernal abodes. Hither those horrid\nbirds flew, as if to their home. Having seen them all disappear in the\nrecess, Astolpho cared not to pursue them farther, but alighting, rolled\nhuge stones into the mouth of the cave, and piled branches of trees\ntherein, so that he effectually barred their passage out, and we have no\nevidence of their ever having been seen since in the outer air.\n\nAfter this labor Astolpho refreshed himself by bathing in a fountain\nwhose pure waters bubbled from a cleft of the rock. Having rested\nawhile, an earnest desire seized him of ascending the mountain which\ntowered above him. The Hippogriff bore him swiftly upwards, and landed\nhim on the top of the mountain, which he found to be an extensive plain.\n\nA splendid palace rose in the middle of this plain, whose walls shone\nwith such brilliancy that mortal eyes could hardly bear the sight.\nAstolpho guided the winged horse towards this edifice, and made him\npoise himself in the air while he took a leisurely survey of this\nfavored spot and its environs. It seemed as if nature and art had\nstriven with one another to see which could do the most for its\nembellishment.\n\nAstolpho, on approaching the edifice, saw a venerable man advance to\nmeet him. This personage was clothed in a long vesture as white as snow,\nwhile a mantle of purple covered his shoulders, and hung down to the\nground. A white beard descended to his middle, and his hair, of the same\ncolor, overshadowed his shoulders. His eyes were so brilliant that\nAstolpho felt persuaded that he was a blessed inhabitant of the heavenly\nmansions.\n\nThe sage, smiling benignantly upon the paladin, who from respect had\ndismounted from his horse, said to him: \u201cNoble chevalier, know that it\nis by the Divine will you have been brought to the terrestrial paradise.\nYour mortal nature could not have borne to scale these heights and reach\nthese seats of bliss if it were not the will of Heaven that you should\nbe instructed in the means to succor Charles, and to sustain the glory\nof our holy faith. I am prepared to impart the needed counsels; but\nbefore I begin let me welcome you to our sojourn. I doubt not your long\nfast and distant journey have given you a good appetite.\u201d\n\nThe aspect of the venerable man filled the prince with admiration; but\nhis surprise ceased when he learned from him that he was that one of the\nApostles of our Lord to whom he said, \u201cI will that thou tarry till I\ncome.\u201d\n\nSt. John, conducting Astolpho, rejoined his companions. These were the\npatriarch Enoch and the prophet Elijah; neither of whom had yet seen his\ndying day, but, taken from our lower world, were dwelling in a region of\npeace and joy, in a climate of eternal spring, till the last trumpet\nshall sound.\n\nThe three holy inhabitants of the terrestrial paradise received Astolpho\nwith the greatest kindness, carried him to a pleasant apartment, and\ntook great care of the Hippogriff, to whom they gave such food as suited\nhim, while to the prince they presented fruits so delicious that he felt\ninclined to excuse our first parents for their sin in eating them\nwithout permission.\n\nAstolpho, having recruited his strength, not only by these excellent\nfruits, but also by sweet sleep, roused himself at the first blush of\ndawn, and as soon as he left his chamber met the beloved Apostle coming\nto seek him. St. John took him by the hand, and told him many things\nrelating to the past and the future. Among others, he said, \u201cSon, let me\ntell you what is now going on in France. Orlando, the illustrious prince\nwho received at his birth the endowment of strength and courage more\nthan mortal, raised up as was Samson of old to be the champion of the\ntrue faith, has been guilty of the basest ingratitude in leaving the\nChristian camp when it most needed the support of his arm, to run after\na Saracen princess, whom he would fain marry, though she scorns him. To\npunish him his reason has been taken away, so that he runs naked through\nthe land, over mountains and through valleys, without a ray of\nintelligence. The duration of his punishment has been fixed at three\nmonths, and that time having nearly expired, you have been brought\nhither to learn from us the means by which the reason of Orlando may be\nrestored. True, you will be obliged to make a journey with me, and we\nmust even leave the earth, and ascend to the moon, for it is in that\nplanet we are to seek the remedy for the madness of the paladin. I\npropose to make our journey this evening, as soon as the moon appears\nover our head.\u201d\n\nAs soon as the sun sunk beneath the seas, and the moon presented its\nluminous disk, the holy man had the chariot brought out in which he was\naccustomed to make excursions among the stars, the same which was\nemployed long ago to convey Elijah up from earth. The saint made\nAstolpho seat himself beside him, took the reins, and giving the word to\nthe coursers, they bore them upward with astonishing celerity.\n\nAt length they reached the great continent of the Moon. Its surface\nappeared to be of polished steel, with here and there a spot which, like\nrust, obscured its brightness. The paladin was astonished to see that\nthe earth, with all its seas and rivers, seemed but an insignificant\nspot in the distance.\n\nThe prince discovered in this region so new to him rivers, lakes,\nplains, hills, and valleys. Many beautiful cities and castles enriched\nthe landscape. He saw also vast forests, and heard in them the sound of\nhorns and the barking of dogs, which led him to conclude that the nymphs\nwere following the chase.\n\nThe knight, filled with wonder at all he saw, was conducted by the saint\nto a valley, where he stood amazed at the riches strewed all around him.\nWell he might be so, for that valley was the receptacle of things lost\non earth, either by men\u2019s fault, or by the effect of time and chance.\nLet no one suppose we speak here of kingdoms or of treasures; they are\nthe toys of Fortune, which she dispenses in turning her wheel; we speak\nof things which she can neither give nor take away. Such are\nreputations, which appear at one time so brilliant, and a short time\nafter are heard of no more. Here, also, are countless vows and prayers\nfor unattainable objects, lovers\u2019 sighs and tears, time spent in gaming,\ndressing, and doing nothing, the leisure of the dull and the intentions\nof the lazy, baseless projects, intrigues, and plots; these and such\nlike things fill all the valley.\n\nAstolpho had a great desire to understand all that he saw, and which\nappeared to him so extraordinary. Among the rest, he observed a great\nmountain of blown bladders, from which issued indistinct noises. The\nsaint told him these were the dynasties of Assyrian and Persian kings,\nonce the wonder of the earth, of which now scarce the name remains.\n\nAstolpho could not help laughing when the saint said to him, \u201cAll these\nhooks of silver and gold that you see are the gifts of courtiers to\nprinces, made in the hope of getting something better in return.\u201d He\nalso showed him garlands of flowers in which snares were concealed;\nthese were flatteries and adulations, meant to deceive. But nothing was\nso comical as the sight of numerous grasshoppers which had burst their\nlungs with chirping. These, he told him, were sonnets, odes, and\ndedications, addressed by venal poets to great people.\n\nThe paladin beheld with wonder what seemed a lake of spilled milk. \u201cIt\nis,\u201d said the saint, \u201cthe charity done by frightened misers on their\ndeath-beds.\u201d It would take too long to tell all that the valley\ncontained: meanness, affectations, pretended virtues, and concealed\nvices were there in abundance.\n\nAmong the rest Astolpho perceived many days of his own lost, and many\nimprudent sallies which he had made, and would have been glad not to\nhave been reminded of. But he also saw among so many lost things a great\nabundance of one thing which men are apt to think they all possess, and\ndo not think it necessary to pray for,\u2014good sense. This commodity\nappeared under the form of a liquor, most light and apt to evaporate. It\nwas therefore kept in vials, firmly sealed. One of these was labelled,\n\u201cThe sense of the Paladin Orlando.\u201d\n\nAll the bottles were ticketed, and the sage placed one in Astolpho\u2019s\nhand, which he found was his own. It was more than half full. He was\nsurprised to find there many other vials which contained almost the\nwhole of the wits of many persons who passed among men for wise. Ah, how\neasy it is to lose one\u2019s reason! Some lose theirs by yielding to the\nsway of the passions; some in braving tempests and shoals in search of\nwealth; some by trusting too much to the promises of the great; some by\nsetting their hearts on trifles. As might have been expected, the\nbottles which held the wits of astrologers, inventors, metaphysicians,\nand above all, of poets, were in general the best filled of all.\n\nAstolpho took his bottle, put it to his nose, and inhaled it all; and\nTurpin assures us that he was for a long time afterwards as sage as one\ncould wish; but the Archbishop adds that there was reason to fear that\nsome of the precious fluid afterwards found its way back into the\nbottle. The paladin took also the bottle which belonged to Orlando. It\nwas a large one, and quite full.\n\nBefore quitting the planetary region Astolpho was conducted to an\nedifice on the borders of a river. He was shown an immense hall full of\nbundles of silk, linen, cotton, and wool. A thousand different colors,\nbrilliant or dull, some quite black, were among these skeins. In one\npart of the hall an old woman was busy winding off yarns from all these\ndifferent bundles. When she had finished a skein another ancient dame\ntook it and placed it with others; a third selected from the fleeces\nspun, and mingled them in due proportions. The paladin inquired what all\nthis might be. \u201cThese old women,\u201d said the saint, \u201care the Fates, who\nspin, measure, and terminate the lives of mortals. As long as the thread\nstretches in one of those skeins, so long does the mortal enjoy the\nlight of day; but nature and death are on the alert to shut the eyes of\nthose whose thread is spun.\u201d\n\nEach one of the skeins had a label of gold, silver, or iron, bearing the\nname of the individual to whom it belonged. An old man, who, in spite of\nthe burden of years, seemed brisk and active, ran without ceasing to\nfill his apron with these labels, and carried them away to throw them\ninto the river, whose name was Lethe. When he reached the shore of the\nriver the old man shook out his apron, and the labels sunk to the\nbottom. A small number only floated for a time, hardly one in a\nthousand. Numberless birds, hawks, crows, and vultures hovered over the\nstream, with clamorous cries, and strove to snatch from the water some\nof these names; but they were too heavy for them, and after a while the\nbirds were forced to let them drop into the river of oblivion. But two\nbeautiful swans, of snowy whiteness, gathered some few of the names, and\nreturned with them to the shore, where a lovely nymph received them from\ntheir beaks, and carried them to a temple placed upon a hill, and\nsuspended them for all time upon a sacred column, on which stood the\nstatue of Immortality.\n\nAstolpho was amazed at all this, and asked his guide to explain it. He\nreplied, \u201cThe old man is Time. All the names upon the tickets would be\nimmortal if the old man did not plunge them into the river of oblivion.\nThose clamorous birds which make vain efforts to save certain of the\nnames are flatterers, pensioners, venal rhymesters, who do their best to\nrescue from oblivion the unworthy names of their patrons; but all in\nvain; they may keep them from their fate a little while, but ere long\nthe river of oblivion must swallow them all.\n\n\u201cThe swans, that with harmonious strains carry certain names to the\ntemple of Eternal Memory, are the great poets, who save from oblivion\nworse than death the names of those they judge worthy of immortality.\nSwans of this kind are rare. Let monarchs know the true breed, and fail\nnot to nourish with care such as may chance to appear in their time.\u201d\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n THE WAR IN AFRICA\n\nWhen Astolpho had descended to the earth with the precious phial, St.\nJohn showed him a plant of marvellous virtues, with which he told him he\nhad only to touch the eyes of the king of Abyssinia to restore him to\nsight. \u201cThat important service,\u201d said the saint, \u201cadded to your having\ndelivered him from the Harpies, will induce him to give you an army\nwherewith to attack the Africans in their rear, and force them to return\nfrom France to defend their own country.\u201d The saint also instructed him\nhow to lead his troops in safety across the great deserts, where\ncaravans are often overwhelmed with moving columns of sand. Astolpho,\nfortified with ample instructions, remounted the Hippogriff, thanked the\nsaint, received his blessing, and took his flight down to the level\ncountry.\n\nKeeping the course of the river Nile, he soon arrived at the capital of\nAbyssinia, and rejoined Senapus. The joy of the king was great when he\nheard again the voice of the hero who had delivered him from the\nHarpies. Astolpho touched his eyes with the plant which he had brought\nfrom the terrestrial paradise, and restored their sight. The king\u2019s\ngratitude was unbounded. He begged him to name a reward, promising to\ngrant it, whatever it might be. Astolpho asked an army to go to the\nassistance of Charlemagne, and the king not only granted him a hundred\nthousand men, but offered to lead them himself.\n\nThe night before the day appointed for the departure of the troops\nAstolpho mounted his winged horse, and directed his flight towards a\nmountain, whence the fierce South-wind issues, whose blast raises the\nsands of the Nubian desert, and whirls them onward in overwhelming\nclouds. The paladin, by the advice of St. John, had prepared himself\nwith a leather bag, which he placed adroitly, with its mouth open, over\nthe vent whence issues this terrible wind. At the first dawn of morning\nthe wind rushed from its cavern to resume its daily course, and was\ncaught in the bag, and securely tied up. Astolpho, delighted with his\nprize, returned to his army, placed himself at their head, and commenced\nhis march. The Abyssinians traversed without danger or difficulty those\nvast fields of sand which separate their country from the kingdoms of\nNorthern Africa, for the terrible South-wind, taken completely captive,\nhad not force enough left to blow out a candle.\n\nSenapus was distressed that he could not furnish any cavalry, for his\ncountry, rich in camels and elephants, was destitute of horses. This\ndifficulty the saint had foreseen, and had taught Astolpho the means of\nremedying. He now put those means in operation. Having reached a place\nwhence he beheld a vast plain and the sea, he chose from his troops\nthose who appeared to be the best made and the most intelligent. These\nhe caused to be arranged in squadrons at the foot of a lofty mountain\nwhich bordered the plain, and he himself mounted to the summit to carry\ninto effect his great design. Here he found vast quantities of fragments\nof rock and pebbles. These he set rolling down the mountain\u2019s side, and,\nwonderful to relate, as they rolled they grew in size, made themselves\nbodies, legs, necks, and long faces. Next they began to neigh, to\ncurvet, to scamper on all sides over the plain. Some were bay, some\nroan, some dapple, some chestnut. The troops at the foot of the mountain\nexerted themselves to catch these new-created horses, which they easily\ndid, for the miracle had been so considerate as to provide all the\nhorses with bridles and saddles. Astolpho thus suddenly found himself\nsupplied with an excellent corps of cavalry, not fewer (as Archbishop\nTurpin asserts) than eighty thousand strong. With these troops Astolpho\nreduced all the country to subjection, and at last arrived before the\nwalls of Agramant\u2019s capital city, Biserta, to which he laid siege.\n\nWe must now return to the camp of the Christians, which lay before\nArles, to which city the Saracens had retired after being defeated in a\nnight attack led on by Rinaldo. Agramant here received the tidings of\nthe invasion of his country by a fresh enemy, the Abyssinians, and\nlearned that Biserta was in danger of falling into their hands. He took\ncounsel of his officers, and decided to send an embassy to Charles,\nproposing that the whole quarrel should be submitted to the combat of\ntwo warriors, one from each side, according to the issue of which it\nshould be decided which party should pay tribute to the other, and the\nwar should cease. Charlemagne, who had not heard of the favorable turn\nwhich affairs had taken in Africa, readily agreed to this proposal, and\nRinaldo was selected on the part of the Christians to sustain the\ncombat.\n\nThe Saracens selected Rogero for their champion. Rogero was still in the\nSaracen camp, kept there by honor alone, for his mind had been opened to\nthe truth of the Christian faith by the arguments of Bradamante, and he\nhad resolved to leave the party of the infidels on the first favorable\nopportunity, and to join the Christian side. But his honor forbade him\nto do this while his former friends were in distress; and thus he waited\nfor what time might bring forth, when he was startled by the\nannouncement that he had been selected to uphold the cause of the\nSaracens against the Christians, and that his foe was to be Rinaldo, the\nbrother of Bradamante.\n\nWhile Rogero was overwhelmed with this intelligence Bradamante on her\nside felt the deepest distress at hearing of the proposed combat. If\nRogero should fall she felt that no other man living was worthy of her\nlove; and if, on the other hand, Heaven should resolve to punish France\nby the death of her chosen champion, Bradamante would have to deplore\nher brother, so dear to her, and be no less completely severed from the\nobject of her affections.\n\nWhile the fair lady gave herself up to these sad thoughts, the sage\nenchantress, Melissa, suddenly appeared before her. \u201cFear not, my\ndaughter,\u201d said she, \u201cI shall find a way to interrupt this combat which\nso distresses you.\u201d\n\nMeanwhile Rinaldo and Rogero prepared their weapons for the conflict.\nRinaldo had the choice, and decided that it should be on foot, and with\nno weapons but the battle-axe and poniard. The place assigned was a\nplain between the camp of Charlemagne and the walls of Arles.\n\nHardly had the dawn announced the day appointed for this memorable\ncombat, when heralds proceeded from both sides to mark the lists.\nErelong the African troops were seen to advance from the city, Agramant\nat their head; his brilliant arms adorned in the Moorish fashion, his\nhorse a bay, with a white star on his forehead. Rogero marched at his\nside, and some of the greatest warriors of the Saracen camp attended\nhim, bearing the various parts of his armor and weapons. Charlemagne, on\nhis part, proceeded from his intrenchments, ranged his troops in\nsemicircle, and stood surrounded by his peers and paladins. Some of them\nbore portions of the armor of Rinaldo, the celebrated Ogier, the Dane,\nbearing the helmet which Rinaldo took from Mambrino. Duke Namo of\nBavaria and Salomon of Bretagne bore two axes, of equal weight, prepared\nfor the occasion.\n\nThe terms of the combat were then sworn to with the utmost solemnity by\nall parties. It was agreed that if from either part any attempt was made\nto interrupt the battle both combatants should turn their arms against\nthe party which should be guilty of the interruption; and both monarchs\nassented to the condition that in such case the champion of the\noffending party should be discharged from his allegiance, and at liberty\nto transfer his arms to the other side.\n\nWhen all the preparations were concluded the monarchs and their\nattendants retired each to his own side, and the champions were left\nalone. The two warriors advanced with measured steps towards each other,\nand met in the middle of the space. They attacked one another at the\nsame moment, and the air resounded with the blows they gave. Sparks flew\nfrom their battle-axes, while the velocity with which they managed their\nweapons astonished the beholders. Rogero, always remembering that his\nantagonist was the brother of his betrothed, could not aim a deadly\nwound; he strove only to ward off those levelled against himself.\nRinaldo, on the other hand, much as he esteemed Rogero, spared not his\nblows, for he eagerly desired victory for his own sake, and for the sake\nof his country and his faith.\n\nThe Saracens soon perceived that their champion fought feebly, and gave\nnot to Rinaldo such blows as he received from him. His disadvantage was\nso marked that anxiety and shame were manifest on the countenance of\nAgramant. Melissa, one of the most acute enchantresses that ever lived,\nseized this moment to disguise herself under the form of Rodomont, that\nrude and impetuous warrior, who had now for some time been absent from\nthe Saracen camp. Approaching Agramant, she said, \u201cHow could you, my\nlord, have the imprudence of selecting a young man without experience to\noppose the most redoubtable warrior of France? Surely you must have been\nregardless of the honor of your arms, and of the fate of your empire!\nBut it is not too late. Break without delay the agreement which is sure\nto result in your ruin.\u201d So saying, she addressed the troops who stood\nnear, \u201cFriends,\u201d said she, \u201cfollow me; under my guidance every one of\nyou will be a match for a score of those feeble Christians.\u201d Agramant,\ndelighted at seeing Rodomont once more at his side, gave his consent,\nand the Saracens, at the instant, couched their lances, set spurs to\ntheir steeds, and swept down upon the French. Melissa, when she saw her\nwork successful, disappeared.\n\nRinaldo and Rogero, seeing the truce broken, and the two armies engaged\nin general conflict, stopped their battle; their martial fury ceased at\nonce, they joined hands, and resolved to act no more on either side\nuntil it should be clearly ascertained which party had failed to observe\nits oath. Both renewed their promise to abandon forever the party which\nhad been thus false and perjured.\n\nMeanwhile, the Christians, after the first moment of surprise, met the\nSaracens with courage redoubled by rage at the treachery of their foes.\nGuido the Wild, brother and rival of Rinaldo, Griffon and Aquilant, sons\nof Oliver, and numerous others whose names have already been celebrated\nin our recitals, beat back the assailants, and at last, after prodigious\nslaughter, forced them to take shelter within the walls of Arles.\n\nWe will now return to Orlando, whom we last heard of as furiously mad,\nand doing a thousand acts of violence in his senseless rage. One day he\ncame to the borders of a stream which intercepted his course. He swam\nacross it, for he could swim like an otter, and on the other side saw a\npeasant watering his horse. He seized the animal, in spite of the\nresistance of the peasant, and rode it with furious speed till he\narrived at the sea-coast, where Spain is divided from Africa by only a\nnarrow strait. At the moment of his arrival a vessel had just put off to\ncross the strait. She was full of people who, with glass in hand, seemed\nto be taking a merry farewell of the land, wafted by a favorable breeze.\n\nThe frantic Orlando cried out to them to stop and take him in; but they,\nhaving no desire to admit a madman to their company, paid him no\nattention. The paladin thought this behavior very uncivil; and by force\nof blows made his horse carry him into the water in pursuit of the ship.\nThe wretched animal soon had only his head above water; but as Orlando\nurged him forward, nothing was left for the poor beast but either to die\nor swim over to Africa.\n\nAlready Orlando had lost sight of the bark; distance and the swell of\nthe sea completely hid it from his sight. He continued to press his\nhorse forward, till at last it could struggle no more, and sunk beneath\nhim. Orlando, nowise concerned, stretched out his nervous arms, puffing\nthe salt water from before his mouth, and carried his head above the\nwaves. Fortunately they were not rough, scarce a breath of wind agitated\nthe surface; otherwise, the invincible Orlando would then have met his\ndeath. But fortune, which it is said favors fools, delivered him from\nthis danger, and landed him safe on the shore of Ceuta. Here he rambled\nalong the shore till he came to where the black army of Astolpho held\nits camp.\n\nNow it happened, just before this time, that a vessel filled with\nprisoners which Rodomont had taken at the bridge had arrived, and, not\nknowing of the presence of the Abyssinian army, had sailed right into\nport, where of course the prisoners and their captors changed places,\nthe former being set at liberty and received with all joy, the latter\nsent to serve in the galleys. Astolpho thus found himself surrounded\nwith Christian knights, and he and his friends were exchanging greetings\nand felicitations, when a noise was heard in the camp, and seemed to\nincrease every moment.\n\nAstolpho and his friends seized their weapons, mounted their horses, and\nrode to the quarter whence the noise proceeded. Imagine their\nastonishment when they saw that the tumult was caused by a single man,\nperfectly naked, and browned with dirt and exposure, but of a force and\nfury so terrible that he overturned all that offered to lay hands on\nhim.\n\nAstolpho, Dudon, Oliver, and Florismart gazed at him with amazement. It\nwas with difficulty they knew him. Astolpho, who had been warned of his\ncondition by his holy monitor, was the first to recognize him. As the\npaladins closed round Orlando, the madman dealt one and another a blow\nof his fist, which, if they had not been in armor, or he had had any\nweapon, would probably have despatched them; as it was, Dudon and\nAstolpho measured their length on the sand. But Florismart seized him\nfrom behind, Sansonnet and another grasped his legs, and at last they\nsucceeded in securing him with ropes. They took him to the water-side\nand washed him well, and then Astolpho, having first bandaged his mouth\nso that he could not breathe except through his nose, brought the\nprecious phial, uncorked it, and placed it adroitly under his nostrils,\nwhen the good Orlando took it all up in one breath. O marvellous\nprodigy! The paladin recovered in an instant all his intelligence. He\nfelt like one who had awakened from a painful dream, in which he had\nbelieved that monsters were about to tear him to pieces. He seemed\nprostrated, silent, and abashed. Florismart, Oliver, and Astolpho stood\ngazing upon him, while he turned his eyes around and on himself. He\nseemed surprised to find himself naked, bound, and stretched on the\nsea-shore. After a few moments he recognized his friends, and spoke to\nthem in a tone so tender that they hastened to unbind him, and to supply\nhim with garments. Then they exerted themselves to console him, to\ndiminish the weight with which his spirits were oppressed, and to make\nhim forget the wretched condition into which he had been sunk.\n\nOrlando, in recovering his reason, found himself also delivered from his\ninsane attachment to the queen of Cathay. His heart felt now no further\ninfluenced by the recollection of her than to be moved with an ardent\ndesire to retrieve his fame by some distinguished exploit. Astolpho\nwould gladly have yielded to him the chief command of the army, but\nOrlando would not take from the friend to whom he owed so much the glory\nof the campaign; but in everything the two paladins acted in concert,\nand united their counsels. They proposed to make a general assault on\nthe city of Biserta, and were only waiting a favorable moment, when\ntheir plan was interrupted by new events.\n\nAgramant, after the bloody battle which followed the infraction of the\ntruce, found himself so weak that he saw it was in vain to attempt to\nremain in France. So, in concert with Sobrino, the bravest and most\ntrusted of his chiefs, he embarked to return to his own country, having\npreviously sent off his few remaining troops in the same direction. The\nvessel which carried Agramant and Sobrino approached the shore where the\narmy of Astolpho lay encamped before Biserta, and having discovered this\nfact before it was too late, the king commanded the pilot to steer\neastward, with a view to seek protection of the King of Egypt. But the\nweather becoming rough, he consented to the advice of his companions,\nand sought harbor in an island which lies between Sicily and Africa.\nThere he found Gradasso, the warlike king of Sericane, who had come to\nFrance to possess himself of the horse Bayard and the sword Durindana;\nand having procured both these prizes was returning to his own country.\n\nThe two kings, who had been companions in arms under the walls of Paris,\nembraced one another affectionately. Gradasso learned with regret the\nreverses of Agramant, and offered him his troops and his person. He\nstrongly deprecated resorting to Egypt for aid. \u201cRemember the great\nPompey,\u201d said he, \u201cand shun that fatal shore. My plan,\u201d he continued,\n\u201cis this: I mean to challenge Orlando to single combat. Possessed of\nsuch a sword and steed as mine, if he were made of steel or bronze, he\ncould not escape me. He being removed, there will be no difficulty in\ndriving back the Abyssinians. We will rouse against them the Moslem\nnations from the other side of the Nile, the Arabians, Persians, and\nChaldeans, who will soon make Senapus recall his army to defend his own\nterritories.\u201d\n\nAgramant approved this advice except in one particular. \u201cIt is for me,\u201d\nsaid he, \u201cto combat Orlando; I cannot with honor devolve that duty on\nanother.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet us adopt a third course,\u201d said the aged warrior Sobrino. \u201cI would\nnot willingly remain a simple spectator of such a contest. Let us send\nthree squires to the shore of Africa to challenge Orlando and any two of\nhis companions in arms to meet us three in this island of Lampedusa.\u201d\n\nThis counsel was adopted; the three squires sped on their way; and now\npresented themselves, and rehearsed their message to the Christian\nknights.\n\nOrlando was delighted, and rewarded the squires with rich gifts. He had\nalready resolved to seek Gradasso and compel him to restore Durindana,\nwhich he had learned was in his possession. For his two companions the\nCount chose his faithful friend Florismart and his cousin Oliver.\n\nThe three warriors embarked, and sailing with a favorable wind, the\nsecond morning showed them, on their right, the island where this\nimportant battle was to be fought. Orlando and his two companions,\nhaving landed, pitched their tent. Agramant had placed his opposite.\n\nNext morning, as soon as Aurora brightened the edges of the horizon, the\nwarriors of both parties armed themselves and mounted their horses. They\ntook their positions, face to face, lowered their lances, placed them in\nrest, clapped spurs to their horses, and flew to the charge. Orlando met\nthe charge of Gradasso. The paladin was unmoved, but his horse could not\nsustain the terrible shock of Bayard. He recoiled, staggered, and fell\nsome paces behind. Orlando tried to raise him, but, finding his efforts\nunavailing, seized his shield, and drew his famous Balisardo. Meanwhile\nAgramant and the brave Oliver gained no advantage, one or the other; but\nFlorismart unhorsed the King Sobrino. Having brought his foe to the\nground, he would not pursue his victory, but hastened to attack\nGradasso, who had overthrown Orlando. Seeing him thus engaged, Orlando\nwould not interfere, but ran with sword upraised upon Sobrino, and with\none blow deprived him of sense and motion. Believing him dead, he next\nturned to aid his beloved Florismart. That brave paladin, neither in\nhorse nor arms equal to his antagonist, could but parry and evade the\nblows of the terrible Durindana. Orlando, eager to succor him, was\ndelayed for a moment in securing and mounting the horse of the King\nSobrino. It was but an instant, and with sword upraised, he rushed upon\nGradasso who, noways disconcerted at the onset of this second foe,\nshouted his defiance, and thrust at him with his sword, but, having\nmiscalculated the distance, scarcely reached him, and failed to pierce\nhis mail. Orlando, in return, dealt him a blow with Balisardo, which\nwounded as it fell face, breast, and thigh, and, if he had been a little\nnearer, would have cleft him in twain. Sobrino, by this time recovered\nfrom his swoon, though severely wounded, raised himself on his legs, and\nlooked to see how he might aid his friends. Observing Agramant hard\npressed by Oliver, he thrust his sword into the bowels of the latter\u2019s\nhorse, which fell, and bore down his master, entangling his leg as he\nfell, so that Oliver could not extricate himself. Florismart saw the\ndanger of his friend, and ran upon Sobrino with his horse, overthrew\nhim, and then turned to defend himself from Agramant. They were not\nunequally matched, for though Agramant, mounted on Brigliadoro, had an\nadvantage over Florismart, whose horse was but indifferent, yet Agramant\nhad received a serious wound in his encounter with Oliver.\n\nNothing could exceed the fury of the encounter between Orlando and\nGradasso. Durindana, in the hands of Gradasso, clove asunder whatever it\nstruck; but such was the skill of Orlando, who perfectly knew the danger\nto which he was exposed from a stroke of that weapon, it had not yet\nstruck him in such a way as to inflict a wound. Meanwhile, Gradasso was\nbleeding from many wounds, and his rage and incaution increased every\nmoment. In his desperation he lifted Durindana with both hands, and\nstruck so terrible a blow full on the helmet of Orlando, that for a\nmoment it stunned the paladin. He dropped the reins, and his frightened\nhorse scoured with him over the plain. Gradasso turned to pursue him,\nbut at that moment saw Florismart in the very act of striking a fatal\nblow at Agramant, whom he had unhorsed. While Florismart was wholly\nintent upon completing his victory, Gradasso plunged his sword into his\nside. Florismart fell from his horse, and bathed the plain with his\nblood.\n\nOrlando recovered himself just in time to see the deed. Whether rage or\ngrief predominated in his breast, I cannot tell; but, seizing Balisardo\nwith fury, his first blow fell upon Agramant, who was nearest to him,\nand smote his head from his shoulders. At this sight Gradasso for the\nfirst time felt his courage sink, and a dark presentiment of death came\nover him. He hardly stood on his defence when Orlando cast himself upon\nhim, and gave him a fatal thrust. The sword penetrated his ribs, and\ncame out a palm\u2019s breadth on the other side of his body.\n\nThus fell beneath the sword of the most illustrious paladin of France\nthe bravest warrior of the Saracen host. Orlando then, as if despising\nhis victory, leaped lightly to the ground, and ran to his dear friend\nFlorismart, embraced him, and bathed him with his tears. Florismart\nstill breathed. He could even command his voice to utter a few parting\nwords: \u201cDear friend, do not forget me,\u2014give me your prayers,\u2014and oh!\nbe a brother to Flordelis.\u201d He died in uttering her name.\n\nAfter a few moments given to grief Orlando turned to look for his other\ncompanion and his late foes. Oliver lay oppressed with the weight of his\nhorse, from which he had in vain struggled to liberate himself. Orlando\nextricated him with difficulty; he then raised Sobrino from the earth,\nand committed him to his squire, treating him as gently as if he had\nbeen his own brother. For this terrible warrior was the most generous of\nmen to a fallen foe. He took Bayard and Brigliadoro, with the arms of\nthe conquered knights; their bodies and their other spoils he remitted\nto their attendants.\n\nBut who can tell the grief of Flordelis when she saw the warriors\nreturn, and found not Florismart as usual after absence hasten to her\nside. She knew by the aspect of the others that her lord was slain. At\nthe thought, and before the question could pass her lips, she fell\nsenseless upon the ground. When life returned, and she learned the truth\nof her worst fears, she bitterly upbraided herself that she had let him\ndepart without her. \u201cI might have saved him by a single cry when his\nenemy dealt him that treacherous blow, or I might have thrown myself\nbetween and given my worthless life for his. Or if no more, I might have\nheard his last words, I might have given him a last kiss.\u201d So she\nlamented, and could not be comforted.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n ROGERO AND BRADAMANTE\n\nAfter the interruption of the combat with Rinaldo, as we have related,\nRogero was perplexed with doubts what course to take. The terms of the\ntreaty required him to abandon Agramant, who had broken it, and to\ntransfer his allegiance to Charlemagne; and his love for Bradamante\ncalled him in the same direction; but unwillingness to desert his prince\nand leader in the hour of distress forbade this course. Embarking,\ntherefore, for Africa, he took his way to rejoin the Saracen army; but\nwas arrested midway by a storm which drove the vessel on a rock. The\ncrew took to their boat, but that was quickly swamped in the waves, and\nRogero with the rest were compelled to swim for their lives. Then while\nbuffeting the waves Rogero bethought him of his sin in so long delaying\nhis Christian profession, and vowed in his heart that, if he should live\nto reach the land, he would no longer delay to be baptized. His vows\nwere heard and answered; he succeeded in reaching the shore, and was\naided and relieved on landing by a pious hermit, whose cell overlooked\nthe sea. From him he received baptism, having first passed some days\nwith him, partaking his humble fare, and receiving instruction in the\ndoctrines of the Christian faith.\n\nWhile these things were going on, Rinaldo, who had set out on his way to\nseek Gradasso and recover Bayard from him, hearing on his way of the\ngreat things which were doing in Africa, repaired thither to bear his\npart in them. He arrived too late to do more than join his friends in\nlamenting the loss of Florismart, and to rejoice with them in their\nvictory over the Pagan knights. On the death of their king the Africans\ngave up the contest, Biserta submitted, and the Christian knights had\nonly to dismiss their forces, and return home. Astolpho took leave of\nhis Abyssinian army, and sent them back laden with spoil to their own\ncountry, not forgetting to intrust to them the bag which held the winds,\nby means of which they were enabled to cross the sandy desert again\nwithout danger, and did not untie it till they reached their own\ncountry.\n\nOrlando now, with Oliver, who much needed the surgeon\u2019s care, and\nSobrino, to whom equal attention was shown, sailed in a swift vessel to\nSicily, bearing with him the body of Florismart, to be laid in Christian\nearth. Rinaldo accompanied them, as did Sansonnet and the other\nChristian leaders. Arrived at Sicily, the funeral was solemnized with\nall the rites of religion, and with the profound grief of those who had\nknown Florismart, or had heard of his fame. Then they resumed their\ncourse, steering for Marseilles. But Oliver\u2019s wound grew worse instead\nof better, and his sufferings so distressed his friends that they\nconferred together, not knowing what to do. Then said the pilot, \u201cWe are\nnot far from an isle where a holy hermit dwells alone in the midst of\nthe sea. It is said none seek his counsel or his aid in vain. He hath\nwrought marvellous cures, and if you resort to that holy man without\ndoubt he can heal the knight.\u201d Orlando bade him steer thither, and soon\nthe bark was laid safely beside the lonely rock; the wounded man was\nlowered into their boat, and carried by the crew to the hermit\u2019s cell.\nIt was the same hermit with whom Rogero had taken refuge after his\nshipwreck, by whom he had been baptized, and with whom he was now\nstaying, absorbed in sacred studies and meditations.\n\nThe holy man received Orlando and the rest with kindness, and inquired\ntheir errand; and being told that they had come for help for one who,\nwarring for the Christian faith, was brought to perilous pass by a sad\nwound, he straightway undertook the cure. His applications were simple,\nbut they were seconded by his prayers. The paladin was soon relieved\nfrom pain, and in a few days his foot was perfectly restored to\nsoundness. Sobrino, as soon as he perceived the holy monk perform that\nwonder, cast aside his false prophet, and with contrite heart owned the\ntrue God, and demanded baptism at his hands. The hermit granted his\nrequest, and also by his prayers restored him to health, while all the\nChristian knights rejoiced in his conversion almost as much as at the\nrestoration of Oliver. More than all Rogero felt joy and gratitude, and\ndaily grew in grace and faith.\n\nRogero was known by fame to all the Christian knights, but not even\nRinaldo knew him by sight, though he had proved his prowess in combat.\nSobrino made him known to them, and great was the joy of all when they\nfound one whose valor and courtesy were renowned through the world no\nlonger an enemy and unbeliever, but a convert and champion of the true\nfaith. All press about the knight; one grasps his hand, another locks\nhim fast in his embrace; but more than all the rest, Rinaldo cherished\nhim, for he more than any knew his worth.\n\nIt was not long before Rogero confided to his friend the hopes he\nentertained of a union with his sister, and Rinaldo frankly gave his\nsanction to the proposal. But causes unknown to the paladin were at that\nvery time interposing obstacles to its success.\n\nThe fame of the beauty and worth of Bradamante had reached the ears of\nthe Grecian Emperor, Constantine, and he had sent to Charlemagne to\ndemand the hand of his niece for Leo, his son, and the heir to his\ndominions. Duke Aymon, her father, had only reserved his consent until\nhe should first have spoken with his son Rinaldo, now absent.\n\nThe warriors now prepared to resume their voyage. Rogero took a tender\nfarewell of the good hermit who had taught him the true faith. Orlando\nrestored to him the horse and arms which were rightly his, not even\nasserting his claim to Balisarda, that sword which he himself had won\nfrom the enchantress.\n\nThe hermit gave his blessing to the band, and they re-embarked. The\npassage was speedy, and very soon they arrived in the harbor of\nMarseilles.\n\nAstolpho, when he had dismissed his troops, mounted the Hippogriff, and\nat one flight shot over to Sardinia, thence to Corsica, thence, turning\nslightly to the left, hovered over Provence, and alighted in the\nneighborhood of Marseilles. There he did what he had been commanded to\ndo by the holy saint; he unbridled the Hippogriff, and turned him loose\nto seek his own retreats, never more to be galled with saddle or bit.\nThe horn had lost its marvellous power ever since the visit to the moon.\n\nAstolpho reached Marseilles the very day when Orlando, Rinaldo, Oliver,\nSobrino, and Rogero arrived there. Charles had already heard the news of\nthe defeat of the Saracen kings, and all the accompanying events. On\nlearning the approach of the gallant knights, he sent forward some of\nhis most illustrious nobles to receive them, and himself, with the rest\nof his court, kings, dukes, and peers, the queen, and a fair and\ngorgeous band of ladies, set forward from Arles to meet them.\n\nNo sooner were the mutual greetings interchanged, than Orlando and his\nfriends led forward Rogero, and presented him to the Emperor. They vouch\nhim son of Rogero, Duke of Risa, one of the most renowned of Christian\nwarriors, by adverse fortune stolen in his infancy, and brought up by\nSaracens in the false faith, now by a kind Providence converted, and\nrestored to fill the place his father once held among the foremost\nchampions of the throne and Church.\n\nRogero had alighted from his horse, and stood respectfully before the\nEmperor. Charlemagne bade him remount and ride beside him; and omitted\nnothing which might do him honor in sight of his martial train. With\npomp triumphal and with festive cheer the troop returned to the city;\nthe streets were decorated with garlands, the houses hung with rich\ntapestry, and flowers fell like rain upon the conquering host from the\nhands of fair dames and damsels, from every balcony and window. So\nwelcomed, the mighty Emperor passed on till he reached the royal palace,\nwhere many days he feasted, high in hall, with his lords, amid tourney,\nrevel, dance, and song.\n\nWhen Rinaldo told his father, Duke Aymon, how he had promised his sister\nto Rogero, his father heard him with indignation, having set his heart\non seeing her united to the Grecian Emperor\u2019s son. The Lady Beatrice,\nher mother, also appealed to Bradamante herself to reject a knight who\nhad neither title nor lands, and give the preference to one who would\nmake her Empress of the wide Levant. But Bradamante, though respect\nforbade her to refuse her mother\u2019s entreaty, would not promise to do\nwhat her heart repelled, and answered only with a sigh, until she was\nalone, and then gave a loose to tears.\n\nMeanwhile Rogero, indignant that a stranger should presume to rob him of\nhis bride, determined to seek the Prince of Greece, and defy him to\nmortal combat. With this design he donned his armor, but exchanged his\ncrest and emblazonment, and bore instead a white unicorn upon a crimson\nfield. He chose a trusty squire, and, commanding him not to address him\nas Rogero, rode on his quest. Having crossed the Rhine and the Austrian\ncountries into Hungary, he followed the course of the Danube till he\nreached Belgrade. There he saw the imperial ensigns spread, and white\npavilions, thronged with troops, before the town. For the Emperor\nConstantine was laying siege to the city to recover it from the\nBulgarians, who had taken it from him not long before.\n\nA river flowed between the camp of the Emperor and the Bulgarians, and\nat the moment when Rogero approached, a skirmish had begun between the\nparties from either camp, who had approached the stream for the purpose\nof watering. The Greeks in that affray were four to one, and drove back\nthe Bulgarians in precipitate rout. Rogero, seeing this, and animated\nonly by his hatred of the Grecian prince, dashed into the middle of the\nflying mass, calling aloud on the fugitives to turn. He encountered\nfirst a leader of the Grecian host in splendid armor, a nephew of the\nEmperor, as dear to him as a son. Rogero\u2019s lance pierced shield and\narmor, and stretched the warrior breathless on the plain. Another and\nanother fell before him, and astonishment and terror arrested the\nadvance of the Greeks, while the Bulgarians, catching courage from the\ncavalier, rally, change front, and chase the Grecian troops, who fly in\ntheir turn. Leo, the prince, was at a distance when this sudden skirmish\nrose, but not so far but that he could see distinctly, from an elevated\nposition which he held, how the changed battle was all the work of one\nman, and could not choose but admire the bravery and prowess with which\nit was done. He knew by the blazonry displayed that the champion was not\nof the Bulgarian army, though he furnished aid to them. Although he\nsuffered by his valor, the prince could not wish him ill, for his\nadmiration surpassed his resentment. By this time the Greeks had\nregained the river, and crossing it by fording or swimming, some made\ntheir escape, leaving many more prisoners in the hands of the\nBulgarians. Rogero, learning from some of the captives that Leo was at a\npoint some distance down the river, rode thither with a view to meet\nhim, but arrived not before the Greek prince had retired beyond the\nstream, and broken up the bridge. Day was spent, and Rogero, wearied,\nlooked round for a shelter for the night. He found it in a cottage,\nwhere he soon yielded himself to repose. It so happened, a knight who\nhad narrowly escaped Rogero\u2019s sword in the late battle also found\nshelter in the same cottage, and, recognizing the armor of the unknown\nknight, easily found means of securing him as he slept, and next morning\ncarried him in chains and delivered him to the Emperor. By him he was in\nturn delivered to his sister Theodora, mother of the young knight, the\nfirst victim of Rogero\u2019s spear. By her he was cast into a dungeon, till\nher ingenuity could devise a death sufficiently painful to satiate her\nrevenge.\n\nBradamante, meanwhile, to escape her father\u2019s and mother\u2019s importunity,\nhad begged a boon of Charlemagne, which the monarch pledged his royal\nword to grant; it was that she should not be compelled to marry any one\nunless he should first vanquish her in single combat. The Emperor\ntherefore proclaimed a tournament in these words: \u201cHe that would wed\nDuke Aymon\u2019s daughter must contend with the sword against that dame,\nfrom the sun\u2019s rise to his setting; and if, in that time, he is not\novercome the lady shall be his.\u201d\n\nDuke Aymon and the Lady Beatrice, though much incensed at the course\nthings had taken, brought their daughter to court, to await the day\nappointed for the tournament. Bradamante, not finding there him whom her\nheart required, distressed herself with doubts what could be the cause\nof his absence. Of all fancies, the most painful one was that he had\ngone away to learn to forget her, knowing her father\u2019s and her mother\u2019s\nopposition to their union, and despairing to contend against them. But\noh, how much worse would be the maiden\u2019s woe, if it were known to her\nwhat her betrothed was then enduring!\n\nHe was plunged in a dungeon where no ray of daylight ever penetrated,\nloaded with chains, and scantily supplied with the coarsest food. No\nwonder despair took possession of his heart, and he longed for death as\na relief, when one night (or one day, for both were equally dark to him)\nhe was roused with the glare of a torch and saw two men enter his cell.\nIt was the Prince Leo, with an attendant, who had come as soon as he had\nlearned the wretched fate of the brave knight whose valor he had seen\nand admired on the field of battle. \u201cCavalier,\u201d said he, \u201cI am one whom\nthy valor hath so bound to thee, that I willingly peril my own safety to\nlend thee aid.\u201d \u201cInfinite thanks I owe you,\u201d replied Rogero, \u201cand the\nlife you give me I promise faithfully to render back upon your call, and\npromptly to stake it at all times for your service.\u201d The prince then\ntold Rogero his name and rank, at hearing which a tide of contending\nemotions almost overwhelmed Rogero. He was set at liberty, and had his\nhorse and arms restored to him.\n\nMeanwhile, tidings arrived of King Charles\u2019 decree that whoever aspired\nto the hand of Bradamante must first encounter her with sword and lance.\nThis news made the Grecian prince turn pale, for he knew he was no match\nfor her in fight. Communing with himself, he sees how he may make his\nwit supply the place of valor, and employ the French knight, whose name\nwas still unknown to him, to fight the battle for him. Rogero heard the\nproposal with extreme distress; yet it seemed worse than death to deny\nthe first request of one to whom he owed his life. Hastily he gave his\nassent \u201cto do in all things that which Leo should command.\u201d Afterward,\nbitter repentance came over him; yet, rather than confess his change of\nmind, death itself would be welcome. Death seems his only remedy; but\nhow to die? Sometimes he thinks to make none but a feigned resistance,\nand allow her sword a ready access, for never can death come more\nhappily than if her hand guide the weapon. Yet this will not avail, for,\nunless he wins the maid for the Greek prince, his debt remains unpaid.\nHe had promised to maintain a real, not a feigned encounter. He will\nthen keep his word, and banish every thought from his bosom except that\nwhich moved him to maintain his truth.\n\nThe young prince, richly attended, set out, and with him Rogero. They\narrived at Paris, but Leo preferred not to enter the city, and pitched\nhis tents without the walls, making known his arrival to Charlemagne by\nan embassy. The monarch was pleased, and testified his courtesy by\nvisits and gifts. The prince set forth the purpose of his coming, and\nprayed the Emperor to dispatch his suit\u2014\u201cto send forth the damsel who\nrefused ever to take in wedlock any lord inferior to herself in fight;\nfor she should be his bride, or he would perish beneath her sword.\u201d\n\nRogero passed the night before the day assigned for the battle like that\nwhich the felon spends, condemned to pay the forfeit of his life on the\nensuing day. He chose to fight with sword only, and on foot, for he\nwould not let her see Frontino, knowing that she would recognize the\nsteed. Nor would he use Balisarda, for against that enchanted blade all\narmor would be of no avail, and the sword that he did take he hammered\nwell upon the edge to abate its sharpness. He wore the surcoat of Prince\nLeo, and his shield, emblazoned with a golden, double-headed eagle. The\nprince took care to let himself be seen by none.\n\nBradamante, meanwhile, prepared herself for the combat far differently.\nInstead of blunting the edge of her falchion she whets the steel, and\nwould fain infuse into it her own acerbity. As the moment approached she\nseemed to have fire within her veins, and waited impatiently for the\ntrumpet\u2019s sound. At the signal she drew her sword, and fell with fury\nupon her Rogero. But as a well-built wall or aged rock stands unmoved\nthe fury of the storm, so Rogero, clad in those arms which Trojan Hector\nonce wore, withstood the strokes which stormed about his head and breast\nand flank. Sparks flew from his shield, his helm, his cuirass; from\ndirect and back strokes, aimed now high, now low, falling thick and\nfast, like hailstones on a cottage roof; but Rogero, with skilful ward,\nturns them aside, or receives them where his armor is a sure protection,\ncareful only to protect himself, and with no thought of striking in\nreturn. Thus the hours passed away, and, as the sun approached the west,\nthe damsel began to despair. But so much the more her anger increases,\nand she redoubles her efforts, like the craftsman who sees his work\nunfinished while the day is wellnigh spent. O miserable damsel! didst\nthou know whom thou wouldst kill,\u2014if, in that cavalier matched against\nthee thou didst but know Rogero, on whom thy very life-threads hang,\nrather than kill him thou wouldst kill thyself, for he is dearer to thee\nthan life.\n\nKing Charles and the peers, who thought the cavalier to be the Grecian\nprince, viewing such force and skill exhibited, and how without\nassaulting her the knight defended himself, were filled with admiration,\nand declared the champions well matched, and worthy of each other.\n\nWhen the sun was set Charlemagne gave the signal for terminating the\ncontest, and Bradamante was awarded to Prince Leo as a bride. Rogero, in\ndeep distress, returned to his tent. There Leo unlaced his helmet, and\nkissed him on both cheeks. \u201cHenceforth,\u201d said he, \u201cdo with me as you\nplease, for you cannot exhaust my gratitude.\u201d Rogero replied little,\nlaid aside the ensigns he had worn, and resumed the unicorn, then hasted\nto withdraw himself from all eyes. When it was midnight he rose, saddled\nFrontino, and sallied from his tent, taking that direction which pleased\nhis steed. All night he rode absorbed in bitter woe, and called on Death\nas alone capable of relieving his sufferings. At last he entered a\nforest, and penetrated into its deepest recesses. There he unharnessed\nFrontino, and suffered him to wander where he would. Then he threw\nhimself down on the ground, and poured forth such bitter wailings that\nthe birds and beasts, for none else heard him, were moved to pity with\nhis cries.\n\nNot less was the distress of the lady Bradamante, who, rather than wed\nany one but Rogero, resolved to break her word, and defy kindred, court,\nand Charlemagne himself; and, if nothing else would do, to die. But\nrelief came from an unexpected quarter. Marphisa, sister of Rogero, was\na heroine of warlike prowess equal to Bradamante. She had been the\nconfidante of their loves, and felt hardly less distress than themselves\nat seeing the perils which threatened their union. \u201cThey are already\nunited by mutual vows,\u201d she said, \u201cand in the sight of Heaven what more\nis necessary?\u201d Full of this thought she presented herself before\nCharlemagne, and declared that she herself was witness that the maiden\nhad spoken to Rogero those words which they who marry swear; and that\nthe compact was so sealed between the pair that they were no longer\nfree, nor could forsake the one the other to take another spouse. This\nher assertion she offered to prove, in single combat, against Prince\nLeo, or any one else.\n\nCharlemagne, sadly perplexed at this, commanded Bradamante to be called,\nand told her what the bold Marphisa had declared. Bradamante neither\ndenied nor confirmed the statement, but hung her head, and kept silence.\nDuke Aymon was enraged, and would fain have set aside the pretended\ncontract on the ground that, if made at all, it must have been made\nbefore Rogero was baptized, and therefore void. But not so thought\nRinaldo, nor the good Orlando, and Charlemagne knew not which way to\ndecide, when Marphisa spoke thus:\n\n\u201cSince no one else can marry the maiden while my brother lives, let the\nprince meet Rogero in mortal combat, and let him who survives take her\nfor his bride.\u201d\n\nThis saying pleased the Emperor, and was accepted by the prince, for he\nthought that, by the aid of his unknown champion, he should surely\ntriumph in the fight. Proclamation was therefore made for Rogero to\nappear and defend his suit; and Leo, on his part, caused search to be\nmade on all sides for the knight of the Unicorn.\n\nMeanwhile Rogero, overwhelmed with despair, lay stretched on the ground\nin the forest night and day without food, courting death. Here he was\ndiscovered by one of Leo\u2019s people, who, finding him resist all attempts\nto remove him, hastened to his master, who was not far off, and brought\nhim to the spot. As he approached he heard words which convinced him\nthat love was the cause of the knight\u2019s despair; but no clew was given\nto guide him to the object of that love. Stooping down, the prince\nembraced the weeping warrior, and, in the tenderest accents, said:\n\u201cSpare not, I entreat you, to disclose the cause of your distress, for\nfew such desperate evils betide mankind as are wholly past cure. It\ngrieves me much that you would hide your grief from me, for I am bound\nto you by ties that nothing can undo. Tell me, then, your grief, and\nleave me to try if wealth, art, cunning, force, or persuasion cannot\nrelieve you. If not, it will be time enough after all has been tried in\nvain to die.\u201d\n\nHe spoke in such moving accents that Rogero could not choose but yield.\nIt was some time before he could command utterance; at last he said, \u201cMy\nlord, when you shall know me for what I am, I doubt not you, like\nmyself, will be content that I should die. Know, then, I am that Rogero\nwhom you have so much cause to hate, and who so hated you that, intent\non putting you to death, he went to seek you at your father\u2019s court.\nThis I did because I could not submit to see my promised bride borne off\nby you. But, as man proposes and God disposes, your great courtesy, well\ntried in time of sore need, so moved my fixed resolve, that I not only\nlaid aside the hate I bore, but purposed to be your friend forever. You\nthen asked of me to win for you the lady Bradamante, which was all one\nas to demand of me my heart and soul. You know whether I served you\nfaithfully or not. Yours is the lady; possess her in peace; but ask me\nnot to live to see it. Be content rather that I die; for vows have\npassed between myself and her which forbid that while I live she can\nlawfully wive with another.\u201d\n\nSo filled was gentle Leo with astonishment at these words that for a\nwhile he stood silent, with lips unmoved and steadfast gaze, like a\nstatue. And the discovery that the stranger was Rogero not only abated\nnot the good will he bore him, but increased it, so that his distress\nfor what Rogero suffered seemed equal to his own. For this, and because\nhe would appear deservedly an Emperor\u2019s son, and, though in other things\noutdone, would not be surpassed in courtesy, he says: \u201cRogero, had I\nknown that day when your matchless valor routed my troops that you were\nRogero, your virtue would have made me your own, as then it made me\nwhile I knew not my foe, and I should have no less gladly rescued you\nfrom Theodora\u2019s dungeon. And if I would willingly have done so then, how\nmuch more gladly will I now restore the gift of which you would rob\nyourself to confer it upon me. The damsel is more due to you than to me,\nand though I know her worth, I would forego not only her, but life\nitself, rather than distress a knight like you.\u201d\n\nThis and much more he said to the same intent; till at last Rogero\nreplied, \u201cI yield, and am content to live, and thus a second time owe my\nlife to you.\u201d\n\nBut several days elapsed before Rogero was so far restored as to return\nto the royal residence, where an embassy had arrived from the Bulgarian\nprinces to seek the knight of the unicorn, and tender to him the crown\nof that country, in place of their king, fallen in battle.\n\nThus were things situated when Prince Leo, leading by the hand Rogero,\nclad in the battered armor in which he had sustained the conflict with\nBradamante, presented himself before the king. \u201cBehold,\u201d he said \u201cthe\nchampion who maintained from dawn to setting sun the arduous contest; he\ncomes to claim the guerdon of the fight.\u201d King Charlemagne, with all his\npeerage, stood amazed; for all believed that the Grecian prince himself\nhad fought with Bradamante. Then stepped forth Marphisa, and said,\n\u201cSince Rogero is not here to assert his rights, I, his sister, undertake\nhis cause, and will maintain it against whoever shall dare dispute his\nclaim.\u201d She said this with so much anger and disdain that the prince\ndeemed it no longer wise to feign, and withdrew Rogero\u2019s helmet from his\nbrow, saying, \u201cBehold him here!\u201d Who can describe the astonishment and\njoy of Marphisa! She ran and threw her arms about her brother\u2019s neck,\nnor would give way to let Charlemagne and Rinaldo, Orlando, Dudon, and\nthe rest, who crowded round, embrace him, and press friendly kisses on\nhis brow. The joyful tidings flew fast by many a messenger to\nBradamante, who in her secret chamber lay lamenting. The blood that\nstagnated about her heart flowed at that notice so fast, that she had\nwellnigh died for joy. Duke Aymon and the Lady Beatrice no longer\nwithheld their consent, and pledged their daughter to the brave Rogero\nbefore all that gallant company.\n\nNow came the Bulgarian ambassadors, and, kneeling at the feet of Rogero,\nbesought him to return with them to their country, where, in Adrianople,\nthe crown and sceptre were awaiting his acceptance. Prince Leo united\nhis persuasions to theirs, and promised, in his royal father\u2019s name,\nthat peace should be restored on their part. Rogero gave his consent,\nand it was surmised that none of the virtues which shone so\nconspicuously in him so availed to recommend Rogero to the Lady Beatrice\nas the hearing her future son-in-law saluted as a sovereign prince.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n THE BATTLE OF RONCESVALLES\n\nAfter the expulsion of the Saracens from France Charlemagne led his army\ninto Spain, to punish Marsilius, the king of that country, for having\nsided with the African Saracens in the late war. Charlemagne succeeded\nin all his attempts, and compelled Marsilius to submit, and pay tribute\nto France. Our readers will remember Gano, otherwise called Gan, or\nGanelon, whom we mentioned in one of our early chapters as an old\ncourtier of Charlemagne, and a deadly enemy of Orlando, Rinaldo, and all\ntheir friends. He had great influence over Charles, from equality of age\nand long intimacy; and he was not without good qualities: he was brave\nand sagacious, but envious, false, and treacherous. Gan prevailed on\nCharles to send him as ambassador to Marsilius, to arrange the tribute.\nHe embraced Orlando over and over again at taking leave, using such\npains to seem loving and sincere, that his hypocrisy was manifest to\nevery one but the old monarch. He fastened with equal tenderness on\nOliver, who smiled contemptuously in his face, and thought to himself,\n\u201cYou may make as many fair speeches as you choose, but you lie.\u201d All the\nother paladins who were present thought the same, and they said as much\nto the Emperor, adding that Gan should on no account be sent ambassador\nto the Spaniards. But Charles was infatuated.\n\nGan was received with great honor by Marsilius. The king, attended by\nhis lords, came fifteen miles out of Saragossa to meet him, and then\nconducted him into the city with acclamations. There was nothing for\nseveral days but balls, games, and exhibitions of chivalry, the ladies\nthrowing flowers on the heads of the French knights, and the people\nshouting, \u201cFrance! Mountjoy and St. Denis!\u201d\n\nAfter the ceremonies of the first reception the king and the ambassador\nbegan to understand one another. One day they sat together in a garden\non the border of a fountain. The water was so clear and smooth it\nreflected every object around, and the spot was encircled with\nfruit-trees which quivered with the fresh air. As they sat and talked,\nas if without restraint, Gan, without looking the king in the face, was\nenabled to see the expression of his countenance in the water, and\ngoverned his speech accordingly. Marsilius was equally adroit, and\nwatched the face of Gan while he addressed him. Marsilius began by\nlamenting, not as to the ambassador, but as to the friend, the injuries\nwhich Charles had done him by invading his dominions, charging him with\nwishing to take his kingdom from him and give it to Orlando; till at\nlength he plainly uttered his belief that if that ambitious paladin were\nbut dead good men would get their rights.\n\nGan heaved a sigh, as if he was unwillingly compelled to allow the force\nof what the king said; but unable to contain himself long he lifted up\nhis face, radiant with triumphant wickedness, and exclaimed: \u201cEvery word\nyou utter is truth; die he must, and die also must Oliver, who struck me\nthat foul blow at court. Is it treachery to punish affronts like these?\nI have planned everything,\u2014I have settled everything already with their\nbesotted master. Orlando will come to your borders\u2014to Roncesvalles\u2014for\nthe purpose of receiving the tribute. Charles will await him at the foot\nof the mountains. Orlando will bring but a small band with him: you,\nwhen you meet him, will have secretly your whole army at your back. You\nsurround him, and who receives tribute then?\u201d\n\nThe new Judas had scarcely uttered these words when his exultation was\ninterrupted by a change in the face of nature. The sky was suddenly\novercast, there was thunder and lightning, a laurel was split in two\nfrom head to foot, and the Carob-tree under which Gan was sitting, which\nis said to be the species of tree on which Judas Iscariot hung himself,\ndropped one of its pods on his head.\n\nMarsilius, as well as Gan, was appalled at this omen; but on assembling\nhis soothsayers they came to the conclusion that the laurel-tree turned\nthe omen against the Emperor, the successor of the C\u00e6sars, though one of\nthem renewed the consternation of Gan by saying that he did not\nunderstand the meaning of the tree of Judas, and intimating that perhaps\nthe ambassador could explain it. Gan relieved his vexation by anger; the\nhabit of wickedness prevailed over all other considerations; and the\nking prepared to march to Roncesvalles at the head of all his forces.\n\nGan wrote to Charlemagne to say how humbly and submissively Marsilius\nwas coming to pay the tribute into the hands of Orlando, and how\nhandsome it would be of the Emperor to meet him half-way, and so be\nready to receive him after the payment at his camp. He added a brilliant\naccount of the tribute, and the accompanying presents. The good Emperor\nwrote in turn to say how pleased he was with the ambassador\u2019s diligence,\nand that matters were arranged precisely as he wished. His court,\nhowever, had its suspicion still, though they little thought Gan\u2019s\nobject in bringing Charles into the neighborhood of Roncesvalles was to\ndeliver him into the hands of Marsilius, after Orlando should have been\ndestroyed by him.\n\nOrlando, however, did as his lord and sovereign desired. He went to\nRoncesvalles, accompanied by a moderate train of warriors, not dreaming\nof the atrocity that awaited him. Gan, meanwhile, had hastened back to\nFrance, in order to show himself free and easy in the presence of\nCharles, and secure the success of his plot; while Marsilius, to make\nassurance doubly sure, brought into the passes of Roncesvalles no less\nthan three armies, which were successively to fall on the paladin in\ncase of the worst, and so extinguish him with numbers. He had also, by\nGan\u2019s advice, brought heaps of wine and good cheer to be set before his\nvictims in the first instance; \u201cfor that,\u201d said the traitor, \u201cwill\nrender the onset the more effective, the feasters being unarmed. One\nthing, however, I must not forget,\u201d added he; \u201cmy son Baldwin is sure to\nbe with Orlando; you must take care of his life for my sake.\u201d\n\n\u201cI give him this vesture off my own body,\u201d said the king; \u201clet him wear\nit in the battle, and have no fear. My soldiers shall be directed not to\ntouch him.\u201d\n\nGan went away rejoicing to France. He embraced the sovereign and the\ncourt all round with the air of a man who had brought them nothing but\nblessings, and the old king wept for very tenderness and delight.\n\n\u201cSomething is going on wrong, and looks very black,\u201d thought Malagigi,\nthe good wizard; \u201cRinaldo is not here, and it is indispensably necessary\nthat he should be. I must find out where he is, and Ricciardetto too,\nand send for them with all speed.\u201d\n\nMalagigi called up by his art a wise, terrible, and cruel spirit, named\nAshtaroth. \u201cTell me, and tell me truly, of Rinaldo,\u201d said Malagigi to\nthe spirit. The demon looked hard at the paladin, and said nothing. His\naspect was clouded and violent.\n\nThe enchanter, with an aspect still cloudier, bade Ashtaroth lay down\nthat look, and made signs as if he would resort to angrier compulsion;\nand the devil, alarmed, loosened his tongue, and said, \u201cYou have not\ntold me what you desire to know of Rinaldo.\u201d\n\n\u201cI desire to know what he has been doing, and where he is.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe has been conquering and baptizing the world, east and west,\u201d said\nthe demon, \u201cand is now in Egypt with Ricciardetto.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd what has Gan been plotting with Marsilius?\u201d inquired Malagigi; \u201cand\nwhat is to come of it?\u201d\n\n\u201cI know not,\u201d said the devil. \u201cI was not attending to Gan at the time,\nand we fallen spirits know not the future. All I discern is that by the\nsigns and comets in the heavens something dreadful is about to\nhappen\u2014something very strange, treacherous, and bloody; and that Gan\nhas a seat ready prepared for him in hell.\u201d\n\n\u201cWithin three days,\u201d cried the enchanter, loudly, \u201cbring Rinaldo and\nRicciardetto into the pass of Roncesvalles. Do it, and I hereby\nundertake to summon thee no more.\u201d\n\n\u201cSuppose they will not trust themselves with me?\u201d said the spirit.\n\n\u201cEnter Rinaldo\u2019s horse, and bring him, whether he trust thee or not.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt shall be done,\u201d returned the demon.\n\nThere was an earthquake, and Ashtaroth disappeared.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\nMarsilius now made his first movement towards the destruction of\nOrlando, by sending before him his vassal, King Blanchardin, with his\npresents of wines and other luxuries. The temperate but courteous hero\ntook them in good part, and distributed them as the traitor wished; and\nthen Blanchardin, on pretence of going forward to salute Charlemagne,\nreturned, and put himself at the head of the second army, which was the\npost assigned him by his liege-lord. King Falseron, whose son Orlando\nhad slain in battle, headed the first army, and King Balugante the\nthird. Marsilius made a speech to them, in which he let them into his\ndesign, and concluded by recommending to their good will the son of his\nfriend Gan, whom they would know by the vest he had sent him, and who\nwas the only soul amongst the Christian they were to spare.\n\nThis son of Gan, meanwhile, and several of the paladins, who distrusted\nthe misbelievers, and were anxious at all events to be with Orlando, had\njoined the hero in the fatal valley; so that the little Christian host,\nconsidering the tremendous valor of their lord and his friends, were not\nto be sold for nothing. Rinaldo, alas! the second thunderbolt of\nChristendom, was destined not to be there in time to meet the issue. The\npaladins in vain begged Orlando to be on his guard against treachery,\nand send for a more numerous body of men. The great heart of the\nChampion of the Faith was unwilling to harbor suspicion as long as he\ncould help it. He refused to summon aid which might be superfluous;\nneither would he do anything but what his liege-lord had directed. And\nyet he could not wholly repress a misgiving. A shadow had fallen on his\nheart, great and cheerful as it was. The anticipations of his friends\ndisturbed him, in spite of the face with which he met them. Perhaps by a\ncertain foresight he felt his death approaching; but he felt bound not\nto encourage the impression. Besides, time pressed; the moment of the\nlooked-for tribute was at hand, and little combinations of circumstances\ndetermine often the greatest events.\n\nKing Marsilius was to arrive early next day with the tribute, and\nOliver, with the morning sun, rode forth to reconnoitre, and see if he\ncould discover the peaceful pomp of the Spanish court in the distance.\nHe rode up the nearest height, and from the top of it beheld the first\narmy of Marsilius already forming in the passes. \u201cO devil Gan,\u201d he\nexclaimed, \u201cthis then is the consummation of thy labors!\u201d Oliver put\nspurs to his horse, and galloped back down the mountain to Orlando.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d cried the hero, \u201cwhat news?\u201d\n\n\u201cBad news,\u201d said his cousin, \u201csuch as you would not hear of yesterday.\nMarsilius is here in arms, and all the world is with him.\u201d\n\nThe paladins pressed round Orlando, and entreated him to sound his horn,\nin token that he needed help. His only answer was to mount his horse,\nand ride up the mountain with Sansonetto.\n\nAs soon, however, as he cast forth his eyes, and beheld what was round\nabout him, he turned in sorrow, and looked down into Roncesvalles, and\nsaid, \u201cO miserable valley! the blood shed in thee this day will color\nthy name forever.\u201d\n\nOrlando\u2019s little camp were furious against the Saracens. They armed\nthemselves with the greatest impatience. There was nothing but lacing of\nhelmets and mounting of horses, while good Archbishop Turpin went from\nrank to rank exhorting and encouraging the warriors of Christ. Orlando\nand his captains withdrew for a moment to consultation. He fairly\ngroaned for sorrow, and at first had not a word to say, so wretched he\nfelt at having brought his people to die in Roncesvalles. Then he said:\n\u201cIf it had entered into my heart to conceive the king of Spain to be\nsuch a villain never would you have seen this day. He has exchanged with\nme a thousand courtesies and good words; and I thought that the worse\nenemies we had been before, the better friends we had become now. I\nfancied every human being capable of this kind of virtue on a good\nopportunity, saving, indeed, such base-hearted wretches as can never\nforgive their very forgivers; and of these I did not suppose him to be\none. Let us die, if die we must, like honest and gallant men, so that it\nshall be said of us it was only our bodies that died. The reason why I\ndid not sound the horn was partly because I thought it did not become\nus, and partly because our liege lord could hardly save us, even if he\nheard it.\u201d And with these words Orlando sprang to his horse, crying,\n\u201cAway against the Saracens!\u201d But he had no sooner turned his face than\nhe wept bitterly, and said, \u201cO Holy Virgin, think not of me, the sinner\nOrlando, but have pity on these thy servants!\u201d\n\nAnd now with a mighty dust, and an infinite sound of horns and tambours,\nwhich came filling the valley, the first army of the infidels made its\nappearance, horses neighing, and a thousand pennons flying in the air.\nKing Falseron led them on, saying to his officers: \u201cLet nobody dare to\nlay a finger on Orlando. He belongs to myself. The revenge of my son\u2019s\ndeath is mine. I will cut the man down that comes between us.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow, friends,\u201d said Orlando, \u201cevery man for himself, and St. Michael\nfor us all! There is not one here that is not a perfect knight.\u201d And he\nmight well say it, for the flower of all France was there, except\nRinaldo and Ricciardetto\u2014every man a picked man, all friends and\nconstant companions of Orlando.\n\nSo the captains of the little troop and of the great army sat looking at\none another, and singling one another out as the latter came on, and\nthen the knights put spear in rest, and ran for a while two and two in\nsuccession, one against the other.\n\nAstolpho was the first to move. He ran against Arlotto of Sorio, and\nthrust his antagonist\u2019s body out of the saddle, and his soul into the\nother world. Oliver encountered Malprimo, and, though he received a\nthrust which hurt him, sent his lance right through the heart of\nMalprimo.\n\nFalseron was daunted at this blow. \u201cTruly,\u201d thought he, \u201cthis is a\nmarvel.\u201d Oliver did not press on among the Saracens, his wound was too\npainful; but Orlando now put himself and his whole band in motion, and\nyou may guess what an uproar ensued. The sound of the rattling of blows\nand helmets was as if the forge of Vulcan had been thrown open. Falseron\nbeheld Orlando coming so furiously, that he thought him a Lucifer who\nhad burst his chain, and was quite of another mind than when he purposed\nto have him all to himself. On the contrary, he recommended himself to\nhis gods, and turned away, meaning to wait for a more auspicious season\nof revenge. But Orlando hailed him with a terrible voice, saying, \u201cO\nthou traitor! was this the end to which old quarrels were made up?\u201d Then\nhe dashed at Falseron with a fury so swift, and at the same time with a\nmastery of his lance so marvellous, that, though he plunged it in the\nman\u2019s body so as instantly to kill him, and then withdrew it, the body\ndid not move in the saddle. The hero himself, as he rushed onwards, was\nfain to see the end of a stroke so perfect, and turning his horse back,\ntouched the carcass with his sword, and it fell on the instant!\n\nWhen the infidels beheld their leader dead such fear fell upon them that\nthey were for leaving the field to the paladins, but they were unable.\nMarsilius had drawn the rest of his forces round the valley like a net,\nso that their shoulders were turned in vain. Orlando rode into the thick\nof them, and wherever he went thunderbolts fell upon helmets. Oliver was\nagain in the fray, with Walter and Baldwin, Avino and Avolio, while\nArchbishop Turpin had changed his crosier for a lance, and chased a new\nflock before him to the mountains.\n\nYet what could be done against foes without number? Marsilius constantly\npours them in. The paladins are as units to thousands. Why tarry the\nhorses of Rinaldo and Ricciardetto?\n\nThe horses did not tarry, but fate had been quicker than enchantment.\nAshtaroth had presented himself to Rinaldo in Egypt, and, after telling\nhis errand, he and Foul-mouth, his servant, entered the horses of\nRinaldo and Ricciardetto, which began to neigh, and snort, and leap with\nthe fiends within them, till off they flew through the air over the\npyramids and across the desert, and reached Spain and the scene of\naction just as Marsilius brought up his third army. The two paladins on\ntheir horses dropped right into the midst of the Saracens, and began\nmaking such havoc among them that Marsilius, who overlooked the fight\nfrom a mountain, thought his soldiers had turned against one another.\nOrlando beheld it, and guessed it could be no other but his cousins, and\npressed to meet them. Oliver coming up at the same moment, the rapture\nof the whole party is not to be expressed. After a few hasty words of\nexplanation they were forced to turn again upon the enemy, whose numbers\nseemed perfectly without limit.\n\nOrlando, making a bloody passage towards Marsilius, struck a youth on\nthe head, whose helmet was so strong as to resist the blow, but at the\nsame time flew off. Orlando prepared to strike a second blow, when the\nyouth exclaimed, \u201cHold! you loved my father; I am Bujaforte!\u201d The\npaladin had never seen Bujaforte, but he saw the likeness to the good\nold man, his father, and he dropped his sword. \u201cO Bujaforte,\u201d said he,\n\u201cI loved him indeed; but what does his son do here fighting against his\nfriends?\u201d\n\nBujaforte could not at once speak for weeping. At length he said: \u201cI am\nforced to be here by my lord and master, Marsilius; and I have made a\nshow of fighting, but have not hurt a single Christian. Treachery is on\nevery side of you. Baldwin himself has a vest given him by Marsilius,\nthat everybody may know the son of his friend Gan, and do him no harm.\u201d\n\n\u201cPut your helmet on again,\u201d said Orlando, \u201cand behave just as you have\ndone. Never will your father\u2019s friend be an enemy to the son.\u201d\n\nThe hero then turned in fury to look for Baldwin, who was hastening\ntowards him at that moment, with friendliness in his looks.\n\n\u201c\u2019Tis strange,\u201d said Baldwin, \u201cI have done my duty as well as I could,\nyet nobody will come against me. I have slain right and left, and cannot\ncomprehend what it is that makes the stoutest infidels avoid me.\u201d\n\n\u201cTake off your vest,\u201d said Orlando, contemptuously, \u201cand you will soon\ndiscover the secret, if you wish to know it. Your father has sold us to\nMarsilius, all but his honorable son.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf my father,\u201d said Baldwin, impetuously tearing off the vest, \u201chas\nbeen such a villain, and I escape dying, I will plunge this sword\nthrough his heart. But I am no traitor, Orlando, and you do me wrong to\nsay it. Think not I can live with dishonor.\u201d\n\nBaldwin spurred off into the fight, not waiting to hear another word\nfrom Orlando, who was very sorry for what he had said, for he perceived\nthat the youth was in despair.\n\nAnd now the fight raged beyond all it had done before; twenty pagans\nwent down for one paladin, but still the paladins fell. Sansonetto was\nbeaten to earth by the club of Grandonio, Walter d\u2019Amulion had his\nshoulder broken, Berlinghieri and Ottone were slain, and at last\nAstolpho fell, in revenge of whose death Orlando turned the spot where\nhe died into a lake of Saracen blood. The luckless Bujaforte met\nRinaldo, and before he could explain how he seemed to be fighting on the\nSaracen side received such a blow upon the head that he fell, unable to\nutter a word. Orlando, cutting his way to a spot where there was a great\nstruggle and uproar, found the poor youth Baldwin, the son of Gan, with\ntwo spears in his breast. \u201cI am no traitor now,\u201d said Baldwin, and those\nwere the last words he said. Orlando was bitterly sorry to have been the\ncause of his death, and tears streamed from his eyes. At length down\nwent Oliver himself. He had become blinded with his own blood, and\nsmitten Orlando without knowing him. \u201cHow now, cousin,\u201d cried Orlando,\n\u201chave you too gone over to the enemy?\u201d \u201cO my lord and master,\u201d cried the\nother, \u201cI ask your pardon. I can see nothing; I am dying. Some traitor\nhas stabbed me in the back. If you love me, lead my horse into the thick\nof them, so that I may not die unavenged.\u201d\n\n\u201cI shall die myself before long,\u201d said Orlando, \u201cout of very toil and\ngrief; so we will go together.\u201d\n\nOrlando led his cousin\u2019s horse where the press was thickest, and\ndreadful was the strength of the dying man and his tired companion. They\nmade a street through which they passed out of the battle, and Orlando\nled his cousin away to his tent, and said, \u201cWait a little till I return,\nfor I will go and sound the horn on the hill yonder.\u201d\n\n\u201c\u2019Tis of no use,\u201d said Oliver, \u201cmy spirit is fast going and desires to\nbe with its Lord and Saviour.\u201d\n\nHe would have said more, but his words came from him imperfectly, like\nthose of a man in a dream, and so he expired.\n\nWhen Orlando saw him dead he felt as if he was alone on the earth, and\nhe was quite willing to leave it, only he wished that King Charles, at\nthe foot of the mountains, should know how the case stood before he\nwent. So he took up the horn and blew it three times, with such force\nthat the blood burst out of his nose and mouth. Turpin says that at the\nthird blast the horn broke in two.\n\nIn spite of all the noise of the battle, the sound of the horn broke\nover it like a voice out of the other world. They say that birds fell\ndead at it, and that the whole Saracen army drew back in terror.\nCharlemagne was sitting in the midst of his court when the sound reached\nhim, and Gan was there. The Emperor was the first to hear it.\n\n\u201cDo you hear that?\u201d said he to his nobles. \u201cDid you hear the horn as I\nheard it?\u201d\n\nUpon this they all listened, and Gan felt his heart misgive him. The\nhorn sounded a second time.\n\n\u201cWhat is the meaning of this?\u201d said Charles.\n\n\u201cOrlando is hunting,\u201d observed Gan, \u201cand the stag is killed.\u201d\n\nBut when the horn sounded yet a third time, and the blast was one of so\ndreadful a vehemence, everybody looked at the other, and then they all\nlooked at Gan in a fury. Charles rose from his seat.\n\n\u201cThis is no hunting of the stag,\u201d said he. \u201cThe sound goes to my very\nheart. O Gan! O Gan! Not for thee do I blush, but for myself. O foul and\nmonstrous villain! Take him, gentleman, and keep him in close prison.\nWould to God I had not lived to see this day!\u201d\n\nBut it was no time for words. They put the traitor in prison and then\nCharles, with all his court, took his way to Roncesvalles, grieving and\npraying.\n\nIt was afternoon when the horn sounded, and half an hour after it when\nthe Emperor set out; and meantime Orlando had returned to the fight that\nhe might do his duty, however hopeless, as long as he could sit his\nhorse. At length he found his end approaching, for toil and fever, and\nrode all alone to a fountain where he had before quenched his thirst.\nHis horse was wearier than he, and no sooner had his master alighted\nthan the beast, kneeling down as if to take leave, and to say, \u201cI have\nbrought you to a place of rest,\u201d fell dead at his feet. Orlando cast\nwater on him from the fountain, not wishing to believe him dead; but\nwhen he found it to no purpose, he grieved for him as if he had been a\nhuman being, and addressed him by name with tears, and asked forgiveness\nif he had ever done him wrong. They say that the horse, at these words,\nopened his eyes a little, and looked kindly at his master, and then\nstirred never more. They say also that Orlando then summoning all his\nstrength, smote a rock near him with his beautiful sword Durindana,\nthinking to shiver the steel in pieces, and so prevent its falling into\nthe hands of the enemy, but though the rock split like a slate, and a\ngreat cleft remained ever after to astonish the eyes of pilgrims, the\nsword remained uninjured.\n\nAnd now Rinaldo and Ricciardetto came up, with Turpin, having driven\nback the Saracens, and told Orlando that the battle was won. Then\nOrlando knelt before Turpin and begged remission of his sins, and Turpin\ngave him absolution. Orlando fixed his eyes on the hilt of his sword as\non a crucifix, and embraced it, and he raised his eyes and appeared like\na creature seraphical and transfigured, and bowing his head, he breathed\nout his pure soul.\n\nAnd now King Charles and his nobles came up. The Emperor, at sight of\nthe dead Orlando, threw himself, as if he had been a reckless youth,\nfrom his horse, and embraced and kissed the body, and said: \u201cI bless\nthee, Orlando; I bless thy whole life, and all that thou wast, and all\nthat thou ever didst, and the father that begat thee; and I ask pardon\nof thee for believing those who brought thee to thine end. They shall\nhave their reward, O thou beloved one! But indeed it is thou that\nlivest, and I who am worse than dead.\u201d\n\nHorrible to the Emperor\u2019s eyes was the sight of the field of\nRoncesvalles. The Saracens indeed had fled, conquered; but all his\npaladins but two were left on it dead, and the whole valley looked like\na great slaughterhouse, trampled into blood and dirt, and reeking to the\nheat. Charles trembled to his heart\u2019s core for wonder and agony. After\ngazing dumbly on the place he cursed it with a solemn curse, and wished\nthat never grass might grow in it again, nor seed of any kind, neither\nwithin it nor on any of its mountains around, but the anger of Heaven\nabide over it forever.\n\nCharles and his warriors went after the Saracens into Spain. They took\nand fired Saragossa, and Marsilius was hung to the carob-tree under\nwhich he had planned his villainy with Gan; and Gan was hung and drawn\nand quartered in Roncesvalles, amidst the execrations of the country.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n RINALDO AND BAYARD\n\nCharlemagne was overwhelmed with grief at the loss of so many of his\nbravest warriors at the disaster of Roncesvalles, and bitterly\nreproached himself for his credulity in resigning himself so completely\nto the counsels of the treacherous Count Gan. Yet he soon fell into a\nsimilar snare when he suffered his unworthy son, Charlot, to acquire\nsuch an influence over him, that he constantly led him into acts of\ncruelty and injustice that in his right mind he would have scorned to\ncommit. Rinaldo and his brothers, for some slight offence to the\nimperious young prince, were forced to fly from Paris, and to take\nshelter in their castle of Montalban; for Charles had publicly said, if\nhe could take them he would hang them all. He sent numbers of his\nbravest knights to arrest them, but all without success. Either Rinaldo\nfoiled their efforts and sent them back, stripped of their armor and of\ntheir glory, or, after meeting and conferring with him, they came back\nand told the king they could not be his instruments for such a work.\n\nAt last Charles himself raised a great army, and went in person to\ncompel the paladin to submit. He ravaged all the country round about\nMontalban, so that supplies of food should be cut off, and he threatened\ndeath to any who should attempt to issue forth, hoping to compel the\ngarrison to submit for want of food.\n\nRinaldo\u2019s resources had been brought so low that it seemed useless to\ncontend any longer. His brothers had been taken prisoners in a skirmish,\nand his only hope of saving their lives was in making terms with the\nking.\n\nSo he sent a messenger, offering to yield himself and his castle if the\nking would spare his and his brothers\u2019 lives. While the messenger was\ngone Rinaldo, impatient to learn what tidings he might bring, rode out\nto meet him. When he had ridden as far as he thought prudent he stopped\nin a wood, and alighting, tied Bayard to a tree. Then he sat down, and,\nas he waited, he fell asleep. Bayard meanwhile got loose, and strayed\naway where the grass tempted him. Just then came along some country\npeople, who said to one another, \u201cLook, is not that the great horse\nBayard that Rinaldo rides? Let us take him, and carry him to King\nCharles, who will pay us well for our trouble.\u201d They did so, and the\nking was delighted with his prize, and gave them a present that made\nthem rich to their dying day.\n\nWhen Rinaldo woke he looked round for his horse, and, finding him not,\nhe groaned, and said, \u201cO unlucky hour that I was born! how fortune\npersecutes me!\u201d So desperate was he that he took off his armor and his\nspurs, saying, \u201cWhat need have I of these, since Bayard is lost?\u201d While\nhe stood thus lamenting, a man came from the thicket, seemingly bent\nwith age. He had a long beard hanging over his breast, and eyebrows that\nalmost covered his eyes. He bade Rinaldo good day. Rinaldo thanked him,\nand said, \u201cA good day I have hardly had since I was born.\u201d Then said the\nold man, \u201cSignor Rinaldo, you must not despair, for God will make all\nthings turn to the best.\u201d Rinaldo answered, \u201cMy trouble is too heavy for\nme to hope relief. The king has taken my brothers, and means to put them\nto death. I thought to rescue them by means of my horse Bayard, but\nwhile I slept some thief has stolen him.\u201d The old man replied, \u201cI will\nremember you and your brothers in my prayers. I am a poor man, have you\nnot something to give me?\u201d Rinaldo said, \u201cI have nothing to give,\u201d but\nthen he recollected his spurs. He gave them to the beggar, and said,\n\u201cHere, take my spurs. They are the first present my mother gave me when\nmy father, Count Aymon, dubbed me knight. They ought to bring you ten\npounds.\u201d\n\nThe old man took the spurs, and put them into his sack, and said, \u201cNoble\nsir, have you nothing else you can give me?\u201d Rinaldo replied, \u201cAre you\nmaking sport of me? I tell you truly if it were not for shame to beat\none so helpless, I would teach you better manners.\u201d The old man said,\n\u201cOf a truth, sir, if you did so you would do a great sin. If all had\nbeaten me of whom I have begged I should have been killed long ago, for\nI ask alms in churches and convents, and wherever I can.\u201d \u201cYou say\ntrue,\u201d replied Rinaldo, \u201cif you did not ask, none would relieve you.\u201d\nThe old man said, \u201cTrue, noble sir, therefore I pray if you have\nanything more to spare, give it me.\u201d Rinaldo gave him his mantle, and\nsaid, \u201cTake it, pilgrim. I give it you for the love of Christ, that God\nwould save my brothers from a shameful death, and help me to escape out\nof King Charles\u2019s power.\u201d\n\nThe pilgrim took the mantle, folded it up, and put it into his bag. Then\na third time he said to Rinaldo, \u201cSir, have you nothing left to give me\nthat I may remember you in my prayers?\u201d \u201cWretch!\u201d exclaimed Rinaldo, \u201cdo\nyou make me your sport?\u201d and he drew his sword, and struck at him; but\nthe old man warded off the blow with his staff, and said, \u201cRinaldo,\nwould you slay your cousin, Malagigi?\u201d When Rinaldo heard that he stayed\nhis hand, and gazed doubtingly on the old man, who now threw aside his\ndisguise, and appeared to be indeed Malagigi. \u201cDear cousin,\u201d said\nRinaldo, \u201cpray forgive me. I did not know you. Next to God, my trust is\nin you. Help my brothers to escape out of prison, I entreat you. I have\nlost my horse, and therefore cannot render them any assistance.\u201d\nMalagigi answered, \u201cCousin Rinaldo, I will enable you to recover your\nhorse. Meanwhile, you must do as I say.\u201d\n\nThen Malagigi took from his sack a gown, and gave it to Rinaldo to put\non over his armor, and a hat that was full of holes, and an old pair of\nshoes to put on. They looked like two pilgrims, very old and poor. Then\nthey went forth from the wood, and after a little while saw four monks\nriding along the road. Malagigi said to Rinaldo, \u201cI will go meet the\nmonks, and see what news I can learn.\u201d\n\nMalagigi learned from the monks that on the approaching festival there\nwould be a great crowd of people at court, for the prince was going to\nshow the ladies the famous horse Bayard that used to belong to Rinaldo.\n\u201cWhat!\u201d said the pilgrim; \u201cis Bayard there?\u201d \u201cYes,\u201d answered the monks;\n\u201cthe king has given him to Charlot, and, after the prince has ridden him\nthe king means to pass sentence on the brothers of Rinaldo, and have\nthem hanged.\u201d Then Malagigi asked alms of the monks, but they would give\nhim none, till he threw aside his pilgrim garb, and let them see his\narmor, when, partly for charity and partly for terror, they gave him a\ngolden cup, adorned with precious stones that sparkled in the sunshine.\n\nMalagigi then hastened back to Rinaldo, and told him what he had\nlearned.\n\nThe morning of the feast-day Rinaldo and Malagigi came to the place\nwhere the sports were to be held. Malagigi gave Rinaldo his spurs back\nagain, and said, \u201cCousin, put on your spurs, for you will need them.\u201d\n\u201cHow shall I need them,\u201d said Rinaldo, \u201csince I have lost my horse?\u201d Yet\nhe did as Malagigi directed him.\n\nWhen the two had taken their stand on the border of the field among the\ncrowd the princes and ladies of the court began to assemble. When they\nwere all assembled the king came also, and Charlot with him, near whom\nthe horse Bayard was led, in the charge of grooms, who were expressly\nenjoined to guard him safely. The king, looking round on the circle of\nspectators, saw Malagigi and Rinaldo, and observed the splendid cup that\nthey had, and said to Charlot, \u201cSee, my son, what a brilliant cup those\ntwo pilgrims have got. It seems to be worth a hundred ducats.\u201d \u201cThat is\ntrue,\u201d said Charlot; \u201cLet us go and ask where they got it.\u201d So they rode\nto the place where the pilgrims stood, and Charlot stopped Bayard close\nto them.\n\nThe horse snuffed at the pilgrims, knew Rinaldo, and caressed his\nmaster. The king said to Malagigi, \u201cFriend, where did you get that\nbeautiful cup?\u201d Malagigi replied, \u201cHonorable sir, I paid for it all the\nmoney I have saved from eleven years\u2019 begging in churches and convents.\nThe Pope himself has blessed it, and given it the power that whosoever\neats or drinks out of it shall be pardoned of all his sins.\u201d Then said\nthe king to Charlot, \u201cMy son, these are right holy men; see how the dumb\nbeast worships them.\u201d\n\nThen the king said to Malagigi, \u201cGive me a morsel from your cup, that I\nmay be cleared of my sins.\u201d Malagigi answered, \u201cIllustrious lord, I dare\nnot do it, unless you will forgive all who have at any time offended\nyou. You know that Christ forgave all those who had betrayed and\ncrucified him.\u201d The king replied, \u201cFriend, that is true; but Rinaldo has\nso grievously offended me, that I cannot forgive him, nor that other\nman, Malagigi, the magician. These two shall never live in my kingdom\nagain. If I catch them I will certainly have them hanged. But tell me,\npilgrim, who is that man who stands beside you?\u201d \u201cHe is deaf, dumb, and\nblind,\u201d said Malagigi. Then the king said again, \u201cGive me to drink of\nyour cup, to take away my sins.\u201d Malagigi answered, \u201cMy lord king, here\nis my poor brother, who for fifty days has not heard, spoken, nor seen.\nThis misfortune befell him in a house where we found shelter, and the\nday before yesterday we met with a wise woman, who told him the only\nhope of a cure for him was to come to some place where Bayard was to be\nridden, and to mount and ride him; that would do him more good than\nanything else.\u201d Then said the king, \u201cFriend, you have come to the right\nplace, for Bayard is to be ridden here to-day. Give me a draught from\nyour cup, and your companion shall ride upon Bayard.\u201d Malagigi, hearing\nthese words, said, \u201cBe it so.\u201d Then the king, with great devotion, took\na spoon, and dipped a portion from the pilgrim\u2019s cup, believing that his\nsins should be thereby forgiven.\n\nWhen this was done, the king said to Charlot, \u201cSon, I request that you\nwill let this sick pilgrim sit on your horse, and ride if he can, for by\nso doing he will be healed of all his infirmities.\u201d Charlot replied,\n\u201cThat will I gladly do.\u201d So saying, he dismounted, and the servants took\nthe pilgrim in their arms, and helped him on the horse.\n\nWhen Rinaldo was mounted, he put his feet in the stirrups, and said, \u201cI\nwould like to ride a little.\u201d Malagigi, hearing him speak, seemed\ndelighted, and asked him whether he could see and hear also. \u201cYes,\u201d said\nRinaldo, \u201cI am healed of all my infirmities.\u201d When the king heard it he\nsaid to Bishop Turpin, \u201cMy lord bishop, we must celebrate this with a\nprocession, with crosses and banners, for it is a great miracle.\u201d\n\nWhen Rinaldo remarked that he was not carefully watched, he spoke to the\nhorse, and touched him with the spurs. Bayard knew that his master was\nupon him, and he started off upon a rapid pace, and in a few moments was\na good way off. Malagigi pretended to be in great alarm. \u201cO noble king\nand master,\u201d he cried, \u201cmy poor companion is run away with; he will fall\nand break his neck.\u201d The king ordered his knights to ride after the\npilgrim, and bring him back, or help him if need were. They did so, but\nit was in vain. Rinaldo left them all behind him, and kept on his way\ntill he reached Montalban. Malagigi was suffered to depart, unsuspected,\nand he went his way, making sad lamentation for the fate of his comrade,\nwho he pretended to think must surely be dashed to pieces.\n\nMalagigi did not go far, but having changed his disguise, returned to\nwhere the king was, and employed his best art in getting the brothers of\nRinaldo out of prison. He succeeded; and all three got safely to\nMontalban, where Rinaldo\u2019s joy at the rescue of his brothers and the\nrecovery of Bayard was more than tongue can tell.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n DEATH OF RINALDO\n\nThe distress in Rinaldo\u2019s castle for want of food grew more severe every\nday, under the pressure of the siege. The garrison were forced to kill\ntheir horses, both to save the provision they would consume, and to make\nfood of their flesh. At last all the horses were killed except Bayard,\nand Rinaldo said to his brothers, \u201cBayard must die, for we have nothing\nelse to eat.\u201d So they went to the stable and brought out Bayard to kill\nhim. But Alardo said, \u201cBrother, let Bayard live a little longer; who\nknows what God may do for us?\u201d\n\nBayard heard these words, and understood them as if he was a man, and\nfell on his knees, as if he would beg for mercy. When Rinaldo saw the\ndistress of his horse his heart failed him, and he let him live.\n\nJust at this time Aya, Rinaldo\u2019s mother, who was the sister of the\nEmperor, came to the camp, attended by knights and ladies, to intercede\nfor her sons. She fell on her knees before the king, and besought him\nthat he would pardon Rinaldo and his brothers: and all the peers and\nknights took her side, and entreated the king to grant her prayer. Then\nsaid the king, \u201cDear sister, you act the part of a good mother, and I\nrespect your tender heart, and yield to your entreaties. I will spare\nyour sons their lives if they submit implicitly to my will.\u201d\n\nWhen Charlot heard this he approached the king and whispered in his ear.\nAnd the king turned to his sister and said, \u201cCharlot must have Bayard,\nbecause I have given the horse to him. Now go, my sister, and tell\nRinaldo what I have said.\u201d\n\nWhen the Lady Aya heard these words she was delighted, thanked God in\nher heart, and said, \u201cWorthy king and brother, I will do as you bid me.\u201d\nSo she went into the castle, where her sons received her most joyfully\nand affectionately, and she told them the king\u2019s offer. Then Alardo\nsaid, \u201cBrother, I would rather have the king\u2019s enmity than give Bayard\nto Charlot, for I believe he will kill him.\u201d Likewise said all the\nbrothers. When Rinaldo heard them he said, \u201cDear brothers, if we may win\nour forgiveness by giving up the horse, so be it. Let us make our peace,\nfor we cannot stand against the king\u2019s power.\u201d Then he went to his\nmother, and told her they would give the horse to Charlot, and more,\ntoo, if the king would pardon them, and forgive all that they had done\nagainst his crown and dignity. The lady returned to Charles and told him\nthe answer of her sons.\n\nWhen the peace was thus made between the king and the sons of Aymon, the\nbrothers came forth from the castle, bringing Bayard with them, and,\nfalling at the king\u2019s feet, begged his forgiveness. The king bade them\nrise, and received them into favor in the sight of all his noble knights\nand counsellors, to the great joy of all especially of the Lady Aya,\ntheir mother. Then Rinaldo took the horse Bayard, gave him to Charlot,\nand said, \u201cMy lord and prince, this horse I give to you; do with him as\nto you seems good.\u201d Charlot took him, as had been agreed on. Then he\nmade the servants take him to the bridge, and throw him into the water.\nBayard sank to the bottom, but soon came to the surface again and swam,\nsaw Rinaldo looking at him, came to land, ran to his old master, and\nstood by him as proudly as if he had understanding, and would say, \u201cWhy\ndid you treat me so?\u201d When the prince saw that he said, \u201cRinaldo, give\nme the horse again, for he must die.\u201d Rinaldo replied, \u201cMy lord and\nprince, he is yours without dispute,\u201d and gave him to him. The prince\nthen had a millstone tied to each foot, and two to his neck, and made\nthem throw him again into the water. Bayard struggled in the water,\nlooked up to his master, threw off the stones, and came back to Rinaldo.\n\nWhen Alardo saw that, he said, \u201cNow must thou be disgraced forever,\nbrother, if thou give up the horse again.\u201d But Rinaldo answered,\n\u201cBrother, be still. Shall I for the horse\u2019s life provoke the anger of\nthe king again?\u201d Then Alardo said, \u201cAh, Bayard! what a return do we make\nfor all thy true love and service!\u201d Rinaldo gave the horse to the prince\nagain, and said, \u201cMy lord, if the horse comes out again I cannot return\nhim to you any more, for it wrings my heart too much.\u201d Then Charlot had\nBayard loaded with the stones as before, and thrown into the water; and\ncommanded Rinaldo that he should not stand where the horse would see\nhim. When Bayard rose to the surface he stretched his neck out of the\nwater and looked round for his master, but saw him not. Then he sunk to\nthe bottom.\n\nRinaldo was so distressed for the loss of Bayard that he made a vow to\nride no horse again all his life long, nor to bind a sword to his side,\nbut to become a hermit. He resolved to betake himself to some wild wood,\nbut first to return to his castle, to see his children, and to appoint\nto each his share of his estate.\n\nSo he took leave of the king and of his brothers, and returned to\nMontalban, and his brothers remained with the king. Rinaldo called his\nchildren to him, and he made his eldest born, Aymeric, a knight, and\nmade him lord of his castle and of his land. He gave to the rest what\nother goods he had, and kissed and embraced them all, commended them to\nGod, and then departed from them with a heavy heart.\n\nHe had not travelled far when he entered a wood, and there met with a\nhermit, who had long been retired from the world. Rinaldo greeted him,\nand the hermit replied courteously, and asked him who he was and what\nwas his purpose. Rinaldo replied, \u201cSir, I have led a sinful life; many\ndeeds of violence have I done, and many men have I slain, not always in\na good cause, but often under the impulse of my own headstrong passions.\nI have also been the cause of the death of many of my friends, who took\nmy part, not because they thought me in the right, but only for love of\nme. And now I come to make confession of all my sins, and to do penance\nfor the rest of my life, if perhaps the mercy of God will forgive me.\u201d\nThe hermit said, \u201cFriend, I perceive you have fallen into great sins,\nand have broken the commandments of God, but his mercy is greater than\nyour sins; and if you repent from your heart, and lead a new life, there\nis yet hope for you that he will forgive you what is past.\u201d So Rinaldo\nwas comforted, and said, \u201cMaster, I will stay with you, and what you bid\nme I will do.\u201d The hermit replied, \u201cRoots and vegetables will be your\nfood; shirt or shoes you may not wear; your lot must be poverty and want\nif you stay with me.\u201d Rinaldo replied, \u201cI will cheerfully bear all this,\nand more.\u201d So he remained three whole years with the hermit, and after\nthat his strength failed, and it seemed as if he was like to die.\n\nOne night the hermit had a dream, and heard a voice from heaven, which\ncommanded him to say to his companion that he must without delay go to\nthe Holy Land, and fight against the heathen. The hermit, when he heard\nthat voice, was glad, and calling Rinaldo, he said, \u201cFriend, God\u2019s angel\nhas commanded me to say to you that you must without delay go to\nJerusalem, and help our fellow-Christians in their struggle with the\nInfidels.\u201d Then said Rinaldo, \u201cAh! master, how can I do that? It is over\nthree years since I made a vow no more to ride a horse, nor take a sword\nor spear in my hand.\u201d The hermit answered, \u201cDear friend, obey God, and\ndo what the angel commanded.\u201d \u201cI will do so,\u201d said Rinaldo, \u201cand pray\nfor me, my master, that God may guide me right.\u201d Then he departed, and\nwent to the seaside, and took ship and came to Tripoli in Syria.\n\nAnd as he went on his way his strength returned to him, till it was\nequal to what it was in his best days. And though he never mounted a\nhorse, nor took a sword in his hand, yet with his pilgrim\u2019s staff he did\ngood service in the armies of the Christians; and it pleased God that he\nescaped unhurt, though he was present in many battles, and his courage\ninspired the men with the same. At last a truce was made with the\nSaracens, and Rinaldo, now old and infirm, wishing to see his native\nland again before he died, took ship and sailed for France. When he\narrived he shunned to go to the resorts of the great, and preferred to\nlive among the humble folk, where he was unknown. He did country work,\nand lived on milk and bread, drank water, and was therewith content.\nWhile he so lived he heard that the city of Cologne was the holiest and\nbest of cities, on account of the relics and bodies of saints who had\nthere poured out their blood for the faith. This induced him to betake\nhimself thither. When the pious hero arrived at Cologne he went to the\nmonastery of St. Peter, and lived a holy life, occupied night and day in\ndevotion. It so happened that at that time in the next town to Cologne\nthere raged a dreadful pestilence. Many people came to Rinaldo, to beg\nhim to pray for them, that the plague might be stayed. The holy man\nprayed fervently, and besought the Lord to take away the plague from the\npeople, and his prayer was heard. The stroke of the pestilence was\narrested, and all the people thanked the holy man and praised God.\n\nNow there was at this time at Cologne a bishop, called Agilolphus, who\nwas a wise and understanding man, who led a pure and secluded life, and\nset a good example to others. This bishop undertook to build the Church\nof St. Peter, and gave notice to all stonemasons and other workmen round\nabout to come to Cologne, where they should find work and wages. Among\nothers came Rinaldo; and he worked among the laborers and did more than\nfour or five common workmen. When they went to dinner he brought stone\nand mortar so that they had enough for the whole day. When the others\nwent to bed he stretched himself out on the stones. He ate bread only,\nand drank nothing but water; and had for his wages but a penny a day.\nThe head workman asked him his name, and where he belonged. He would not\ntell, but said nothing and pursued his work. They called him St. Peter\u2019s\nworkman, because he was so devoted to his work.\n\nWhen the overseer saw the diligence of this holy man he chid the\nlaziness of the other workmen, and said, \u201cYou receive more pay than this\ngood man, but do not do half as much work.\u201d For this reason the other\nworkmen hated Rinaldo, and made a secret agreement to kill him. They\nknew that he made it a practice to go every night to a certain church to\npray and give alms. So they agreed to lay wait for him, with the purpose\nto kill him. When he came to the spot, they seized him, and beat him\nover the head till he was dead. Then they put his body into a sack, and\nstones with it, and cast it into the Rhine, in the hope the sack would\nsink to the bottom, and be there concealed. But God willed not that it\nshould be so, but caused the sack to float on the surface, and be thrown\nupon the bank. And the soul of the holy martyr was carried by angels,\nwith songs of praise, up to the heavens.\n\nNow at that time the people of Dortmund had become converted to the\nChristian faith; and they sent to the Bishop of Cologne, and desired him\nto give them some of the holy relics that are in such abundance in that\ncity. So the Bishop called together his clergy to deliberate what answer\nthey should give to this request. And it was determined to give to the\npeople of Dortmund the body of the holy man who had just suffered\nmartyrdom.\n\nWhen now the body with the coffin was put on the cart, the cart began to\nmove toward Dortmund without horses or help of men, and stopped not till\nit reached the place where the church of St. Rinaldo now stands. The\nBishop and his clergy followed the holy man to do him honor, with\nsinging of hymns, for a space of three miles. And St. Rinaldo has ever\nsince been the patron of that place, and many wonderful works has God\ndone through him, as may be seen in the legends.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n HUON OF BORDEAUX\n\nWhen Charlemagne grew old he felt the burden of government become\nheavier year by year, till at last he called together his high barons\nand peers to propose to abdicate the empire and the throne of France in\nfavor of his sons, Charlot and Lewis.\n\nThe Emperor was unreasonably partial to his eldest son; he would have\nbeen glad to have had the barons and peers demand Charlot for their only\nsovereign; but that prince was so infamous, for his falsehood and\ncruelty, that the council strenuously opposed the Emperor\u2019s proposal of\nabdicating, and implored him to continue to hold a sceptre which he\nwielded with so much glory.\n\nAmaury of Hauteville, cousin of Ganelon, and now head of the wicked\nbranch of the house of Maganza, was the secret partisan of Charlot, whom\nhe resembled in his loose morals and bad dispositions. Amaury nourished\nthe most bitter resentment against the house of Guienne, of which the\nformer Duke, Sevinus, had often rebuked his misdeeds. He took advantage\nof this occasion to do an injury to the two young children whom the Duke\nSevinus had left under the charge of the Duchess Alice, their mother;\nand at the same time, to advance his interest with Charlot by increasing\nhis wealth and power. With this view he suggested to the prince a new\nidea.\n\nHe pretended to agree with the opinion of the barons; he said that it\nwould be best to try Charlot\u2019s capacity for government by giving him\nsome rich provinces before placing him upon the throne; and that the\nEmperor, without depriving himself of any part of his realm, might give\nCharlot the investiture of Guienne. For although seven years had passed\nsince the death of Sevinus, the young Duke, his son, had not yet\nrepaired to the court of Charlemagne to render the homage due to his\nlawful sovereign.\n\nWe have often had occasion to admire the justice and wisdom of the\nadvice which on all occasions the Duke Namo of Bavaria gave to\nCharlemagne, and he now discountenanced, with indignation, the selfish\nadvice of Amaury. He represented to the Emperor the early age of the\nchildren of Sevinus, and the useful and glorious services of their late\nfather, and proposed to Charlemagne to send two knights to the Duchess\nat Bordeaux, to summon her two sons to the court of the Emperor, to pay\ntheir respects and render homage.\n\nCharlemagne approved this advice, and sent two chevaliers to demand the\ntwo young princes of their mother. No sooner had the Duchess learned the\napproach of the two knights, than she sent distinguished persons to\nreceive them; and as soon as they entered the palace she presented\nherself before them, with her elder and younger sons, Huon and Girard.\n\nThe deputies, delighted with the honors and caresses they received,\naccompanied with rich presents, left Bordeaux with regret and on their\nreturn represented to Charlemagne that the young Duke Huon seemed born\nto tread in the footsteps of his brave father, informing him that in\nthree months the young princes of Guienne would present themselves at\nhis court.\n\nThe Duchess employed the short interval in giving her sons her last\ninstructions. Huon received them in his heart, and Girard gave as much\nheed to them as could be expected from one so young.\n\nThe preparations for their departure having been made, the Duchess\nembraced them tenderly, commending them to the care of Heaven, and\ncharged them to call, on their way, at the celebrated monastery of\nCluny, to visit the Abbot, the brother of their father. This Abbot,\nworthy of his high dignity, had never lost an opportunity of doing good,\nsetting an example of every excellence, and making virtue attractive by\nhis example.\n\nHe received his nephews with the greatest magnificence; and, aware how\nuseful his presence might be to them with Charlemagne, whose valued\ncounsellor he was, he took with them the road to Paris.\n\nWhen Amaury learned what reception the two deputies of Charlemagne had\nreceived at Bordeaux, and the arrangements made for the visit of the\nyoung princes to the Emperor\u2019s court, he suggested to Charlot to give\nhim a troop of his guards, with which he proposed to lay wait for the\nyoung men in the wood of Montlery, put them to death, and thereby give\nthe prince Charlot possession of the duchy of Guienne.\n\nA plan of treachery and violence agreed but too well with Charlot\u2019s\ndisposition. He not only adopted the suggestion of Amaury, but insisted\nupon taking a part in it. They went out secretly, by night, followed by\na great number of attendants, all armed in black, to lie in ambuscade in\nthe wood where the brothers were to pass.\n\nGirard, the younger of the two, having amused himself as he rode by\nflying his hawk at such game as presented itself, had ridden in advance\nof his brother and the Abbot of Cluny. Charlot, who saw him coming,\nalone and unarmed, went forth to meet him, sought a quarrel with him,\nand threw him from his horse with a stroke of his lance. Girard uttered\na cry as he fell; Huon heard it, and flew to his defence, with no other\nweapon than his sword. He came up with him, and saw the blood flowing\nfrom his wound. \u201cWhat has this child done to you, wretch!\u201d he exclaimed\nto Charlot. \u201cHow cowardly to attack him when unprepared to defend\nhimself!\u201d \u201cBy my faith,\u201d said Charlot, \u201cI mean to do the same by you.\nKnow that I am the son of Duke Thierry of Ardennes, from whom your\nfather, Sevinus, took three castles; I have sworn to avenge him, and I\ndefy you.\u201d \u201cCoward,\u201d answered Huon, \u201cI know well the baseness that\ndwells in your race; worthy son of Thierry, use the advantage that your\narmor gives you; but know that I fear you not.\u201d At these words Charlot\nhad the wickedness to put his lance in rest, and to run upon Huon, who\nhad barely time to wrap his arm in his mantle. With this feeble buckler\nhe received the thrust of the lance. It penetrated the mantle, but\nmissed his body. Then, rising upon his stirrups, Sir Huon struck Charlot\nso terrible a blow with his sword that the helmet was cleft asunder, and\nhis head too. The dastardly prince fell dead upon the ground.\n\nHuon now perceived that the wood was full of armed men. He called the\nmen of his suite, and they hastily put themselves in order, but nobody\nissued from the wood to attack him. Amaury, who saw Charlot\u2019s fall, had\nno desire to compromit himself; and, feeling sure that Charlemagne would\navenge the death of his son, he saw no occasion for his doing anything\nmore at present. He left Huon and the Abbot of Cluny to bind up the\nwound of Girard, and, having seen them depart and resume their way to\nParis, he took up the body of Charlot, and, placing it across a horse,\nhad it carried to Paris, where he arrived four hours after Huon.\n\nThe Abbot of Cluny presented his nephew to Charlemagne, but Huon\nrefrained from paying his obeisance, complaining grievously of the\nambush which had been set for him, which he said could not have been\nwithout the Emperor\u2019s permission. Charlemagne, surprised at a charge\nwhich his magnanimous soul was incapable of meriting, asked eagerly of\nthe Abbot what were the grounds of the complaints of his nephew. The\nAbbot told him faithfully all that had happened, informing him that a\ncoward knight, who called himself the son of Thierry of Ardennes, had\nwounded Girard, and run upon Huon, who was unarmed; but by his force and\nvalor he had overcome the traitor, and left him dead upon the plain.\n\nCharlemagne indignantly disavowed any connection with the action of the\ninfamous Thierry, congratulated the young Duke upon his victory, himself\nconducted the two brothers to a rich apartment, stayed to see the first\ndressing applied to the wound of Girard, and left the brothers in charge\nof Duke Namo of Bavaria, who, having been a companion in arms of the\nDuke Sevinus, regarded the young men almost as if they were his own\nsons.\n\nCharlemagne had hardly quitted them when, returning to his chamber, he\nheard cries, and saw through the window a party of armed men just\narrived. He recognized Amaury, who bore a dead knight stretched across a\nhorse; and the name of Charlot was heard among the exclamations of the\npeople assembled in the courtyard.\n\nCharles\u2019s partiality for this unworthy son was one of his weaknesses. He\ndescended in trepidation to the courtyard, ran to Amaury, and uttered a\ncry of grief on recognizing Charlot. \u201cIt is Huon of Bordeaux,\u201d said the\ntraitor Amaury, \u201cwho has massacred your son before it was in my power to\ndefend him.\u201d Charlemagne, furious at these words, seized a sword, and\nflew to the apartment of the two brothers to plunge it into the heart of\nthe murderer of his son. Duke Namo stopped his hand for an instant,\nwhile Charles told him the crime of which Huon was accused. \u201cHe is a\npeer of the realm,\u201d said Namo, \u201cand if he is guilty, is he not here in\nyour power, and are not we peers the proper judges to condemn him to\ndeath? Let not your hand be stained with his blood.\u201d The Emperor, calmed\nby the wisdom of Duke Namo, summoned Amaury to his presence. The peers\nassembled to hear his testimony, and the traitor accused Huon of\nBordeaux of having struck the fatal blow without allowing Charlot an\nopportunity to defend himself, and though he knew that his opponent was\nthe Emperor\u2019s eldest son.\n\nThe Abbot of Cluny, indignant at the false accusation of Amaury,\nadvanced, and said, \u201cBy Saint Benedict, sire, the traitor lies in his\nthroat. If my nephew has slain Charlot it was in his own defence, and\nafter having seen his brother wounded by him, and also in ignorance that\nhis adversary was the prince. Though I am a son of the Church,\u201d added\nthe good Abbot, \u201cI forget not that I am a knight by birth. I offer to\nprove with my body the lie upon Amaury, if he dares sustain it, and I\nshall feel that I am doing a better work to punish a disloyal traitor,\nthan to sing lauds and matins.\u201d\n\nHuon to this time had kept silent, amazed at the black calumny of\nAmaury; but now he stepped forth, and, addressing Amaury, said:\n\u201cTraitor! darest thou maintain in arms the lie thou hast uttered?\u201d\nAmaury, a knight of great prowess, despising the youth and slight figure\nof Huon, hesitated not to offer his glove, which Huon seized; then,\nturning again to the peers, he said: \u201cI pray you let the combat be\nallowed me, for never was there a more legitimate cause.\u201d The Duke Namo\nand the rest, deciding that the question should be remitted to the\njudgment of Heaven, the combat was ordained, to which Charlemagne\nunwillingly consented. The young Duke was restored to the charge of Duke\nNamo, who the next morning invested him with the honors of knighthood,\nand gave him armor of proof, with a white shield. The Abbot of Cluny,\ndelighted to find in his nephew sentiments worthy of his birth, embraced\nhim, gave him his blessing, and hastened to the church of St. Germains\nto pray for him, while the officers of the king prepared the lists for\nthe combat.\n\nThe battle was long and obstinate. The address and agility of Huon\nenabled him to avoid the terrible blows which the ferocious Amaury aimed\nat him. But Huon had more than once drawn blood from his antagonist. The\neffect began to be perceived in the failing strength of the traitor; at\nlast he threw himself from his horse, and kneeling, begged for mercy.\n\u201cSpare me,\u201d he said, \u201cand I will confess all. Aid me to rise, and lead\nme to Charlemagne.\u201d The brave and loyal Huon, at these words, put his\nsword under his left arm, and stretched out his right to raise the\nprostrate man, who seized the opportunity to give him a thrust in the\nside. The hauberk of Huon resisted the blow, and he was wounded but\nslightly. Transported with rage at this act of baseness, he forgot how\nnecessary for his complete acquittal the confession of Amaury was, and\nwithout delay dealt him the fatal blow.\n\nDuke Namo and the other peers approached, had the body of Amaury dragged\nforth from the lists, and conducted Huon to Charlemagne. The Emperor,\nhowever, listening to nothing but his resentment and grief for the death\nof his son, refused to be satisfied; and under the plea that Huon had\nnot succeeded in making his accuser retract his charge seemed resolved\nto confiscate his estates and to banish him forever from France. It was\nnot till after long entreaties on the part of Duke Namo and the rest\nthat he consented to grant Huon his pardon, under conditions which he\nshould impose.\n\nHuon approached, and knelt before the Emperor, rendered his homage, and\ncried him mercy for the involuntary killing of his son. Charlemagne\nwould not receive the hands of Huon in his own, but touched him with his\nsceptre, saying, \u201cI receive thy homage, and pardon thee the death of my\nson, but only on one condition. You shall go immediately to the court of\nthe Sultan Gaudisso; you shall present yourself before him as he sits at\nmeat; you shall cut off the head of the most illustrious guest whom you\nshall find sitting nearest to him; you shall kiss three times on the\nmouth the fair princess, his daughter, and you shall demand of the\nSultan, as token of tribute to me, a handful of the white hair of his\nbeard, and four grinders from his mouth.\u201d\n\nThese conditions caused a murmur from all the assembly. \u201cWhat!\u201d said the\nAbbot of Cluny; \u201cslaughter a Saracen prince without first offering him\nbaptism?\u201d \u201cThe second condition is not so hard,\u201d said the young peers,\n\u201cbut the demand that Huon is bound to make of the old Sultan is very\nuncivil, and will be hard to obtain.\u201d\n\nThe Emperor\u2019s obstinacy when he had once resolved upon a thing is well\nknown. To the courage of Huon nothing seemed impossible. \u201cI accept the\nconditions,\u201d said he, silencing the intercessions of the old Duke of\nBavaria; \u201cmy liege, I accept my pardon at this price. I go to execute\nyour commands, as your vassal and a peer of France.\u201d\n\nThe Duke Namo and Abbot of Cluny, being unable to obtain any relaxation\nof the sentence passed by Charlemagne, led forth the young Duke, who\ndetermined to set out at once on his expedition. All that the good Abbot\ncould obtain of him was, that he should prepare for this perilous\nundertaking by going first to Rome, to pay his homage to the Pope, who\nwas the brother of the Duchess Alice, Huon\u2019s mother, and from him demand\nabsolution and his blessing. Huon promised it, and forthwith set out on\nhis way to Rome.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n HUON OF BORDEAUX (_Continued_)\n\nHuon, having traversed the Apennines and Italy, arrived at the environs\nof Rome, where, laying aside his armor, he assumed the dress of a\npilgrim. In this attire he presented himself before the Pope, and not\ntill after he had made a full confession of his sins did he announce\nhimself as his nephew. \u201cAh! my dear nephew,\u201d exclaimed the Holy Father,\n\u201cwhat harder penance could I impose than the Emperor has already done?\nGo in peace, my son,\u201d he added, absolving him, \u201cI go to intercede for\nyou with the Most High.\u201d Then he led his nephew into his palace, and\nintroduced him to all the Cardinals and Princes of Rome as the Duke of\nGuienne, son of the Duchess Alice, his sister.\n\nHuon, at setting out, had made a vow not to stop more than three days in\na place. The Holy Father took advantage of this time to inspire him with\nzeal for the glory of Christianity, and with confidence in the\nprotection of the Most High. He advised him to embark for Palestine, to\nvisit the Holy Sepulchre, and to depart thence for the interior of Asia.\n\nLoaded with the blessings of the Holy Father, Huon, obeying his\ncounsels, embarked for Palestine, arrived, and visited with the greatest\nreverence the holy places. He then departed, and took his way toward the\neast.\n\nBut, ignorant of the country and of the language, he lost himself in a\nforest, and remained three days without seeing a human creature, living\non honey and wild fruits which he found on the trees. The third day,\nseeking a passage through a rocky defile, he beheld a man in tattered\nclothing, whose beard and hair covered his breast and shoulders. This\nman stopped on seeing him, observed him, and recognized the arms and\nbearing of a French knight. He immediately approached, and exclaimed, in\nthe language of the South of France, \u201cGod be praised! Do I indeed behold\na chevalier of my own country, after fifteen years passed in this desert\nwithout seeing the face of a fellow-countryman?\u201d\n\nHuon, to gratify him still more, unlaced his helmet, and came towards\nhim with a smiling countenance. The other regarded him with more\nsurprise than at first. \u201cGood Heaven!\u201d he exclaimed, \u201cwas there ever\nsuch a resemblance? Ah, noble sir,\u201d he added, \u201ctell me, I beseech you,\nof what country and race you come?\u201d \u201cI require,\u201d replied Huon, \u201cbefore\ntelling you mine, that you first reveal your own; let it suffice you at\npresent to know that I am a Christian, and that in Guienne I was born.\u201d\n\u201cAh! Heaven grant that my eyes and my heart do not deceive me,\u201d\nexclaimed the unknown; \u201cmy name is Sherasmin; I am brother to Guire, the\nMayor of Bordeaux. I was taken prisoner in the battle where my dear and\nillustrious master, Sevinus, lost his life. For three years I endured\nthe miseries of slavery; at length I broke my chains and escaped to this\ndesert, where I have sustained myself in solitude ever since. Your\nfeatures recall to me my beloved sovereign, in whose service I was from\nmy infancy till his death.\u201d Huon made no reply but by embracing the old\nman, with tears in his eyes. Then Sherasmin learned that his arms\nenfolded the son of the Duke Sevinus. He led him to his cabin, and\nspread before him the dry fruits and honey which formed his only\naliment.\n\nHuon recounted his adventures to Sherasmin, who was moved to tears at\nthe recital. He then consulted him on means of conducting his\nenterprise. Sherasmin hesitated not to confess that success seemed\nimpossible; nevertheless he swore a solemn oath never to abandon him.\nThe Saracen language, which he was master of, would be serviceable to\nthem when they should leave the desert, and mingle with men.\n\nThey took the route of the Red Sea, and entered Arabia. Their way lay\nthrough a region which Sherasmin described as full of terrors. It was\ninhabited by Oberon, King of the Fairies, who made captive such knights\nas were rash enough to penetrate into it, and transformed them into\nHobgoblins. It was possible to avoid this district at the expense of\nsomewhat lengthening their route; but no dangers could deter Huon of\nBordeaux; and the brave Sherasmin, who had now resumed the armor of a\nknight, reluctantly consented to share with him the dangers of the\nshorter route.\n\nThey entered a wood, and arrived at a spot whence alleys branched off in\nvarious directions. One of them seemed to be terminated by a superb\npalace, whose gilded roofs were adorned with brilliant weathercocks\ncovered with diamonds. A superb chariot issued from the gate of the\npalace, and drove toward Huon and his companion, as if to meet them\nhalf-way. The prince saw no one in the chariot but a child apparently\nabout five years old, very beautiful, and clad in a robe which glittered\nwith precious stones. At the sight of him, Sherasmin\u2019s terror was\nextreme. He seized the reins of Huon\u2019s horse, and turned him about,\nhurrying the prince away, and assuring him that they were lost if they\nstopped to parley with the mischievous dwarf, who, though he appeared a\nchild, was full of years and of treachery. Huon was sorry to lose sight\nof the beautiful dwarf, whose aspect had nothing in it to alarm; yet he\nfollowed his friend, who urged on his horse with all possible speed.\nPresently a storm began to roar through the forest, the daylight grew\ndim, and they found their way with difficulty. From time to time they\nseemed to hear an infantine voice, which said, \u201cStop, Duke Huon; listen\nto me: it is in vain you fly me!\u201d\n\nSherasmin only fled the faster, and stopped not until he had reached the\ngate of a monastery of monks and nuns, the two communities of which were\nassembled at that time in a religious procession. Sherasmin, feeling\nsafe from the malice of the dwarf in the presence of so many holy\npersons and the sacred banners, stopped to ask an asylum, and made Huon\ndismount also. But at that moment they were joined by the dwarf, who\nblew a blast upon an ivory horn which hung from his neck. Immediately\nthe good Sherasmin, in spite of himself, began to dance like a young\ncollegian, and seizing the hand of an aged nun, who felt as if it would\nbe her death, they footed it briskly over the grass, and were imitated\nby all the other monks and nuns, mingled together, forming the strangest\ndancing-party ever beheld. Huon alone felt no disposition to dance; but\nhe came near dying of laughter at seeing the ridiculous postures and\nleaps of the others.\n\nThe dwarf, approaching Huon, said, in a sweet voice, and in Huon\u2019s own\nlanguage, \u201cDuke of Guienne, why do you shun me? I conjure you, in\nHeaven\u2019s name, speak to me.\u201d Huon, hearing himself addressed in this\nserious manner, and knowing that no evil spirit would dare to use the\nholy name in aid of his schemes, replied, \u201cSir, whoever you are, I am\nready to hear and answer you.\u201d \u201cHuon, my friend,\u201d continued the dwarf,\n\u201cI always loved your race, and you have been dear to me ever since your\nbirth. The gracious state of conscience in which you were when you\nentered my wood has protected you from all enchantments, even if I had\nintended to practise any upon you. If these monks, these nuns, and even\nyour friend Sherasmin, had had a conscience as pure as yours, my horn\nwould not have set them dancing; but where is the monk or the nun who\ncan always be deaf to the voice of the tempter, and Sherasmin in the\ndesert has often doubted the power of Providence.\u201d\n\nAt these words Huon saw the dancers overcome with exertion. He begged\nmercy for them, the dwarf granted it, and the effect of the horn ceased\nat once; the nuns got rid of their partners, smoothed their dresses, and\nhastened to resume their places in the procession. Sherasmin, overcome\nwith heat, panting, and unable to stand on his legs, threw himself upon\nthe grass, and began, \u201cDid not I tell you\u201d\u2014He was going on in an angry\ntone, but the dwarf, approaching, said, \u201cSherasmin, why have you\nmurmured against Providence? Why have you thought evil of me? You\ndeserved this light punishment; but I know you to be good and loyal; I\nmean to show myself your friend, as you shall soon see.\u201d At these words\nhe presented him a rich goblet. \u201cMake the sign of the cross on this\ncup,\u201d said he, \u201cand then believe that I hold my power from the God you\nadore, whose faithful servant I am, as well as you.\u201d Sherasmin obeyed,\nand on the instant the cup was filled with delicious wine, a draught of\nwhich restored vigor to his limbs, and made him feel young again.\nOvercome with gratitude, he threw himself on his knees, but the dwarf\nraised him, and bade him sit beside him, and thus commenced his history:\n\n\u201cJulius C\u00e6sar, going by sea to join his army, was driven by a storm to\ntake shelter in the island of Celea, where dwelt the fairy Glorianda.\nFrom this renowned pair I draw my birth. I am the inheritor of that\nwhich was most admirable in each of my parents: my father\u2019s heroic\nqualities, and my mother\u2019s beauty and magic art. But a malicious sister\nof my mother\u2019s, in revenge for some slight offence, touched me with her\nwand when I was only five years old, and forbade me to grow any bigger;\nand my mother, with all her power, was unable to annul the sentence. I\nhave thus continued infantile in appearance, though full of years and\nexperience. The power which I derive from my mother I use sometimes for\nmy own diversion, but always to promote justice and to reward virtue. I\nam able and willing to assist you, Duke of Guienne, for I know the\nerrand on which you come hither. I presage for you, if you follow my\ncounsels, complete success; and the beautiful Clarimunda for a wife.\u201d\n\nWhen he had thus spoken he presented to Huon the precious and useful\ncup, which had the faculty of filling itself when a good man took it in\nhis hand. He gave him also his beautiful horn of ivory, saying to him,\n\u201cHuon, when you sound this gently, you will make the hearers dance, as\nyou have seen; but if you sound it forcibly, fear not that I shall hear\nit, though at a hundred leagues\u2019 distance, and will fly to your relief;\nbut be careful not to sound it in that way, unless upon the most urgent\noccasion.\u201d\n\nOberon directed Huon what course he should take to reach the country of\nthe Sultan Gaudisso. \u201cYou will encounter great perils,\u201d said he, \u201cbefore\narriving there, and I fear me,\u201d he added, with tears in his eyes, \u201cthat\nyou will not in everything obey my directions, and in that case you will\nsuffer much calamity.\u201d Then he embraced Huon and Sherasmin, and left\nthem.\n\nHuon and his follower travelled many days through the desert before they\nreached any inhabited place, and all this while the wonderful cup\nsustained them, furnishing them not only wine, but food also. At last\nthey came to a great city. As day was declining, they entered its\nsuburbs, and Sherasmin, who spoke the Saracen language perfectly,\ninquired for an inn where they could pass the night. A person who\nappeared to be one of the principal inhabitants, seeing two strangers of\nrespectable appearance making this inquiry, stepped forward and begged\nthem to accept the shelter of his mansion. They entered, and their host\ndid the honors of his abode with a politeness which they were astonished\nto see in a Saracen. He had them served with coffee and sherbet, and all\nwas conducted with great decorum, till one of the servants awkwardly\noverturned a cup of hot coffee on the host\u2019s legs, when he started up,\nexclaiming in very good Gascon, \u201cBlood and thunder! you blockhead, you\ndeserve to be thrown over the mosque!\u201d\n\nHuon could not help laughing to see the vivacity and the language of his\ncountry thus break out unawares. The host, who had no idea that his\nguests understood his words, was astonished when Huon addressed him in\nthe dialect of his country. Immediately confidence was established\nbetween them; especially when the domestics had retired. The host,\nseeing that he was discovered, and that the two pretended Saracens were\nfrom the borders of the Garonne, embraced them, and disclosed that he\nwas a Christian. Huon, who had learned prudence from the advice of\nOberon, to test his host\u2019s sincerity, drew from his robe the cup which\nthe Fairy-king had given him, and presented it empty to the host. \u201cA\nfair cup,\u201d said he, \u201cbut I should like it better if it was full.\u201d\nImmediately it was so. The host, astonished, dared not put it to his\nlips. \u201cDrink boldly, my dear fellow-countryman,\u201d said Huon; \u201cyour truth\nis proved by this cup, which only fills itself in the hands of an honest\nman.\u201d The host did not hesitate longer; the cup passed freely from hand\nto hand; their mutual cordiality increased as it passed, and each\nrecounted his adventures. Those of Huon redoubled his host\u2019s respect;\nfor he recognized in him his legitimate sovereign: while the host\u2019s\nnarrative was in these words:\n\n\u201cMy name is Floriac; this great and strong city, you will hear with\nsurprise and grief, is governed by a brother of Duke Sevinus, and your\nuncle. You have no doubt heard that a young brother of the Duke of\nGuienne was stolen away from the sea-shore, with his companions, by some\ncorsairs. I was then his page, and we were carried by those corsairs to\nBarbary, where we were sold for slaves. The Barbary prince sent us as\npart of the tribute which he yearly paid to his sovereign, the Sultan\nGaudisso. Your uncle, who had been somewhat puffed up by the flattery of\nhis attendants, thought to increase his importance with his new master\nby telling him his rank. The Sultan, who, like a true Mussulman,\ndetested all Christian princes, exerted himself from that moment to\nbring him over to the Saracen faith. He succeeded but too well. Your\nuncle, seduced by the arts of the Santons, and by the pleasures and\nindulgences which the Sultan allowed him, committed the horrid crime of\napostasy; he renounced his baptism, and embraced Mahometanism. Gaudisso\nthen loaded him with honors, made him espouse one of his nieces, and\nsent him to reign over this city and adjoining country. Your uncle\npreserved for me the same friendship which he had had when a boy; but\nall his caresses and efforts could not make me renounce my faith.\nPerhaps he respected me in his heart for my resistance to his\npersuasions, perhaps he had hopes of inducing me in time to imitate him.\nHe made me accompany him to this city, of which he was master, he gave\nme his confidence, and permits me to keep in my service some Christians,\nwhom I protect for the sake of their faith.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d exclaimed Huon, \u201ctake me to this guilty uncle. A prince of the\nhouse of Guienne, must he not blush at the cowardly abandonment of the\nfaith of his fathers?\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d replied Floriac, \u201cI fear he will neither be sensible of shame at\nyour reproaches, nor of pleasure at the sight of a nephew so worthy of\nhis lineage. Brutified by sensuality, jealous of his power, which he\noften exercises with cruelty, he will more probably restrain you by\nforce or put you to death.\u201d\n\n\u201cBe it so,\u201d said the brave and fervent Huon, \u201cI could not die in a\nbetter cause; and I demand of you to conduct me to him to-morrow, after\nhaving told him of my arrival and my birth.\u201d Floriac still objected, but\nHuon would take no denial, and he promised obedience.\n\nNext morning Floriac waited upon the Governor and told him of the\narrival of his nephew, Huon of Bordeaux; and of the intention of the\nprince to present himself at his court that very day. The Governor,\nsurprised, did not immediately answer; though he at once made up his\nmind what to do. He knew that Floriac loved Christians and the princes\nof his native land too well to aid in any treason to one of them; he\ntherefore feigned great pleasure at hearing of the arrival of the eldest\nborn of his family at his court. He immediately sent Floriac to find\nhim; he caused his palace to be put in festal array, his divan to be\nassembled, and after giving some secret orders, went himself to meet his\nnephew, whom he introduced under his proper name and title to all the\ngreat officers of his court.\n\nHuon burned with indignation at seeing his uncle with forehead encircled\nwith a rich turban, surmounted with a crescent of precious stones. His\nnatural candor made him receive with pain the embraces which the\ntreacherous Governor lavished upon him. Meanwhile the hope of finding a\nsuitable moment to reproach him for his apostasy made him submit to\nthose honors which his uncle caused to be rendered to him. The Governor\nevaded with address the chance of being alone with Huon and spent all\nthe morning in taking him through his gardens and palace. At last, when\nthe hour of dinner approached, and the Governor took him by the hand to\nlead him into the dining-hall, Huon seized the opportunity and said to\nhim in a low voice, \u201cO my uncle! O Prince, brother of the Duke Sevinus!\nin what condition have I the grief and shame of seeing you!\u201d The\nGovernor pretended to be moved, pressed his hand, and whispered in his\near, \u201cSilence! my dear nephew; to-morrow morning I will hear you fully.\u201d\n\nHuon, comforted a little by these words, took his seat at the table by\nthe side of the Governor. The Mufti, some Cadis, Agas, and Santons,\nfilled the other places. Sherasmin sat down with them; but Floriac, who\nwould not lose sight of his guests, remained standing, and passed in and\nout to observe what was going on within the palace. He soon perceived a\nnumber of armed men gliding through the passages and antechambers\nconnected with the dining-hall. He was about to enter to give his guests\nnotice of what he had seen when he heard a violent noise and commotion\nin the hall. The cause was this.\n\nHuon and Sherasmin were well enough suited with the first course and ate\nwith good appetite; but the people of their country not being accustomed\nto drink only water at their meals, Huon and Sherasmin looked at one\nanother, not very well pleased at such a regimen. Huon laughed outright\nat the impatience of Sherasmin, but soon, experiencing the same want\nhimself, he drew forth Oberon\u2019s cup and made the sign of the cross. The\ncup filled and he drank it off, and handed it to Sherasmin, who followed\nhis example. The Governor and his officers, seeing this abhorred sign,\ncontracted their brows and sat in silent consternation. Huon pretended\nnot to observe it, and having filled the cup again handed it to his\nuncle, saying, \u201cPray, join us, dear uncle; it is excellent Bordeaux\nwine, the drink that will be to you like mother\u2019s milk.\u201d The Governor,\nwho often drank in secret with his own favorite Sultanas the wines of\nGreece and Shiraz, never in public drank anything but water. He had not\nfor a long time tasted the excellent wines of his native land; he was\nsorely tempted to drink what was now handed to him, it looked so bright\nin the cup, outshining the gold itself. He stretched forth his hand,\ntook the brimming goblet, and raised it to his lips, when immediately it\ndried up and disappeared. Huon and Sherasmin, like Gascons as they were,\nlaughed at his astonishment. \u201cChristian dogs!\u201d he exclaimed, \u201cdo you\ndare to insult me at my own table? But I will soon be revenged.\u201d At\nthese words he threw the cup at the head of his nephew, who caught it\nwith his left hand, while with the other he snatched the turban, with\nits crescent, from the Governor\u2019s head and threw it on the floor. All\nthe Saracens started up from table, with loud outcries, and prepared to\navenge the insult. Huon and Sherasmin put themselves on their defence,\nand met with their swords the scimitars directed against them. At this\nmoment the doors of the hall opened and a crowd of soldiers and armed\neunuchs rushed in, who joined in the attack upon Huon and Sherasmin. The\nPrince and his followers took refuge on a broad shelf or sideboard,\nwhere they kept at bay the crowd of assailants, making the most forward\nof them smart for their audacity. But more troops came pressing in and\nthe brave Huon, inspired by the wine of Bordeaux, and not angry enough\nto lose his relish for a joke, blew a gentle note on his horn, and no\nsooner was it heard than it quelled the rage of the combatants and set\nthem to dancing. Huon and Sherasmin, no longer attacked, looked down\nfrom their elevated position on a scene the most singular and amusing.\nVery soon the Sultanas, hearing the sound of the dance and finding their\nguards withdrawn, came into the hall and mixed with the dancers. The\nfavorite Sultana seized upon a young Santon, who performed jumps two\nfeet high; but soon the long dresses of this couple got intermingled and\nthrew them down. The Santon\u2019s beard was caught in the Sultana\u2019s\nnecklace, and they could not disentangle them. The Governor by no means\napproved this familiarity, and took two steps forward to get at the\nSanton, but he stumbled over a prostrate Dervise and measured his length\non the floor. The dancing continued till the strength of the performers\nwas exhausted, and they fell, one after the other, and lay helpless. The\nGovernor at length made signs to Huon that he would yield everything if\nhe would but allow him to rest. The bargain was ratified; the Governor\nallowed Huon and Sherasmin to depart on their way, and even gave them a\nring which would procure them safe passage through his country and\naccess to the Sultan Gaudisso. The two friends hastened to avail\nthemselves of this favorable turn, and taking leave of Floriac, pursued\ntheir journey.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n HUON OF BORDEAUX (_Continued_)\n\nHuon had seen many beauties at his mother\u2019s court, but his heart had\nnever been touched with love. Honor had been his mistress, and in\npursuit of that he had never found time to give a thought to softer\ncares. Strange that a heart so insensible should first be touched by\nsomething so unsubstantial as a dream; but so it was.\n\nThe day after the adventure with his uncle night overtook the travellers\nas they passed through a forest. A grotto offered them shelter from the\nnight dews. The magic cup supplied their evening meal; for such was its\nvirtue that it afforded not only wine, but more solid fare when desired.\nFatigue soon threw them into profound repose. Lulled by the murmur of\nthe foliage, and breathing the fragrance of the flowers, Huon dreamed\nthat a lady more beautiful than he had ever before seen hung over him\nand imprinted a kiss upon his lips. As he stretched out his arms to\nembrace her a sudden gust of wind swept her away.\n\nHuon awoke in an agony of regret. A few moments sufficed to afford some\nconsolation in showing him that what had passed was but a dream; but his\nperplexity and sadness could not escape the notice of Sherasmin. Huon\nhesitated not to inform his faithful follower of the reason of his\npensiveness; and got nothing in return but his rallyings for allowing\nhimself to be disturbed by such a cause. He recommended a draught from\nthe fairy goblet, and Huon tried it with good effect.\n\nAt early dawn they resumed their way. They travelled till high noon, but\nsaid little to one another. Huon was musing on his dream, and\nSherasmin\u2019s thoughts flew back to his early days on the banks of the\nflowery Garonne.\n\nOn a sudden they were startled by the cry of distress, and turning an\nangle of the wood, came where a knight hard pressed was fighting with a\nfurious lion. The knight\u2019s horse lay dead, and it seemed as if another\nmoment would end the combat, for terror and fatigue had quite disabled\nthe knight for further resistance. He fell, and the lion\u2019s paw was\nraised over him, when a blow from Huon\u2019s sword turned the monster\u2019s rage\nupon a new enemy. His roar shook the forest, and he crouched in act to\nspring, when, with the rapidity of lightning, Huon plunged his sword\ninto his side. He rolled over on the plain in the agonies of death.\n\nThey raised the knight from the ground, and Sherasmin hastened to offer\nhim a draught from the fairy cup. The wine sparkled to the brim, and the\nwarrior put forth his lips to quaff it, but it shrunk away, and did not\neven wet his lips. He dashed the goblet angrily on the ground, with an\nexclamation of resentment. This incident did not tend to make either\nparty more acceptable to the other; and what followed was worse. For\nwhen Huon said, \u201cSir knight, thank God for your deliverance,\u201d\u2014\u201cThank\nMahomet, rather, yourself,\u201d said he, \u201cfor he has led you this day to\nrender service to no less a personage than the Prince of Hyrcania.\u201d\n\nAt the sound of this blasphemy Huon drew his sword and turned upon the\nmiscreant, who, little disposed to encounter the prowess of which he had\nso lately seen proof, betook himself to flight. He ran to Huon\u2019s horse,\nand lightly vaulting on his back, clapped spurs to his side, and\ngalloped out of sight.\n\nThe adventure was vexatious, yet there was no remedy. The prince and\nSherasmin continued their journey with the aid of the remaining horse as\nthey best might. At length, as evening set in, they descried the\npinnacles and towers of a great city full before them, which they knew\nto be the famous city of Bagdad.\n\nThey were well-nigh exhausted with fatigue when they arrived at its\nprecincts, and in the darkness, not knowing what course to take, were\nglad to meet an aged woman, who, in reply to their inquiries, offered\nthem such accommodations as her cottage could supply. They thankfully\naccepted the offer, and entered the low door. The good dame busily\nprepared the best fare her stores supplied,\u2014milk, figs, and\npeaches,\u2014deeply regretting that the bleak winds had nipped her\nalmond-trees.\n\nSir Huon thought he had never in his life tasted any fare so good. The\nold lady talked while her guests ate. She doubted not, she said, they\nhad come to be present at the great feast in honor of the marriage of\nthe Sultan\u2019s daughter, which was to take place on the morrow. They asked\nwho the bridegroom was to be, and the old lady answered, \u201cThe Prince of\nHyrcania,\u201d but added, \u201cOur princess hates him, and would rather wed a\ndragon than him.\u201d \u201cHow know you that?\u201d asked Huon; and the dame informed\nhim that she had it from the princess herself, who was her foster-child.\nHuon inquired the reason of the princess\u2019s aversion; and the woman\npleased to find her chat excite so much interest, replied that it was\nall in consequence of a dream. \u201cA dream!\u201d exclaimed Huon. \u201cYes! a dream.\nShe dreamed that she was a hind, and that the Prince, as a hunter, was\npursuing her, and had almost overtaken her, when a beautiful dwarf\nappeared in view, drawn in a golden car, having by his side a young man\nof yellow hair and fair complexion, like one from a foreign land. She\ndreamed that the car stopped where she stood, and that, having resumed\nher own form, she was about to ascend it, when suddenly it faded from\nher view, and with it the dwarf and the fair-haired youth. But from her\nheart that vision did not fade, and from that time her affianced\nbridegroom, the Hyrcanian prince, had become odious to her sight. Yet\nthe Sultan, her father, by no means regarding such a cause as sufficient\nto prevent the marriage, had named the morrow as the time when it should\nbe solemnized, in presence of his court and many princes of the\nneighboring countries, whom the fame of the princess\u2019s beauty and the\nbridegroom\u2019s splendor had brought to the scene.\u201d\n\nWe may suppose this conversation woke a tumult of thoughts in the breast\nof Huon. Was it not clear that Providence led him on, and cleared the\nway for his happy success? Sleep did not early visit the eyes of Huon\nthat night; but, with the sanguine temper of youth, he indulged his\nfancy in imagining the sequel of his strange experience.\n\nThe next day, which he could not but regard as the decisive day of his\nfate, he prepared to deliver the message of Charlemagne. Clad in his\narmor, fortified with his ivory horn and his ring, he reached the palace\nof Gaudisso when the guests were assembled at the banquet. As he\napproached the gate a voice called on all true believers to enter; and\nHuon, the brave and faithful Huon, in his impatience passed in under\nthat false pretention. He had no sooner passed the barrier than he felt\nashamed of his baseness, and was overwhelmed with regret. To make amends\nfor his fault he ran forward to the second gate, and cried to the\nporter, \u201cDog of a misbeliever, I command you in the name of Him who died\non the cross, open to me!\u201d The points of a hundred weapons immediately\nopposed his passage. Huon then remembered for the first time the ring he\nhad received from his uncle, the Governor. He produced it, and demanded\nto be led to the Sultan\u2019s presence. The officer of the guard recognized\nthe ring, made a respectful obeisance, and allowed him free entrance. In\nthe same way he passed the other doors to the rich saloon where the\ngreat Sultan was at dinner with his tributary princes. At sight of the\nring the chief attendant led Huon to the head of the hall, and\nintroduced him to the Sultan and his princes as the ambassador of\nCharlemagne. A seat was provided for him near the royal party.\n\nThe Prince of Hyrcania, the same whom Huon had rescued from the lion,\nand who was the destined bridegroom of the beautiful Clarimunda, sat on\nthe Sultan\u2019s right hand, and the princess herself on his left. It\nchanced that Huon found himself near the seat of the princess, and\nhardly were the ceremonies of reception over before he made haste to\nfulfill the commands of Charlemagne by imprinting a kiss upon her rosy\nlips, and after that a second, not by command, but by good will. The\nPrince of Hyrcania cried out, \u201cAudacious infidel! take the reward of thy\ninsolence!\u201d and aimed a blow at Huon, which, if it had reached him,\nwould have brought his embassy to a speedy termination. But the ingrate\nfailed of his aim, and Huon punished his blasphemy and ingratitude at\nonce by a blow which severed his head from his body.\n\nSo suddenly had all this happened that no hand had been raised to arrest\nit; but now Gaudisso cried out, \u201cSeize the murderer!\u201d Huon was hemmed in\non all sides, but his redoubtable sword kept the crowd of courtiers at\nbay. But he saw new combatants enter, and could not hope to maintain his\nground against so many. He recollected his horn, and raising it to his\nlips, blew a blast almost as loud as that of Roland at Roncesvalles. It\nwas in vain. Oberon heard it; but the sin of which Huon had been guilty\nin bearing, though but for a moment, the character of a believer in the\nfalse prophet, had put it out of Oberon\u2019s power to help him. Huon,\nfinding himself deserted, and conscious of the cause, lost his strength\nand energy, was seized, loaded with chains, and plunged into a dungeon.\n\nHis life was spared for the time, merely that he might be reserved for a\nmore painful death. The Sultan meant that, after being made to feel all\nthe torments of hunger and despair, he should be flayed alive.\n\nBut an enchanter more ancient and more powerful than Oberon himself\ninterested himself for the brave Huon. The enchanter was Love. The\nPrincess Clarimunda learned with horror the fate to which the young\nprince was destined. By the aid of her governante she gained over the\nkeeper of the prison, and went herself to lighten the chains of her\nbeloved. It was her hand that removed his fetters, from her he received\nsupplies of food to sustain a life which he devoted from thenceforth\nwholly to her. After the most tender explanations the princess departed,\npromising to repeat her visit on the morrow.\n\nThe next day she came according to promise, and again brought supplies\nof food. These visits were continued during a whole month. Huon was too\ngood a son of the Church to forget that the amiable princess was a\nSaracen, and he availed himself of these interviews to instruct her in\nthe true faith. How easy it is to believe the truth when uttered by the\nlips of those we love! Clarimunda ere long professed her entire belief\nin the Christian doctrines, and desired to be baptized.\n\nMeanwhile the Sultan had repeatedly inquired of the jailer how his\nprisoner bore the pains of famine, and learned to his surprise that he\nwas not yet much reduced thereby. On his repeating the inquiry, after a\nshort interval, the keeper replied that the prisoner had died suddenly,\nand had been buried in the cavern. The Sultan could only regret that he\nhad not sooner ordered the execution of the sentence.\n\nWhile these things were going on the faithful Sherasmin, who had not\naccompanied Huon in his last adventure, but had learned by common rumor\nthe result of it, came to the court in hopes of doing something for the\nrescue of his master. He presented himself to the Sultan as Solario, his\nnephew. Guadisso received him with kindness, and all the courtiers\nloaded him with attentions. He soon found means to inform himself how\nthe Princess regarded the brave but unfortunate Huon, and having made\nhimself known to her, confidence was soon established between them.\nClarimunda readily consented to assist in the escape of Huon, and to\nquit with him her father\u2019s court to repair to that of Charlemagne. Their\nunited efforts had nearly perfected their arrangement, a vessel was\nsecretly prepared, and all things in forwardness for the flight, when an\nunlooked-for obstacle presented itself. Huon himself positively refused\nto go leaving the orders of Charlemagne unexecuted.\n\nSherasmin was in despair. Bitterly he complained of the fickleness and\ncruelty of Oberon in withdrawing his aid at the very crisis when it was\nmost necessary. Earnestly he urged every argument to satisfy the prince\nthat he had done enough for honor, and could not be held bound to\nachieve impossibilities. But all was of no avail, and he knew not which\nway to turn, when one of those events occurred which are so frequent\nunder Turkish despotisms. A courier arrived at the court of the Sultan,\nbearing the ring of his sovereign, the mighty Agrapard, Caliph of\nArabia, and bringing the bow-string for the neck of Gaudisso. No reason\nwas assigned; none but the pleasure of the Caliph is ever required in\nsuch cases; but it was suspected that the bearer of the bow-string had\npersuaded the Caliph that Gaudisso, whose rapacity was well known, had\naccumulated immense treasures, which he had not duly shared with his\nsovereign, and thus had obtained an order to supersede him in his\nEmirship.\n\nThe body of Gaudisso would have been cast out a prey to dogs and\nvultures, had not Sherasmin, under the character of nephew of the\ndeceased, been permitted to receive it, and give it decent burial, which\nhe did, but not till he had taken possession of the beard and grinders,\nagreeably to the orders of Charlemagne.\n\nNo obstacle now stood in the way of the lovers and their faithful\nfollower in returning to France. They sailed, taking Rome in their way,\nwhere the Holy Father himself blessed the union of his nephew, Duke Huon\nof Bordeaux, with the Princess Clarimunda.\n\nSoon afterward they arrived in France, where Huon laid his trophies at\nthe feet of Charlemagne, and, being restored to the favor of the\nEmperor, hastened to present himself and his bride to the Duchess, his\nmother, and to the faithful liegemen of his province of Guienne and his\ncity of Bordeaux, where the pair were received with transports of joy.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n OGIER, THE DANE\n\nOgier, the Dane, was the son of Geoffroy, who wrested Denmark from the\nPagans, and reigned the first Christian king of that country. When Ogier\nwas born, and before he was baptized, six ladies of ravishing beauty\nappeared all at once in the chamber of the infant. They encircled him,\nand she who appeared the eldest took him in her arms, kissed him, and\nlaid her hand upon his heart. \u201cI give you,\u201d said she, \u201cto be the bravest\nwarrior of your times.\u201d She delivered the infant to her sister, who\nsaid, \u201cI give you abundant opportunities to display your valor.\u201d\n\u201cSister,\u201d said the third lady, \u201cyou have given him a dangerous boon; I\ngive him that he shall never be vanquished.\u201d The fourth sister added, as\nshe laid her hand upon his eyes and his mouth, \u201cI give you the gift of\npleasing.\u201d The fifth said, \u201cLest all these gifts serve only to betray, I\ngive you sensibility to return the love you inspire.\u201d Then spoke\nMorgana, the youngest and handsomest of the group. \u201cCharming creature, I\nclaim you for my own; and I give you not to die till you shall have come\nto pay me a visit in my isle of Avalon.\u201d Then she kissed the child and\ndeparted with her sisters.\n\nAfter this the king had the child carried to the font and baptized with\nthe name of Ogier.\n\nIn his education nothing was neglected to elevate him to the standard of\na perfect knight, and render him accomplished in all the arts necessary\nto make him a hero.\n\nHe had hardly reached the age of sixteen years when Charlemagne, whose\npower was established over all the sovereigns of his time, recollected\nthat Geoffroy, Ogier\u2019s father, had omitted to render the homage due to\nhim as Emperor, and sovereign lord of Denmark, one of the grand fiefs of\nthe empire. He accordingly sent an embassy to demand of the king of\nDenmark this homage, and on receiving a refusal, couched in haughty\nterms, sent an army to enforce the demand. Geoffroy, after an\nunsuccessful resistance, was forced to comply, and as a pledge of his\nsincerity delivered Ogier, his eldest son, a hostage to Charles, to be\nbrought up at his court. He was placed in charge of the Duke Namo of\nBavaria, the friend of his father, who treated him like his own son.\n\nOgier grew up more and more handsome and amiable every day. He surpassed\nin form, strength, and address all the noble youths his companions; he\nfailed not to be present at all tourneys; he was attentive to the elder\nknights, and burned with impatience to imitate them. Yet his heart rose\nsometimes in secret against his condition as a hostage, and as one\napparently forgotten by his father.\n\nThe King of Denmark, in fact, was at this time occupied with new loves.\nOgier\u2019s mother having died, he had married a second wife, and had a son\nnamed Guyon. The new queen had absolute power over her husband, and\nfearing that, if he should see Ogier again, he would give him the\npreference over Guyon, she had adroitly persuaded him to delay rendering\nhis homage to Charlemagne, till now four years had passed away since the\nlast renewal of that ceremony. Charlemagne, irritated at this\ndelinquency, drew closer the bonds of Ogier\u2019s captivity until he should\nreceive a response from the king of Denmark to a fresh summons which he\ncaused to be sent to him.\n\nThe answer of Geoffroy was insulting and defiant, and the rage of\nCharlemagne was roused in the highest degree. He was at first disposed\nto wreak his vengeance upon Ogier, his hostage; but at the entreaties of\nDuke Namo, who felt towards his pupil like a father, consented to spare\nhis life, if Ogier would swear fidelity to him as his liege-lord, and\npromise not to quit his court without his permission. Ogier accepted\nthese terms, and was allowed to retain all the freedom he had before\nenjoyed.\n\nThe Emperor would have immediately taken arms to reduce his disobedient\nvassal, if he had not been called off in another direction by a message\nfrom Pope Leo, imploring his assistance. The Saracens had landed in the\nneighborhood of Rome, occupied Mount Janiculum, and prepared to pass the\nTiber and carry fire and sword to the capital of the Christian world.\nCharlemagne hesitated not to yield to the entreaties of the Pope. He\nspeedily assembled an army, crossed the Alps, traversed Italy, and\narrived at Spoleto, a strong place to which the Pope had retired. Leo,\nat the head of his Cardinals, advanced to meet him, and rendered him\nhomage, as to the son of Pepin, the illustrious protector of the Holy\nSee, coming, as his father had done, to defend it in the hour of need.\n\nCharlemagne stopped but two days at Spoleto, and learning that the\nInfidels, having rendered themselves masters of Rome, were besieging the\nCapitol, which could not long hold out against them, marched promptly to\nattack them.\n\nThe advanced posts of the army were commanded by Duke Namo, on whom\nOgier waited as his squire. He did not yet bear arms, not having\nreceived the order of knighthood. The Oriflamme, the royal standard, was\nborne by a knight named Alory, who showed himself unworthy of the honor.\n\nDuke Namo, seeing a strong body of the Infidels advancing to attack him,\ngave the word to charge them. Ogier remained in the rear, with the other\nyouths, grieving much that he was not permitted to fight. Very soon he\nsaw Alory lower the Oriflamme, and turn his horse in flight. Ogier\npointed him out to the young men, and seizing a club, rushed upon Alory\nand struck him from his horse. Then, with his companions, he disarmed\nhim, clothed himself in his armor, raised the Oriflamme, and mounting\nthe horse of the unworthy knight, flew to the front rank, where he\njoined Duke Namo, drove back the Infidels, and carried the Oriflamme\nquite through their broken ranks. The Duke, thinking it was Alory, whom\nhe had not held in high esteem, was astonished at his strength and\nvalor. Ogier\u2019s young companions imitated him, supplying themselves with\narmor from the bodies of the slain; they followed Ogier and carried\ndeath into the ranks of the Saracens, who fell back in confusion upon\ntheir main body.\n\nDuke Namo now ordered a retreat, and Ogier obeyed with reluctance, when\nthey perceived Charlemagne advancing to their assistance. The combat now\nbecame general, and was more terrible than ever. Charlemagne had\noverthrown Corsuble, the commander of the Saracens, and had drawn his\nfamous sword, Joyeuse, to cut off his head, when two Saracen knights set\nupon him at once, one of whom slew his horse, and the other overthrew\nthe Emperor on the sand. Perceiving by the eagle on his casque who he\nwas, they dismounted in haste to give him his deathblow. Never was the\nlife of the Emperor in such peril. But Ogier, who saw him fall, flew to\nhis rescue. Though embarrassed with the Oriflamme, he pushed his horse\nagainst one of the Saracens and knocked him down; and with his sword\ndealt the other so vigorous a blow that he fell stunned to the earth.\nThen helping the Emperor to rise, he remounted him on the horse of one\nof the fallen knights. \u201cBrave and generous Alory!\u201d Charles exclaimed, \u201cI\nowe to you my honor and my life!\u201d Ogier made no answer; but, leaving\nCharlemagne surrounded by a great many of the knights who had flown to\nhis succor, he plunged into the thickest ranks of the enemy, and carried\nthe Oriflamme, followed by a gallant train of youthful warriors till the\nstandard of Mahomet turned in retreat, and the Infidels sought safety in\ntheir intrenchments.\n\nThen the good Archbishop Turpin laid aside his helmet and his bloody\nsword (for he always felt that he was clearly in the line of his duty\nwhile slaying Infidels), took his mitre and his crosier, and intoned Te\nDeum.\n\nAt this moment Ogier, covered with blood and dust, came to lay the\nOriflamme at the feet of the Emperor. He was followed by a train of\nwarriors of short stature, who walked ill at ease loaded with armor too\nheavy for them. Ogier knelt at the feet of Charlemagne, who embraced\nhim, calling him Alory, while Turpin from the height of the altar,\nblessed him with all his might. Then young Orlando, son of the Count\nMilone, and nephew of Charlemagne, no longer able to endure this\nmisapprehension, threw down his helmet, and ran to unlace Ogier\u2019s, while\nthe other young men laid aside theirs. Our author says he cannot express\nthe surprise, the admiration, and the tenderness of the Emperor and his\npeers. Charles folded Ogier in his arms, and the happy fathers of those\nbrave youths embraced them with tears of joy. The good Duke Namo stepped\nforward, and Charlemagne yielded Ogier to his embrace. \u201cHow much do I\nowe you,\u201d he said, \u201cgood and wise friend, for having restrained my\nanger! My dear Ogier! I owe you my life! My sword leaps to touch your\nshoulder, yours and those of your brave young friends.\u201d At these words\nhe drew that famous sword, Joyeuse, and while Ogier and the rest knelt\nbefore him, gave them the accolade conferring on them the order of\nknighthood. The young Orlando and his cousin Oliver could not refrain,\neven in the presence of the Emperor, from falling upon Ogier\u2019s neck, and\npledging with him that brotherhood in arms, so dear and so sacred to the\nknights of old times; but Charlot, the Emperor\u2019s son, at the sight of\nthe glory with which Ogier had covered himself, conceived the blackest\njealousy and hate.\n\nThe rest of the day and the next were spent in the rejoicings of the\narmy. Turpin in a solemn service implored the favor of Heaven upon the\nyouthful knights, and blessed the white armor which was prepared for\nthem. Duke Namo presented them with golden spurs, Charles himself girded\non their swords. But what was his astonishment when he examined that\nintended for Ogier! The loving Fairy, Morgana, had had the art to change\nit, and to substitute one of her own procuring, and when Charles drew it\nout of the scabbard, these words appeared written on the steel: \u201cMy name\nis Cortana, of the same steel and temper as Joyeuse and Durindana.\u201d\nCharles saw that a superior power watched over the destinies of Ogier;\nhe vowed to love him as a father would, and Ogier promised him the\ndevotion of a son. Happy had it been for both if they had always\ncontinued mindful of their promises.\n\nThe Saracen army had hardly recovered from its dismay when Carahue, King\nof Mauritania, who was one of the knights overthrown by Ogier at the\ntime of the rescue of Charlemagne, determined to challenge him to single\ncombat. With that view he assumed the dress of a herald, resolved to\ncarry his own message. The French knights admired his air, and said to\none another that he seemed more fit to be a knight than a bearer of\nmessages.\n\nCarahue began by passing the warmest eulogium upon the knight who bore\nthe Oriflamme on the day of the battle, and concluded by saying that\nCarahue, King of Mauritania, respected that knight so much that he\nchallenged him to the combat.\n\nOgier had risen to reply, when he was interrupted by Charlot, who said\nthat the gage of the King of Mauritania could not fitly be received by a\nvassal, living in captivity; by which he meant Ogier, who was at that\ntime serving as hostage for his father. Fire flashed from the eyes of\nOgier, but the presence of the Emperor restrained his speech, and he was\ncalmed by the kind looks of Charlemagne, who said, with an angry voice,\n\u201cSilence, Charlot! By the life of Bertha, my queen, he who has saved my\nlife is as dear to me as yourself. Ogier,\u201d he continued, \u201cyou are no\nlonger a hostage. Herald! report my answer to your master, that never\ndoes knight of my court refuse a challenge on equal terms. Ogier, the\nDane, accepts of his, and I myself am his security.\u201d\n\nCarahue, profoundly bowing, replied, \u201cMy lord, I was sure that the\nsentiments of so great a sovereign as yourself would be worthy of your\nhigh and brilliant fame; I shall report your answer to my master, who I\nknow admires you, and unwillingly takes arms against you.\u201d Then, turning\nto Charlot, whom he did not know as the son of the Emperor, he\ncontinued, \u201cAs for you, Sir Knight, if the desire of battle inflames\nyou, I have it in charge from Sadon, cousin of the King of Mauritania,\nto give the like defiance to any French knights who will grant him the\nhonor of the combat.\u201d\n\nCharlot, inflamed with rage and vexation at the public reproof which he\nhad just received, hesitated not to deliver his gage. Carahue received\nit with Ogier\u2019s, and it was agreed that the combat should be on the next\nday in a meadow environed by woods and equally distant from both armies.\n\nThe perfidious Charlot meditated the blackest treason. During the night\nhe collected some knights unworthy of the name, and like himself in\ntheir ferocious manners; he made them swear to avenge his injuries,\narmed them in black armor, and sent them to lie in ambush in the wood,\nwith orders to make a pretended attack upon the whole party, but in\nfact, to lay heavy hands upon Ogier and the two Saracens.\n\nAt the dawn of day Sadon and Carahue, attended only by two pages to\ncarry their spears, took their way to the appointed meadow; and Charlot\nand Ogier repaired thither also, but by different paths. Ogier advanced\nwith a calm air, saluted courteously the two Saracen knights, and joined\nthem in arranging the terms of combat.\n\nWhile this was going on the perfidious Charlot remained behind and gave\nhis men the signal to advance. That cowardly troop issued from the wood\nand encompassed the three knights. All three were equally surprised at\nthe attack, but neither of them suspected the other to have any hand in\nthe treason. Seeing the attack made equally upon them all, they united\ntheir efforts to resist it, and made the most forward of the assailants\nbite the dust. Cortana fell on no one without inflicting a mortal wound,\nbut the sword of Carahue was not of equal temper and broke in his hands.\nAt the same instant his horse was slain, and Carahue fell, without a\nweapon, and entangled with his prostrate horse. Ogier, who saw it, ran\nto his defence and leaping to the ground covered the prince with his\nshield, supplied him with the sword of one of the fallen ruffians, and\nwould have him mount his own horse. At that moment Charlot, inflamed\nwith rage, pushed his horse upon Ogier, knocked him down, and would have\nrun him through with his lance if Sadon, who saw the treason, had not\nsprung upon him and thrust him back. Carahue leapt lightly upon the\nhorse which Ogier presented him, and had time only to exclaim, \u201cBrave\nOgier, I am no longer your enemy, I pledge to you an eternal\nfriendship,\u201d when numerous Saracen knights were seen approaching, having\ndiscovered the treachery, and Charlot with his followers took refuge in\nthe wood.\n\nThe troop which advanced was commanded by Dannemont, the exiled king of\nDenmark, whom Geoffroy, Ogier\u2019s father, had driven from his throne and\ncompelled to take refuge with the Saracens. Learning who Ogier was, he\ninstantly declared him his prisoner, in spite of the urgent\nremonstrances and even threats of Carahue and Sadon, and carried him\nunder a strong guard to the Saracen camp. Here he was at first subjected\nto the most rigorous captivity, but Carahue and Sadon insisted so\nvehemently on his release, threatening to turn their arms against their\nown party if it was not granted, while Dannemont as eagerly opposed the\nmeasure, that Corsuble, the Saracen commander, consented to a middle\ncourse, and allowed Ogier the freedom of his camp, upon his promise not\nto leave it without permission.\n\nCarahue was not satisfied with this partial concession. He left the city\nnext morning, proceeded to the camp of Charlemagne, and demanded to be\nled to the Emperor. When he reached his presence he dismounted from his\nhorse, took off his helmet, drew his sword, and holding it by the blade\npresented it to Charlemagne as he knelt before him.\n\n\u201cIllustrious prince,\u201d he said, \u201cbehold before you the herald who brought\nthe challenge to your knights from the King of Mauritania. The cowardly\nold King Dannemont has made the brave Ogier prisoner, and has prevailed\non our general to refuse to give him up. I come to make amends for this\nungenerous conduct by yielding myself, Carahue, King of Mauritania, your\nprisoner.\u201d\n\nCharlemagne, with all his peers, admired the magnanimity of Carahue; he\nraised him, embraced him, and restored to him his sword. \u201cPrince,\u201d said\nhe, \u201cyour presence and the bright example you afford my knights consoles\nme for the loss of Ogier. Would to God you might receive our holy faith,\nand be wholly united with us.\u201d All the lords of the court, led by Duke\nNamo, paid their respects to the King of Mauritania. Charlot only failed\nto appear, fearing to be recognized as a traitor; but the heart of\nCarahue was too noble to pierce that of Charlemagne by telling him the\ntreachery of his son.\n\nMeanwhile the Saracen army was rent by discord. The troops of Carahue\nclamored against the commander-in-chief because their king was left in\ncaptivity. They even threatened to desert the cause and turn their arms\nagainst their allies. Charlemagne pressed the siege vigorously, till at\nlength the Saracen leaders found themselves compelled to abandon the\ncity and betake themselves to their ships. A truce was made; Ogier was\nexchanged for Carahue, and the two friends embraced one another with\nvows of perpetual brotherhood. The Pope was re\u00ebstablished in his\ndominions, and Italy being tranquil, Charlemagne returned with his peers\nand their followers to France.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n OGIER, THE DANE (_Continued_)\n\nCharlemagne had not forgotten the offence of Geoffroy, the King of\nDenmark, in withholding homage, and now prepared to enforce submission.\nBut at this crisis he was waited upon by an embassy from Geoffroy,\nacknowledging his fault, and craving assistance against an army of\ninvaders who had attacked his states with a force which he was unable to\nrepel. The soul of Charlemagne was too great to be implacable, and he\ntook this opportunity to test that of Ogier, who had felt acutely the\nunkindness of his father, in leaving him, without regard or notice,\nfifteen years in captivity. Charles asked Ogier whether, in spite of his\nfather\u2019s neglect, he was disposed to lead an army to his assistance. He\nreplied, \u201cA son can never be excused from helping his father by any\ncause short of death.\u201d Charlemagne placed an army of a thousand knights\nunder the command of Ogier, and great numbers more volunteered to march\nunder so distinguished a leader. He flew to the succor of his father,\nrepelled the invaders, and drove them in confusion to their vessels.\nOgier then hastened to the capital, but as he drew near the city he\nheard all the bells sounding a knell. He soon learned the cause; it was\nthe obsequies of Geoffroy, the King. Ogier felt keenly the grief of not\nhaving been permitted to embrace his father once more, and to learn his\nlatest commands; but he found that his father had declared him heir to\nhis throne. He hastened to the church where the body lay; he knelt and\nbathed the lifeless form with his tears. At that moment a celestial\nlight beamed all around, and a voice of an angel said, \u201cOgier, leave thy\ncrown to Guyon, thy brother, and bear no other title than that of \u2018The\nDane.\u2019 Thy destiny is glorious, and other kingdoms are reserved for\nthee.\u201d Ogier obeyed the divine behest. He saluted his stepmother\nrespectfully, and embracing his brother, told him that he was content\nwith his lot in being reckoned among the paladins of Charlemagne, and\nresigned all claims to the crown of Denmark.\n\nOgier returned covered with glory to the court of Charlemagne, and the\nEmperor, touched with this proof of his attachment, loaded him with\ncaresses, and treated him almost as an equal.\n\nWe pass in silence the adventures of Ogier for several ensuing years, in\nwhich the fairy-gifts of his infancy showed their force in making him\nsuccessful in all enterprises, both of love and war. He married the\ncharming Belicene, and became the father of young Baldwin, a youth who\nseemed to inherit in full measure the strength and courage of his father\nand the beauty of his mother. When the lad was old enough to be\nseparated from his mother, Ogier took him to court and presented him to\nCharlemagne, who embraced him and took him into his service. It seemed\nto Duke Namo, and all the elder knights, as if they saw in him Ogier\nhimself, as he was when a youth; and this resemblance won for the lad\ntheir kind regards. Even Charlot at first seemed to be fond of him,\nthough after a while the resemblance to Ogier which he noticed had the\neffect to excite his hatred.\n\nBaldwin was attentive to Charlot, and lost no occasion to be\nserviceable. The Prince loved to play chess, and Baldwin, who played\nwell, often made a party with him.\n\nOne day Chariot was nettled at losing two pieces in succession; he\nthought he could, by taking a piece from Baldwin, get some amends for\nhis loss; but Baldwin, seeing him fall into a trap which he had set for\nhim, could not help a slight laugh, as he said, \u201cCheck-mate.\u201d Charlot\nrose in a fury, seized the rich and heavy chessboard, and dashed it with\nall his strength on the head of Baldwin, who fell, and died where he\nfell.\n\nFrightened at his own crime, and fearing the vengeance of the terrible\nOgier, Charlot concealed himself in the interior of the palace. A young\ncompanion of Baldwin hastened and informed Ogier of the event. He ran to\nthe chamber, and beheld the body of his child bathed in blood, and it\ncould not be concealed from him that Charlot gave the blow. Transported\nwith rage, Ogier sought Charlot through the palace, and Charlot, feeling\nsafe nowhere else, took refuge in the hall of Charlemagne, where he\nseated himself at table with Duke Namo and Salomon, Duke of Brittany.\nOgier, with sword drawn, followed him to the very table of the Emperor.\nWhen a cupbearer attempted to bar his way he struck the cup from his\nhand and dashed the contents in the Emperor\u2019s face. Charles rose in a\npassion, seized a knife, and would have plunged it into his breast, had\nnot Salomon and another baron thrown themselves between, while Namo, who\nhad retained his ancient influence over Ogier, drew him out of the room.\nForeseeing the consequence of this violence, pitying Ogier, and in his\nheart excusing him, Namo hurried him away before the guards of the\npalace could arrest him, made him mount his horse, and leave Paris.\n\nCharlemagne called together his peers, and made them take an oath to do\nall in their power to arrest Ogier, and bring him to condign punishment.\nOgier on his part sent messages to the Emperor, offering to give himself\nup on condition that Charlot should be punished for his atrocious crime.\nThe Emperor would listen to no conditions, and went in pursuit of Ogier\nat the head of a large body of soldiers. Ogier, on the other hand, was\nwarmly supported by many knights, who pledged themselves in his defence.\nThe contest raged long, with no decisive results. Ogier more than once\nhad the Emperor in his power, but declined to avail himself of his\nadvantage, and released him without conditions. He even implored pardon\nfor himself, but demanded at the same time the punishment of Charlot.\nBut Charlemagne was too blindly fond of his unworthy son to subject him\nto punishment for the sake of conciliating one who had been so deeply\ninjured.\n\nAt length, distressed at the blood which his friends had lost in his\ncause, Ogier dismissed his little army, and slipping away from those who\nwished to attend him, took his course to rejoin the Duke Guyon, his\nbrother. On his way, having reached the forest of Ardennes, weary with\nlong travel, the freshness of a retired valley tempted him to lie down\nto take some repose. He unsaddled Beiffror, relieved himself of his\nhelmet, lay down on the turf, rested his head on his shield, and slept.\n\nIt so happened that Turpin, who occasionally recalled to mind that he\nwas Archbishop of Rheins, was at that time in the vicinity, making a\npastoral visit to the churches under his jurisdiction. But his dignity\nof peer of France, and his martial spirit, which caused him to be\nreckoned among the \u201cpreux chevaliers\u201d of his time, forbade him to travel\nwithout as large a retinue of knights as he had of clergymen. One of\nthese was thirsty, and knowing the fountain on the borders of which\nOgier was reposing, he rode to it, and was struck by the sight of a\nknight stretched on the ground. He hastened back, and let the Archbishop\nknow, who approached the fountain, and recognized Ogier.\n\nThe first impulse of the good and generous Turpin was to save his\nfriend, for whom he felt the warmest attachment; but his archdeacons and\nknights, who also recognized Ogier, reminded the Archbishop of the oath\nwhich the Emperor had exacted of them all. Turpin could not be false to\nhis oath; but it was not without a groan that he permitted his followers\nto bind the sleeping knight. The Archbishop\u2019s attendants secured the\nhorse and arms of Ogier, and conducted their prisoner to the Emperor at\nSoissons.\n\nThe Emperor had become so much embittered by Ogier\u2019s obstinate\nresistance, added to his original fault, that he was disposed to order\nhim to instant death. But Turpin, seconded by the good Dukes Namo and\nSalomon, prayed so hard for him that Charlemagne consented to remit a\nviolent death, but sentenced him to close imprisonment, under the charge\nof the Archbishop, strictly limiting his food to one quarter of a loaf\nof bread per day, with one piece of meat, and a quarter of a cup of\nwine. In this way he hoped to quickly put an end to his life without\nbringing on himself the hostility of the King of Denmark, and other\npowerful friends of Ogier. He exacted a new oath of Turpin to obey his\norder strictly.\n\nThe good Archbishop loved Ogier too well not to cast about for some\nmeans of saving his life, which he foresaw he would soon lose if\nsubjected to such scanty fare, for Ogier was seven feet tall, and had an\nappetite in proportion. Turpin remembered, moreover, that Ogier was a\ntrue son of the Church, always zealous to propagate the faith and subdue\nunbelievers; so he felt justified in practising on this occasion what in\nlater times has been entitled \u201cmental reservation,\u201d without swerving\nfrom the letter of the oath which he had taken. This is the method he\nhit upon.\n\nEvery morning he had his prisoner supplied with a quarter of a loaf of\nbread, made of two bushels of flour, to this he added a quarter of a\nsheep or a fat calf, and he had a cup made which held forty pints of\nwine, and allowed Ogier a quarter of it daily.\n\nOgier\u2019s imprisonment lasted long; Charlemagne was astonished to hear,\nfrom time to time, that he still held out; and when he inquired more\nparticularly of Turpin, the good Archbishop, relying on his own\nunderstanding of the words, did not hesitate to affirm positively that\nhe allowed his prisoner no more than the permitted ration.\n\nWe forgot to say that, when Ogier was led prisoner to Soissons, the\nAbbot of Saint Faron, observing the fine horse Beiffror, and not having\nat the time any other favor to ask of Charlemagne, begged the Emperor to\ngive him the horse, and had him taken to his abbey. He was impatient to\ntry his new acquisition, and when he had arrived in his litter at the\nfoot of the mountain where the horse had been brought to meet him\nmounted him and rode onward. The horse, accustomed to bear the enormous\nweight of Ogier in his armor, when he perceived nothing on his back but\nthe light weight of the Abbot, whose long robes fluttered against his\nsides, ran away, making prodigious leaps over the steep acclivities of\nthe mountain till he reached the convent of Jouaire, where, in sight of\nthe Abbess and her nuns, he threw the Abbot, already half dead with\nfright, to the ground. The Abbot, bruised and mortified, revenged\nhimself on poor Beiffror, whom he condemned, in his wrath, to be given\nto the workmen to drag stones for a chapel that he was building near the\nabbey. Thus, ill-fed, hard-worked, and often beaten, the noble horse\nBeiffror passed the time while his master\u2019s imprisonment lasted.\n\nThat imprisonment would have been as long as his life if it had not been\nfor some important events which forced the Emperor to set Ogier at\nliberty.\n\nThe Emperor learned at the same time that Carahue, King of Mauritania,\nwas assembling an army to come and demand the liberation of Ogier; that\nGuyon, King of Denmark, was prepared to second the enterprise with all\nhis forces; and, worse than all, that the Saracens, under Bruhier,\nSultan of Arabia, had landed in Gascony, taken Bordeaux, and were\nmarching with all speed for Paris.\n\nCharlemagne now felt how necessary the aid of Ogier was to him. But, in\nspite of the representations of Turpin, Namo, and Salomon, he could not\nbring himself to consent to surrender Charlot to such punishment as\nOgier should see fit to impose. Besides, he believed that Ogier was\nwithout strength and vigor, weakened by imprisonment and long\nabstinence.\n\nAt this crisis he received a message from Bruhier, proposing to put the\nissue upon the result of a combat between himself and the Emperor or his\nchampion: promising, if defeated, to withdraw his army. Charlemagne\nwould willingly have accepted the challenge, but his counsellors all\nopposed it. The herald was therefore told that the Emperor would take\ntime to consider his proposition, and give his answer the next day.\n\nIt was during this interval that the three Dukes succeeded in prevailing\nupon Charlemagne to pardon Ogier, and to send for him to combat the\npuissant enemy who now defied him; but it was no easy task to persuade\nOgier. The idea of his long imprisonment and the recollection of his\nson, bleeding and dying in his arms by the blow of the ferocious\nCharlot, made him long resist the urgency of his friends. Though glory\ncalled him to encounter Bruhier, and the safety of Christendom demanded\nthe destruction of this proud enemy of the faith, Ogier only yielded at\nlast on condition that Charlot should be delivered into his hands to be\ndealt with as he should see fit.\n\nThe terms were hard, but the danger was pressing, and Charlemagne, with\na returning sense of justice, and a strong confidence in the generous\nthough passionate soul of Ogier, at last consented to them.\n\nOgier was led into the presence of Charlemagne by the three peers. The\nEmperor, faithful to his word, had caused Charlot to be brought into the\nhall where the high barons were assembled, his hands tied, and his head\nuncovered. When the Emperor saw Ogier approach he took Charlot by the\narm, led him towards Ogier, and said these words: \u201cI surrender the\ncriminal; do with him as you think fit.\u201d Ogier, without replying, seized\nCharlot by the hair, forced him on his knees, and lifted with the other\nhand his irresistible sword. Charlemagne, who expected to see the head\nof his son rolling at his feet, shut his eyes and uttered a cry of\nhorror.\n\nOgier had done enough. The next moment he raised Charlot, cut his bonds,\nkissed him on the mouth, and hastened to throw himself at the feet of\nthe Emperor.\n\nNothing can exceed the surprise and joy of Charlemagne at seeing his son\nunharmed and Ogier kneeling at his feet. He folded him in his arms,\nbathed him with tears, and exclaimed to his barons, \u201cI feel at this\nmoment that Ogier is greater than I.\u201d As for Charlot, his base soul felt\nnothing but the joy of having escaped death; he remained such as he had\nbeen, and it was not till some years afterwards he received the\npunishment he deserved, from the hands of Huon of Bordeaux, as we have\nseen in a former chapter.\n\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n OGIER, THE DANE (_Continued_)\n\nWhen Charlemagne had somewhat recovered his composure he was surprised\nto observe that Ogier appeared in good case, and had a healthy color in\nhis cheeks. He turned to the Archbishop, who could not help blushing as\nhe met his eye. \u201cBy the head of Bertha, my queen,\u201d said Charlemagne,\n\u201cOgier has had good quarters in your castle, my Lord Archbishop; but so\nmuch the more am I indebted to you.\u201d All the barons laughed and jested\nwith Turpin, who only said, \u201cLaugh as much as you please, my lords; but\nfor my part I am not sorry to see the arm in full vigor that is to\navenge us on the proud Saracen.\u201d\n\nCharlemagne immediately despatched his herald, accepting the challenge,\nand appointing the next day but one for the encounter. The proud and\ncrafty Bruhier laughed scornfully when he heard the reply accepting his\nchallenge, for he had a reliance on certain resources besides his\nnatural strength and skill. However, he swore by Mahomet to observe the\nconditions as proposed and agreed upon.\n\nOgier now demanded his armor, and it was brought to him in excellent\ncondition, for the good Turpin had kept it faithfully; but it was not\neasy to provide a horse for the occasion. Charlemagne had the best\nhorses of his stables brought out, except Blanchard, his own charger;\nbut all in vain, the weight of Ogier bent their backs to the ground. In\nthis embarrassment the Archbishop remembered that the Emperor had given\nBeiffror to the Abbot of St. Faron, and sent off a courier in haste to\nre-demand him.\n\nMonks are hard masters, and the one who directed the laborers at the\nabbey had but too faithfully obeyed the orders of the Abbot. Poor\nBeiffror was brought back, lean, spiritless, and chafed with the harness\nof the vile cart that he had had to draw so long. He carried his head\ndown, and trod heavily before Charlemagne; but when he heard the voice\nof Ogier he raised his head, he neighed, his eyes flashed, his former\nardor showed itself by the force with which he pawed the ground. Ogier\ncaressed him, and the good steed seemed to return his caresses; Ogier\nmounted him, and Beiffror, proud of carrying his master again, leapt and\ncurvetted with all his youthful vigor.\n\nNothing being now wanted, Charlemagne, at the head of his army, marched\nforth from the city of Paris, and occupied the hill of Montmartre,\nwhence the view extended over the plain of St. Denis, where the battle\nwas to be fought.\n\nWhen the appointed day came the Dukes Namo and Salomon, as seconds of\nOgier, accompanied him to the place marked out for the lists, and\nBruhier, with two distinguished Emirs, presented himself on the other\nside.\n\nBruhier was in high spirits, and jested with his friends, as he\nadvanced, upon the appearance of Beiffror. \u201cIs that the horse they\npresume to match with Marchevall\u00e9e, the best steed that ever fed in the\nvales of Mount Atlas?\u201d But now the combatants, having met and saluted\neach other, ride apart to come together in full career. Beiffror flew\nover the plain, and met the adversary more than half-way. The lances of\nthe two combatants were shivered at the shock, and Bruhier was\nastonished to see almost at the same instant the sword of Ogier gleaming\nabove his head. He parried it with his buckler, and gave Ogier a blow on\nhis helmet, who returned it with another, better aimed or better\nseconded by the temper of his blade, for it cut away part of Bruhier\u2019s\nhelmet, and with it his ear and part of his cheek. Ogier, seeing the\nblood, did not immediately repeat his blow, and Bruhier seized the\nmoment to gallop off at one side. As he rode he took a vase of gold\nwhich hung at his saddle-bow, and bathed with its contents the wounded\npart. The blood instantly ceased to flow, the ear and the flesh were\nrestored quite whole, and the Dane was astonished to see his antagonist\nreturn to the ground as sound as ever.\n\nBruhier laughed at his amazement. \u201cKnow,\u201d said he, \u201cthat I possess the\nprecious balm that Joseph of Arimathea used upon the body of the\ncrucified one, whom you worship. If I should lose an arm I could restore\nit with a few drops of this. It is useless for you to contend with me.\nYield yourself, and, as you appear to be a strong fellow, I will make\nyou first oarsman in one of my galleys.\u201d\n\nOgier, though boiling with rage, forgot not to implore the assistance of\nHeaven. \u201cO Lord!\u201d he exclaimed, \u201csuffer not the enemy of thy name to\nprofit by the powerful help of that which owes all its virtue to thy\ndivine blood.\u201d At these words he attacked Bruhier again with more vigor\nthan ever; both struck terrible blows, and made grievous wounds; but the\nblood flowed from those of Ogier, while Bruhier stanched his by the\napplication of his balm. Ogier, desperate at the unequal contest,\ngrasped Cortana with both hands, and struck his enemy such a blow that\nit cleft his buckler, and cut off his arm with it; but Bruhier at the\nsame time launched one at Ogier, which, missing him, struck the head of\nBeiffror, and the good horse fell, and drew down his master in his fall.\n\nBruhier had time to leap to the ground, to pick up his arm and apply his\nbalsam; then, before Ogier had recovered his footing, he rushed forward\nwith sword uplifted to complete his destruction.\n\nCharlemagne, from the height of Montmartre, seeing the brave Ogier in\nthis situation, groaned, and was ready to murmur against Providence; but\nthe good Turpin, raising his arms, with a faith like that of Moses, drew\ndown upon the Christian warrior the favor of Heaven.\n\nOgier, promptly disengaging himself, pressed Bruhier with so much\nimpetuosity that he drove him to a distance from his horse, to whose\nsaddle-bow the precious balm was suspended; and very soon Charlemagne\nsaw Ogier, now completely in the advantage, bring his enemy to his\nknees, tear off his helmet, and, with a sweep of his sword, strike his\nhead from his body.\n\nAfter the victory, Ogier seized Marchevall\u00e9e, leaped upon his back, and\nbecame possessed of the precious flask, a few drops from which closed\nhis wounds and restored his strength. The French knights who had been\nBruhier\u2019s captives, now released, pressed round Ogier to thank him for\ntheir deliverance.\n\nCharlemagne and his nobles, as soon as their attention was relieved from\nthe single combat, perceived from their elevated position an unusual\nagitation in the enemy\u2019s camp. They attributed it at first to the death\nof their general, but soon the noise of arms, the cries of combatants,\nand new standards which advanced, disclosed to them the fact that\nBruhier\u2019s army was attacked by a new enemy.\n\nThe Emperor was right; it was the brave Carahue of Mauritania, who, with\nan army, had arrived in France, resolved to attempt the liberation of\nOgier, his brother in arms. Learning on his arrival the changed aspect\nof affairs, he hesitated not to render a signal service to the Emperor,\nby attacking the army of Bruhier in the midst of the consternation\noccasioned by the loss of its commander.\n\nOgier recognized the standard of his friend, and leaping upon\nMarchevall\u00e9e, flew to aid his attack. Charlemagne followed with his\narmy; and the Saracen host, after an obstinate conflict, was forced to\nsurrender unconditionally.\n\nThe interview of Ogier and Carahue was such as might be anticipated of\ntwo such attached friends and accomplished knights. Charlemagne went to\nmeet them, embraced them, and putting the King of Mauritania on his\nright and Ogier on his left, returned with triumph to Paris. There the\nEmpress Bertha and the ladies of her court crowned them with laurels,\nand the sage and gallant Eginhard, chamberlain and secretary of the\nEmperor, wrote all these great events in his history.\n\nA few days after Guyon, King of Denmark, arrived in France with a chosen\nband of knights, and sent an ambassador to Charlemagne, to say that he\ncame, not as an enemy, but to render homage to him as the best knight of\nthe time and the head of the Christian world. Charlemagne gave the\nambassador a cordial reception, and mounting his horse, rode forward to\nmeet the King of Denmark.\n\nThese great princes, being assembled at the court of Charles, held\ncouncil together, and the ancient and sage barons were called to join\nit.\n\nIt was decided that the united Danish and Mauritanian armies should\ncross the sea and carry the war to the country of the Saracens, and that\na thousand French knights should range themselves under the banner of\nOgier, the Dane, who, though not a king, should have equal rank with the\ntwo others.\n\nWe have not space to record all the illustrious actions performed by\nOgier and his allies in this war. Suffice it to say, they subdued the\nSaracens of Ptolemais and Jud\u00e6a, and, erecting those regions into a\nkingdom, placed the crown upon the head of Ogier. Guyon and Carahue then\nleft him, to return to their respective dominions. Ogier adopted Walter,\nthe son of Guyon of Denmark, to be his successor in his kingdom. He\nsuperintended his education, and saw the young prince grow up worthy of\nhis cares. But Ogier, in spite of all the honors of his rank, often\nregretted the court of Charlemagne, the Duke Namo, and Salomon of\nBrittany, for whom he had the respect and attachment of a son. At last,\nfinding Walter old enough to sustain the weight of government, Ogier\ncaused a vessel to be prepared secretly, and, attended only by one\nsquire, left his palace by night, and embarked to return to France.\n\nThe vessel, driven by a fair wind, cut the sea with the swiftness of a\nbird; but on a sudden it deviated from its course, no longer obeyed the\nhelm, and sped fast towards a black promontory which stretched into the\nsea. This was a mountain of loadstone, and, its attractive power\nincreasing as the distance diminished, the vessel at last flew with the\nswiftness of an arrow towards it, and was dashed to pieces on its rocky\nbase. Ogier alone saved himself, and reached the shore on a fragment of\nthe wreck.\n\nOgier advanced into the country, looking for some marks of inhabitancy,\nbut found none. On a sudden he encountered two monstrous animals,\ncovered with glittering scales, accompanied by a horse breathing fire.\nOgier drew his sword and prepared to defend himself; but the monsters,\nterrific as they appeared, made no attempt to assail him, and the horse,\nPapillon, knelt down, and appeared to court Ogier to mount upon his\nback. Ogier hesitated not to see the adventure through; he mounted\nPapillon, who ran with speed, and soon cleared the rocks and precipices\nwhich hemmed in and concealed a beautiful landscape. He continued his\ncourse till he reached a magnificent palace, and, without allowing Ogier\ntime to admire it, crossed a grand courtyard adorned with colonnades,\nand entered a garden, where, making his way through alleys of myrtle, he\nchecked his course, and knelt down on the enamelled turf of a fountain.\n\nOgier dismounted and took some steps along the margin of the stream, but\nwas soon stopped by meeting a young beauty, such as they paint the\nGraces, and almost as lightly attired as they. At the same moment, to\nhis amazement, his armor fell off of its own accord. The young beauty\nadvanced with a tender air, and placed upon his head a crown of flowers.\nAt that instant the Danish hero lost his memory; his combats, his glory,\nCharlemagne and his court, all vanished from his mind; he saw only\nMorgana, he desired nothing but to sigh forever at her feet.\n\nWe abridge the narrative of all the delights which Ogier enjoyed for\nmore than a hundred years. Time flew by, leaving no impression of its\nflight. Morgana\u2019s youthful charms did not decay, and Ogier had none of\nthose warnings of increasing years which less favored mortals never fail\nto receive. There is no knowing how long this blissful state might have\nlasted, if it had not been for an accident, by which Morgana one day, in\na sportive moment, snatched the crown from his head. That moment Ogier\nregained his memory, and lost his contentment. The recollection of\nCharlemagne, and of his own relatives and friends, saddened the hours\nwhich he passed with Morgana. The fairy saw with grief the changed looks\nof her lover. At last she drew from him the acknowledgment that he\nwished to go, at least for a time, to revisit Charles\u2019s court. She\nconsented with reluctance, and with her own hands helped to reinvest him\nwith his armor. Papillon was led forth, Ogier mounted him, and, taking a\ntender adieu of the tearful Morgana, crossed at rapid speed the rocky\nbelt which separated Morgana\u2019s palace from the borders of the sea.\n\nThe sea-goblins which had received him at his coming awaited him on the\nshore. One of them took Ogier on his back, and the other placing himself\nunder Papillon, they spread their broad fins, and in a short time\ntraversed the wide space that separates the isle of Avalon from France.\nThey landed Ogier on the coast of Languedoc, and then plunged into the\nsea and disappeared.\n\nOgier remounted on Papillon, who carried him across the kingdom almost\nas fast as he had passed the sea. He arrived under the walls of Paris,\nwhich he would scarcely have recognized if the high towers of St.\nGenevieve had not caught his eye. He went straight to the palace of\nCharlemagne, which seemed to him to have been entirely rebuilt. His\nsurprise was extreme, and increased still more on finding that he\nunderstood with difficulty the language of the guards and attendants in\nreplying to his questions; and seeing them smile as they tried to\nexplain to one another the language in which he addressed them.\nPresently the attention of some of the barons who were going to court\nwas attracted to the scene, and Ogier, who recognized the badges of\ntheir rank, addressed them, and inquired if the Dukes Namo and Salomon\nwere still residing at the Emperor\u2019s court. At this question the barons\nlooked at one another in amazement; and one of the eldest said to the\nrest, \u201cHow much this knight resembles the portrait of my grand-uncle,\nOgier the Dane.\u201d \u201cAh! my dear nephew, I am Ogier the Dane,\u201d said he; and\nhe remembered that Morgana had told him that he was little aware of the\nflight of time during his abode with her.\n\nThe barons, more astonished than ever, concluded to conduct him to the\nmonarch who then reigned, the great Hugh Capet.\n\nThe brave Ogier entered the palace without hesitation; but when, on\nreaching the royal hall, the barons directed him to make his obeisance\nto the King of France, he was astonished to see a man of short stature\nand large head, whose air, nevertheless, was noble and martial, seated\nupon the throne on which he had so often seen Charlemagne, the tallest\nand handsomest sovereign of his time.\n\nOgier recounted his adventures with simplicity and unaffectedness. Hugh\nCapet was slow to believe him; but Ogier recalled so many proofs and\ncircumstances, that at last he was forced to recognize the aged warrior\nto be the famous Ogier the Dane.\n\nThe king informed Ogier of the events which had taken place during his\nlong absence; that the line of Charlemagne was extinct; that a new\ndynasty had commenced; that the old enemies of the kingdom, the\nSaracens, were still troublesome; and that at that very time an army of\nthose miscreants was besieging the city of Chartres, to which he was\nabout to repair in a few days to its relief. Ogier, always inflamed with\nthe love of glory, offered the service of his arm, which the illustrious\nmonarch accepted graciously, and conducted him to the queen. The\nastonishment of Ogier was redoubled when he saw the new ornaments and\nhead-dresses of the ladies; still, the beautiful hair which they built\nup on their foreheads, and the feathers interwoven, which waved with so\nmuch grace, gave them a noble air that delighted him. His admiration\nincreased when, instead of the old Empress Bertha, he saw a young queen\nwho combined a majestic mien with the graces of her time of life, and\nmanners candid and charming, suited to attach all hearts. Ogier saluted\nthe youthful queen with a respect so profound that many of the courtiers\ntook him for a foreigner, or at least for some nobleman brought up at a\ndistance from Paris, who retained the manners of what they called the\n_old court_.\n\nWhen the queen was informed by her husband that it was the celebrated\nOgier the Dane whom he presented to her, whose memorable exploits she\nhad often read in the chronicles of antiquity, her surprise was extreme,\nwhich was increased when she remarked the dignity of his address, the\nanimation and even the youthfulness of his countenance. This queen had\ntoo much intelligence to believe hastily; proof alone could compel her\nassent; and she asked him many questions about the old court of\nCharlemagne, and received such instructive and appropriate answers as\nremoved every doubt. It is to the corrections which Ogier was at that\ntime enabled to make to the popular narratives of his exploits that we\nare indebted for the perfect accuracy and trustworthiness of all the\ndetails of our own history.\n\nKing Hugh Capet, having received that same evening couriers from the\ninhabitants of Chartres, informing him that they were hard pressed by\nthe besiegers, resolved to hasten with Ogier to their relief.\n\nOgier terminated this affair as expeditiously as he had so often done\nothers. The Saracens having dared to offer battle, he bore the Oriflamme\nthrough the thickest of their ranks; Papillon, breathing fire from his\nnostrils, threw them into disorder, and Cortana, wielded by his\ninvincible arm, soon finished their overthrow.\n\nThe king, victorious over the Saracens, led back the Danish hero to\nParis, where the deliverer of France received the honors due to his\nvalor. Ogier continued some time at the court, detained by the favor of\nthe king and queen; but erelong he had the pain to witness the death of\nthe king. Then it was that, impressed with all the perfections which he\nhad discerned in the queen, he could not withhold the tender homage of\nthe offer of his hand. The queen would perhaps have accepted it, she had\neven called a meeting of her great barons to deliberate on the\nproposition, when, the day before the meeting was to be held, at the\nmoment when Ogier was kneeling at her feet, she perceived a crown of\ngold which an invisible hand had placed on his brow, and in an instant a\ncloud enveloped Ogier, and he disappeared forever from her sight. It was\nMorgana, the fairy, whose jealousy was awakened at what she beheld, who\nnow resumed her power, and took him away to dwell with her in the island\nof Avalon. There, in company with the great King Arthur of Britain, he\nstill lives, and when his illustrious friend shall return to resume his\nancient reign he will doubtless return with him, and share his triumph.\n\n\n\n\n FOOTNOTES\n\n-----\n\n[1] Wordsworth.\n\n[2] The names included in parentheses are the Greek, the others being\nthe Roman or Latin names.\n\n[3] This inconsistency arises from considering the Saturn of the Romans\nthe same with the Grecian deity Cronos (Time), which, as it brings an\nend to all things which have had a beginning, may be said to devour its\nown offspring.\n\n[4] From this origin of the instrument, the word \u201cshell\u201d is often used\nas synonymous with \u201clyre,\u201d and figuratively for music and poetry. Thus\nGray, in his ode on the \u201cProgress of Poesy,\u201d says:\n\n \u201cO Sovereign of the willing Soul,\n Parent of sweet and solemn-breathing airs,\n Enchanting shell! the sullen Cares\n And frantic Passions hear thy soft control.\u201d\n\n[5] There was also a goddess called Fauna, or Bona Dea.\n\n[6] The goddess of innocence and purity. After leaving earth, she was\nplaced among the stars, where she became the constellation Virgo\u2014the\nVirgin. Themis (Justice) was the mother of Astr\u00e6a. She is represented as\nholding aloft a pair of scales, in which she weighs the claims of\nopposing parties.\n\nIt was a favorite idea of the old poets that these goddesses would one\nday return, and bring back the Golden Age. Even in a Christian hymn, the\n\u201cMessiah\u201d of Pope, this idea occurs:\n\n \u201cAll crimes shall cease, and ancient fraud shall fail,\n Returning Justice lift aloft her scale,\n Peace o\u2019er the world her olive wand extend,\n And white-robed Innocence from heaven descend.\u201d\n\nSee, also, Milton\u2019s \u201cHymn on the Nativity,\u201d stanzas xiv. and xv.\n\n[7] See Proverbial Expressions.\n\n[8] See Proverbial Expressions.\n\n[9] See Proverbial Expressions.\n\n[10] See Proverbial Expressions.\n\n[11] See page 241.\n\n[12] It is evidently not our modern hyacinth that is here described. It\nis perhaps some species of iris, or perhaps of larkspur or of pansy.\n\n[13] The sunflower.\n\n[14] This correct description of the rainbow is literally translated\nfrom Ovid.\n\n[15] Sir James Mackintosh says of this, \u201cDo you think that even a\nChinese could paint the gay colors of a butterfly with more minute\nexactness than the following lines: \u2018The velvet nap,\u2019 etc.?\u201d\u2014_Life_,\nVol. II., 246.\n\n[16] See Proverbial Expressions.\n\n[17] Hecate was a mysterious divinity sometimes identified with Diana\nand sometimes with Proserpine. As Diana represents the moonlight\nsplendor of night, so Hecate represents its darkness and terrors. She\nwas the goddess of sorcery and witchcraft, and was believed to wander by\nnight along the earth, seen only by the dogs, whose barking told her\napproach.\n\n[18] Alcides, a name of Hercules.\n\n[19] One of the finest pieces of sculpture in Italy, the recumbent\nAriadne of the Vatican, represents this incident. A copy is owned by the\nAthen\u00e6um, Boston, and deposited in the Museum of Fine Arts.\n\n[20] Proteus.\n\n[21] The story of the invulnerability of Achilles is not found in Homer,\nand is inconsistent with his account. For how could Achilles require the\naid of celestial armor if he were invulnerable?\n\n[22] Tennyson has chosen \u0152none as the subject of a short poem; but he\nhas omitted the most poetical part of the story, the return of Paris\nwounded, her cruelty and subsequent repentance.\n\n[23] See Proverbial Expressions.\n\n[24] Pyrrhus\u2019s exclamation, \u201cNot such aid nor such defenders does the\ntime require,\u201d has become proverbial. See Proverbial Expressions.\n\n[25] Tennyson in the \u201cLotus-eaters\u201d has charmingly expressed the dreamy,\nlanguid feeling which the lotus food is said to have produced.\n\n \u201cHow sweet it were, hearing the downward stream\n With half-shut eyes ever to seem\n Falling asleep in a half dream!\n To dream and dream, like yonder amber light\n Which will not leave the myrrh-bush on the height;\n To hear each others\u2019 whispered speech;\n Eating the Lotos, day by day,\n To watch the crisping ripples on the beach,\n And tender curving lines of creamy spray:\n To lend our hearts and spirits wholly\n To the influence of mild-minded melancholy;\n To muse and brood and live again in memory,\n With those old faces of our infancy\n Heaped over with a mound of grass,\n Two handfuls of white dust, shut in an urn of brass.\u201d\n\n[26] See Proverbial Expressions.\n\n[27] See Proverbial Expressions.\n\n[28] See Proverbial Expressions.\n\n[29] See Proverbial Expressions.\n\n[30] See Proverbial Expressions.\n\n[31] See Proverbial Expressions.\n\n[32] See Proverbial Expressions.\n\n[33] The poet here inserts a famous line which is thought to imitate in\nits sound the galloping of horses. It may be thus translated: \u201cThen\nstruck the hoofs of the steeds on the ground with a four-footed\ntrampling.\u201d\u2014See Proverbial Expressions.\n\n[34] See Proverbial Expressions.\n\n[35] There being no rain in Egypt, the grass is \u201cunshowered,\u201d and the\ncountry depends for its fertility upon the overflowings of the Nile. The\nark alluded to in the last line is shown by pictures still remaining on\nthe walls of the Egyptian temples to have been borne by the priests in\ntheir religious processions. It probably represented the chest in which\nOsiris was placed.\n\n[36] Cowper\u2019s version is less elegant, but truer to the original:\n\n \u201cHe ceased, and under his dark brows the nod\n Vouchsafed of confirmation. All around\n The sovereign\u2019s everlasting head his curls\n Ambrosial shook, and the huge mountain reeled.\u201d\n\nIt may interest our readers to see how this passage appears in another\nfamous version, that which was issued under the name of Tickell,\ncontemporaneously with Pope\u2019s, and which, being by many attributed to\nAddison, led to the quarrel which ensued between Addison and Pope:\n\n \u201cThis said, his kingly brow the sire inclined;\n The large black curls fell awful from behind,\n Thick shadowing the stern forehead of the god;\n Olympus trembled at the almighty nod.\u201d\n\n[37] Gray\u2019s ode, \u201cThe Fatal Sisters,\u201d is founded on this superstition.\n\n[38] In Longfellow\u2019s Poems will be found a poem entitled \u201cTegner\u2019s\nDrapa,\u201d upon the subject of Baldur\u2019s death.\n\n[39]\n\n \u201cFor noble Britons sprong from Trojans bold,\n And Troynovant was built of old Troy\u2019s ashes cold.\u201d\n SPENSER, Book III., Canto IX., 38.\n\n[40] _Buried under beare._ Buried under something which enclosed him\nlike a coffin or bier.\n\n[41] Glastonbury Abbey, said to be founded by Joseph of Arimathea, in a\nspot anciently called the island or valley of Avalonia.\n\nTennyson, in his \u201cPalace of Art,\u201d alludes to the legend of Arthur\u2019s\nrescue by the Faery queen, thus:\n\n \u201cOr mythic Uther\u2019s deeply wounded son,\n In some fair space of sloping greens,\n Lay dozing in the vale of Avalon,\n And watched by weeping queens.\u201d\n\n[42] Guenever, the name of Arthur\u2019s queen, also written Genievre and\nGeneura, is familiar to all who are conversant with chivalric lore. It\nis to her adventures, and those of her true knight, Sir Launcelot, that\nDante alludes in the beautiful episode of Francesca da Rimini.\n\n[43] This name, in the French romances, is spelled Queux, which means\n_head cook_. This would seem to imply that it was a title, and not a\nname; yet the personage who bore it is never mentioned by any other. He\nis the chief, if not the only, comic character among the heroes of\nArthur\u2019s court. He is the Seneschal or Steward, his duties also\nembracing those of chief of the cooks. In the romances, his general\ncharacter is a compound of valor and buffoonery, always ready to fight,\nand generally getting the worst of the battle. He is also sarcastic and\nabusive in his remarks, by which he often gets into trouble. Yet Arthur\nseems to have an attachment to him, and often takes his advice, which is\ngenerally wrong.\n\n[44] Several cities are allotted to King Arthur by the romance-writers.\nThe principal are Caerleon, Camelot, and Carlisle.\n\nCaerleon derives its name from its having been the station of one of the\nlegions, during the dominion of the Romans. It is called by Latin\nwriters Urbs Legionum, the City of Legions. The former word being\nrendered into Welsh by _Caer_, meaning city, and the latter contracted\ninto _lleon_. The river Usk retains its name in modern geography, and\nthere is a town or city of Caerleon upon it, though the city of Cardiff\nis thought to be the scene of Arthur\u2019s court. Chester also bears in\nWelsh the name of Caerleon; for Chester, derived from _castra_, Latin\nfor _camp_, is the designation of military headquarters.\n\nCamelot is thought to be Winchester.\n\nShalott is Guilford.\n\nHamo\u2019s Port is Southampton.\n\nCarlisle is the city still retaining that name, near the Scottish\nborder. But this name is also sometimes applied to other places, which\nwere, like itself, military stations.\n\n[45] _Samite_, a sort of silk stuff.\n\n[46] _N\u2019as_ is _not was_, contracted; in modern phrase, _there was not\nMochel sorwe_ is _much sorrow_; _morwe_ is _morrow_.\n\n[47] New-fangled\u2014fond of novelty.\n\n[48] _Lunys_, the string with which the falcon is held.\n\n[49] A musical instrument.\n\n[50] \u201cGood faith was the very corner-stone of chivalry. Whenever a\nknight\u2019s word was pledged (it mattered not how rashly) it was to be\nredeemed at any price. Hence the sacred obligation of the _boon granted_\nby a knight to his suppliant. Instances without number occur in romance,\nin which a knight, by rashly granting an indefinite boon, was obliged to\ndo or suffer something extremely to his prejudice. But it is not in\nromance alone that we find such singular instances of adherence to an\nindefinite promise. The history of the times presents authentic\ntransactions equally embarrassing and absurd.\u201d\u2014SCOTT, _note to Sir\nTristram_.\n\n[51] _Feres_, companions; _thewes_, labors; _leers_, learning.\n\n[52] _Aglets_, points or tags.\n\n[53] _Pinckt upon gold, etc._, adorned with golden points, or eyelets,\nand regularly intersected with stripes. _Paled_ (in heraldry), striped.\n\n[54] A fool was a common appendage of the courts of those days when this\nromance was written. A fool was the ornament held in next estimation to\na dwarf. He wore a white dress with a yellow bonnet, and carried a bell\nor _bawble_ in his hand. Though called a fool, his words were often\nweighed and remembered as if there were a sort of oracular meaning in\nthem.\n\n[55] The word means both _fisher_ and _sinner_.\n\n[56] The use of green rushes in apartments was by no means peculiar to\nthe court of Caerleon upon Usk. Our ancestors had a great predilection\nfor them, and they seem to have constituted an essential article, not\nonly of comfort, but of luxury. The custom of strewing the floor with\nrushes is well known to have existed in England during the Middle Ages,\nand also in France.\n\n[57] _Cordwal_ is the word in the original, and from the manner in which\nit is used it is evidently intended for the French Cordouan or Cordovan\nleather, which derived its name from Cordova, where it was manufactured.\nFrom this comes also our English word _cordwainer_.\n\n[58] Amongst all the characters of early British history none is more\ninteresting, or occupies a more conspicuous place, than the hero of this\ntale. Urien, his father, was prince of Rheged, a district comprising the\npresent Cumberland and part of the adjacent country. His valor, and the\nconsideration in which he was held, are a frequent theme of Bardic song,\nand form the subject of several very spirited odes by Taliesin. Among\nthe Triads there is one relating to him; it is thus translated:\n\n\u201cThree Knights of Battle were in the court of Arthur: Cadwr, the Earl of\nCornwall, Launcelot du Lac, and Owain, the son of Urien. And this was\ntheir characteristic\u2014that they would not retreat from battle, neither\nfor spear, nor for arrow, nor for sword. And Arthur never had shame in\nbattle the day he saw their faces there. And they were called the\nKnights of Battle.\u201d\n\n[59] Before the sixth century all the silk used by Europeans had been\nbrought to them by the Seres, the ancestors of the present Boukharians,\nwhence it derived its Latin name of Serica. In 551 the silkworm was\nbrought by two monks to Constantinople; but the manufacture of silk was\nconfined to the Greek empire till the year 1130, when Roger, king of\nSicily, returning from a crusade, collected some manufacturers from\nAthens and Corinth, and established them at Palermo, whence the trade\nwas gradually disseminated over Italy. The varieties of silk stuffs\nknown at this time were velvet, satin (which was called _samite_), and\ntaffety (called _cendal_ or _sendall_), all of which were occasionally\nstitched with gold and silver.\n\n[60] There exists an ancient poem, printed among those of Taliesin,\ncalled the \u201cElegy of Owain ap Urien,\u201d and containing several very\nbeautiful and spirited passages. It commences:\n\n \u201cThe soul of Owain ap Urien,\n May its Lord consider its exigencies!\n Reged\u2019s chief the green turf covers.\u201d\n\nIn the course of this Elegy the bard, alluding to the incessant warfare\nwith which this chieftain harassed his Saxon foes, exclaims:\n\n \u201cCould England sleep with the light upon her eyes!\u201d\n\n[61] The custom of riding into a hall while the lord and his guests sat\nat meat might be illustrated by numerous passages of ancient romance and\nhistory. But a quotation from Chaucer\u2019s beautiful and half-told tale of\n\u201cCambuscan\u201d is sufficient:\n\n \u201cAnd so befell that after the thridde cours,\n While that this king sat thus in his nobley,\n Herking his minstralles thir thinges play,\n Beforne him at his bord deliciously,\n In at the halle door all sodenly\n Ther came a knight upon a stede of bras,\n And in his hond a brod mirrour of glas;\n Upon his thombe he had of gold a ring,\n And by his side a naked sword hanging;\n And up he rideth to the highe bord.\n In all the halle ne was ther spoke a word,\n For mervaille of this knight; him to behold\n Full besily they waiten, young and old.\u201d\n\n[62] The terms of admiration in which the older writers invariably speak\nof _glass windows_ would be sufficient proof, if other evidence were\nwanting, how rare an article of luxury they were in the houses of our\nancestors. They were first introduced in ecclesiastical architecture, to\nwhich they were for a long time confined. Glass is said not to have been\nemployed in domestic architecture before the fourteenth century.\n\n[63] Throughout the broad and varied region of romance it would be\ndifficult to find a character of greater simplicity and truth than that\nof Enid, the daughter of Earl Ynywl. Conspicuous for her beauty and\nnoble bearing, we are at a loss whether more to admire the patience with\nwhich she bore all the hardships she was destined to undergo or the\nconstancy and affection which finally achieved the triumph she so richly\ndeserved.\n\nThe character of Enid is admirably sustained through the whole tale; and\nas it is more natural, because less overstrained, so perhaps it is even\nmore touching than that of Griselda, over which, however, Chaucer has\nthrown a charm that leads us to forget the improbability of her story.\n\n[64] The Island of the Mighty is one of the many names bestowed upon\nBritain by the Welsh.\n\n[65] Caractacus.\n\n[66] Cassivellaunus.\n\n[67] There is a Triad upon the story of the head buried under the White\nTower of London, as a charm against invasion. Arthur, it seems, proudly\ndisinterred the head, preferring to hold the island by his own strength\nalone.\n\n[68] Creiddylad is no other than Shakspeare\u2019s Cordelia, whose father,\nKing Lear, is by the Welsh authorities called indiscriminately Llyr or\nLludd. All the old chronicles give the story of her devotion to her aged\nparent, but none of them seem to have been aware that she is destined to\nremain with him till the day of doom, whilst Gwyn ap Nudd, the king of\nthe fairies, and Gwythyr ap Greidiol, fight for her every first of May,\nand whichever of them may be fortunate enough to be the conqueror at\nthat time will obtain her as a bride.\n\n[69] The Welsh have a fable on the subject of the half-man, taken to be\nillustrative of the force of habit. In this allegory Arthur is supposed\nto be met by a sprite, who appears at first in a small and indistinct\nform, but who, on approaching nearer, increases in size, and, assuming\nthe semblance of half a man, endeavors to provoke the king to wrestle.\nDespising his weakness, and considering that he should gain no credit by\nthe encounter, Arthur refuses to do so, and delays the contest until at\nlength the half-man (Habit) becomes so strong that it requires his\nutmost efforts to overcome him.\n\n[70] The romancers dwell with great complacency on the fair hair and\ndelicate complexion of their heroines. This taste continued for a long\ntime, and to render the hair light was an object of education. Even when\nwigs came into fashion they were all flaxen. Such was the color of the\nhair of the Gauls and of their German conquerors. It required some\ncenturies to reconcile their eyes to the swarthy beauties of their\nSpanish and Italian neighbors.\n\n[71] _Ivanhoe_, Vol. 1, chap. XIII.\n\n[72] It is plain that Shakspeare borrowed from this source the similar\nincident in his \u201cAs you Like it.\u201d The names of characters in the play,\nOrlando, Oliver, Rowland indicate the same thing.\n\n[73] See their story in \u201cKing Arthur and His Knights.\u201d\n\n[74] This is a poetical description of a phenomenon which is said to be\nreally exhibited in the strait of Messina, between Sicily and Calabria.\nIt is called Fata Morgana, or Mirage.\n\n[75] This prophecy is introduced by Ariosto in this place to compliment\nthe noble house of Este, the princes of his native state, the dukedom of\nFerrara.\n\n\n\n\n PROVERBIAL EXPRESSIONS\n\n No. 1. Page 39.\n\n Materiem superabat opus.\u2014_Ovid._\n The workmanship surpassed the material.\n\n No. 2. Page 39.\n\n Facies non omnibus una,\n Nec diversa tamen, qualem decet esse sororum.\n \u2014_Ovid._\n\nTheir faces were not all alike, nor yet unlike, but such as those of\nsisters ought to be.\n\n No. 3. Page 42.\n\n Medio tutissimus ibis.\u2014_Ovid._\n You will go most safely in the middle.\n\n No. 4. Page 45.\n\n Hic situs est Pha\u00ebton, currus auriga paterni,\n Quem si non tenuit, magnis tamen excidit ausis.\n \u2014_Ovid._\n\nHere lies Pha\u00ebton, the driver of his father\u2019s chariot, which if he\nfailed to manage, yet he fell in a great undertaking.\n\n No. 5. Page 123.\n\n Imponere Pelio Ossam.\u2014_Virgil._\n To pile Ossa upon Pelion.\n\n No. 6. Page 230.\n\n Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes.\u2014_Virgil._\n I fear the Greeks even when they offer gifts.\n\n No. 7. Page 232.\n\n Non tali auxilio nec defensoribus istis\n Tempus eget.\u2014_Virgil._\n Not such aid nor such defenders does the time require.\n\n No. 8. Page 245.\n\n Incidit in Scyllam, cupiens vitare Charybdim.\n He runs on Scylla, wishing to avoid Charybdis.\n\n No. 9. Page 260.\n\n Monstrum horrendum, informe, ingens, cui lumen ademptum.\u2014_Virgil._\n\nA horrible monster, misshapen, vast, whose only eye has been put out.\n\n No. 10. Page 261.\n\n Tant\u00e6ne animis c\u0153lestibus ir\u00e6?\u2014_Virgil._\n In heavenly minds can such resentments dwell?\n\n No. 11. Page 263.\n\n Haud ignara mali, miseris succurrere disco.\u2014_Virgil._\n\nNot unacquainted with distress, I have learned to succor the\nunfortunate.\n\n No. 12. Page 263.\n\n Tros, Tyriusve mihi nullo discrimine agetur.\u2014_Virgil._\n Whether Trojan or Tyrian shall make no difference to me.\n\n No. 13. Page 265.\n\n Tu ne cede malis, sed contra audentior ito.\u2014_Virgil._\n Yield thou not to adversity, but press on the more bravely.\n\n No. 14. Page 265.\n\n Facilis descensus Averni;\n Noctes atque dies patet atri janua Ditis;\n Sed revocare gradum, superasque evadere ad auras,\n Hoc opus, hic labor est.\u2014_Virgil._\n\nThe descent of Avernus is easy; the gate of Pluto stands open night and\nday; but to retrace one\u2019s steps and return to the upper air\u2014that is the\ntoil, that the difficulty.\n\n No. 15. Page 265.\n\n Uno avulso non deficit alter.\u2014_Virgil._\n When one is torn away another succeeds.\n\n No. 16. Page 282.\n\n Quadrupendante putrum sonitu quatit ungula campum.\u2014_Virgil._\n\nThen struck the hoofs of the steeds on the ground with a four-footed\ntrampling.\n\n No. 17. Page 285.\n\n Sternitur infelix alieno vulnere, c\u0153lumque\n Adspicit et moriens dulces reminiscitur Argos.\u2014_Virgil._\n\nHe falls, unhappy, by a wound intended for another; looks up to the\nskies, and dying remembers sweet Argos.\n\n\n\n\n LIST OF ILLUSTRATIVE PASSAGES\n\n QUOTED FROM THE POETS\n\nAddison (attributed to), 304\nArmstrong, 22, 117, 175\nArnold, Matthew, 391\n\nBoiardo, 456, 458, 459\nBrowning, Mrs. E. B., 168\nBulfinch, Rev. S. G., 45, 63, 149\nByron, 7, 18, 19, 20, 38, 75, 94, 106, 114, 143, 175, 198, 203, 207, 231,\n 235, 236, 246, 292, 300, 305, 307, 319\n\nCampbell, 137, 364\nChaucer, 414, 416, 417, 550\nColeridge, 58\nCowper, 4, 104, 192, 221, 300, 304, 308\n\nDarwin, 158, 209\nDrayton, 400\nDryden, 48, 211, 290, 308, 312\nDyer, 133, 233\n\nFletcher, 205\nFrancklin, 184\n\nGarrick, 111\nGoldsmith, 104\nGray, 8, 344, 350, 530, 532\n\nHarvey, 90\nHemans, 362\nHomer, 3, 246, 252, 253, 255, 304\nHood, 57, 105\n\nKeats, 31, 62, 65, 68, 76, 91, 106, 204, 243\n\nLandor, 46\nLongfellow, 161, 206, 291, 336\nLowell, 33, 172, 181, 273, 292, 492, 505\nLucan, 313\n\nMacaulay, 11, 159\nMickle, 25\nMilman, 45, 122\nMilton, 3, 5, 6, 18, 33, 34, 38, 57, 67, 68, 75, 90, 94, 103, 104, 117,\n 120, 126, 128, 129, 146, 148, 165, 167, 168, 174, 176, 179, 181, 192, 194,\n 233, 235, 245, 274, 291, 296, 299, 302, 312, 328, 380, 382\nMoore, 2, 25, 28, 58, 91, 105, 115, 134, 143, 293, 320, 364\n\nNibelungen Lied, 353\n\nOvid, 310\n\nPercy, 420\nPope, 15, 133, 188, 221, 227, 287, 304\n\nSchiller, 63, 149\nScott, 264, 359, 365, 377\nShakspeare, 5, 127, 137, 290, 291\nShelley, 23, 36, 150, 314\nSouthey, 188\nSpenser, 8, 110, 166, 198, 389, 393, 467, 478\nSwift, 51, 231\n\nTennyson, 111, 150, 175, 207, 214, 237, 257, 300, 390, 396, 398, 403, 415,\n 435, 444, 462, 486, 489, 503, 508, 512, 515, 517, 521, 556, 558, 566, 572,\n 578\nThomson, 80, 305\nTickell, 304\n\nVeda, Rig, 636\n\nWaller, 22, 262\nWarton, 395\nWordsworth, 167, 215, 302, 319\n\nYoung, 126, 176, 205, 275, 318\n\n\n\n\n INDEX AND DICTIONARY\n\n A\n\nAb-dal-rah\u00b4man, founder of the independent Ommiad (Saracenic) power in\n Spain, conquered at Tours by Charles Martel, 648, 649.\nAb\u00b4er-fraw, scene of nuptials of Branwen and Matholch, 590.\nAb-syr\u00b4tus, younger brother of Medea, 137.\nA-by\u00b4dos, a town on the Hellespont, nearly opposite to Sestos, 105.\nAb\u00b4y-la, Mount, or Columna, a mountain in Morocco, near Ceuta, now called\n Jebel Musa or Ape\u2019s Hill, forming the Northwestern extremity of the\n African coast opposite Gibraltar (_See_ Pillars of Hercules), 145.\nA-ces\u00b4tes, son of a Trojan woman who was sent by her father to Sicily,\n that she might not be devoured by the monsters which infested the\n territory of Troy, 162, 164, 264;\n city of, 283.\nA-ce\u00b4tes, Bacchanal captured by Pentheus, 164.\nA-cha\u00b4tes, faithful friend and companion of \u00c6neas, 281.\nAch-e-lo\u00b4us, river-god of the largest river in Greece\u2014his Horn of Plenty,\n 177-179, 380.\nA-chil\u00b4les, the hero of the Iliad, son of Peleus and of the Nereid Thetis,\n slain by Paris, 95, 138, 173, 174, 208, 212, 213, 214, 216-228, 232,\n 233.\nA\u00b4cis, youth loved by Galatea and slain by Polyphemus, 209-211.\nA-con\u00b4ti-us, a beautiful youth, who fell in love with Cydippe, the\n daughter of a noble Athenian, 121.\nA-cris\u00b4i-us, son of Abas, king of Argos, grandson of Lynceus, the\n great-grandson of Dana\u00fcs, 116, 202.\nAc-t\u00e6\u00b4on, a celebrated huntsman, son of Arist\u00e6us and Autono\u00eb, who, having\n seen Diana bathing, was changed by her to a stag and killed by his own\n dogs, 34, 36, 94.\nAd-me\u00b4ta, daughter of Eurystheus, covets Hippolyta\u2019s girdle, 144.\nAd-me\u00b4tus, king of Thessaly, saved from death by Alcestis, 180, 181.\nA-do\u00b4nis, a youth beloved by Aphrodite (Venus), and Proserpine; killed by\n a boar, 65-67.\nA-dras\u00b4tus, a king of Argos, 182.\n\u00c6\u00b4a-cus, son of Zeus (Jupiter) and \u00c6gina, renowned in all Greece for his\n justice and piety, 95.\n\u00c6-\u00e6\u00b4a, Circe\u2019s island, visited by Ulysses, 241.\n\u00c6-e\u00b4tes, or \u00c6eta, son of Helios (the Sun) and Perseis, and father of Medea\n and Absyrtus, 130, 131, 132, 137.\n\u00c6-ge\u00b4an Sea, 38, 73, 133.\n\u00c6-ge\u00b4us, king of Athens, 136, 150, 151.\n\u00c6-gi\u00b4na, a rocky island in the middle of the Saronic gulf, 95.\n\u00c6\u00b4gis, shield or breastplate of Jupiter and Minerva, 5, 109, 116.\n\u00c6-gis\u00b4thus, murderer of Agamemnon, slain by Orestes, 234.\n\u00c6-ne\u00b4as, Trojan hero, son of Anchises and Aphrodite (Venus), and born on\n Mount Ida, reputed first settler of Rome, 61, 213, 221, 222, 223, 258-287,\n 379.\n\u00c6-ne\u00b4id, poem by Virgil, relating the wanderings of \u00c6neas from Troy to\n Italy, 307.\n\u00c6\u00b4o-lus, son of Hellen and the nymph Orseis, represented in Homer as the\n happy ruler of the \u00c6olian Islands, to whom Zeus had given dominion over\n the winds, 69, 75, 240, 261, 301.\n\u00c6s\u00b4cu-la\u00b4pi-us, god of the medical art, 127, 154, 174, 179, 180, 218, 298.\n\u00c6\u00b4son, father of Jason, made young again by Medea, 130, 134-136.\n\u00c6-thi-o\u00b4pi-ans, inhabitants of the country south of Egypt, 2, 118, 207,\n 208.\n\u00c6\u00b4thra, mother of Theseus by \u00c6geus, 150, 151.\n\u00c6t\u00b4na, volcano in Sicily, 43, 52, 122, 180, 210.\nAg\u00b4a-me\u00b4des, brother of Trophonius, distinguished as an architect, 297,\n 298.\nAg\u00b4a-mem\u00b4non, son of Plisthenis and grandson of Atreus, king of Mycen\u00e6;\n although the chief commander of the Greeks, is not the hero of the Iliad,\n and in chivalrous spirit altogether inferior to Achilles, 213, 216, 217,\n 219, 222, 233.\nA-ga\u00b4ve, daughter of Cadmus, wife of Echion, and mother of Pentheus, 164.\nA-ge\u00b4nor, father of Europa, Cadmus, Cilix, and Ph\u0153nix, 91, 223.\nAg-la\u00b4i-a, one of the Graces, 8.\nAg\u00b4ni, Hindu god of fire, 321.\nAg\u00b4ra-mant, a king in Africa, 693, 784, 785, 786.\nAg\u00b4ri-can, fabled king of Tartary, pursuing Angelica, finally killed by\n Orlando, 676-678, 679-683.\nAg\u00b4ri-vain, one of Arthur\u2019s knights, 404, 414, 435, 507.\nAh\u00b4ri-man, the Evil Spirit in the dual system of Zoroaster, 318.\n _See_ Ormuzd.\nA\u00b4jax, son of Telamon, king of Salamis, and grandson of \u00c6acus; represented\n in the Iliad as second only to Achilles in bravery, 138, 213, 217, 219,\n 221, 228.\nAl\u00b4ba, the river where King Arthur fought the Romans, 409.\nAl\u00b4ba Lon\u00b4ga, city in Italy founded by son of \u00c6neas, 287.\nAl\u00b4ber-ich, dwarf guardian of Rhinegold treasure of the Nibelungs, 354,\n 355, 356.\nAl-brac\u00b4ca, siege of, 672-683.\nAl-ces\u00b4tis, wife of Admetus, offered herself as sacrifice to spare her\n husband, but rescued by Hercules, 180, 181.\nAl-ci\u00b4des (Hercules), 148, 149.\nAl-ci\u00b4na, enchantress, 723, 726, 731.\nAl-cin\u00b4o-us, Ph\u00e6acian king, 248, 250, 252.\nAl-cip\u00b4pe, daughter of Mars; carried off by Halirrhothius, 139.\nAlc-me\u00b4na, wife of Jupiter, and mother of Hercules, 143.\nAl\u00b4cu-in, English prelate and scholar, 654-655.\nAl-dro-van\u00b4dus, dwarf guardian of treasure, 354, 355, 356.\nA-lec\u00b4to, one of the Furies, 9, 277.\nAl-ex-an\u00b4der the Great, king of Macedonia, conqueror of Greece, Egypt,\n Persia, Babylonia, and India, 48.\nAl-fa\u00b4dur, a name for Odin, 331, 349.\nAlf\u00b4heim, abode of the elves of light, 348.\nAl\u00b4ice, mother of Huon and Girard, sons of Duke Sevinus, 826-827.\nAl-phe\u00b4nor, son of Niobe, 113.\nAl-phe\u00b4us, river-god pursuing Arethusa, who escaped by being changed to a\n fountain, 56, 57, 144.\nAl-th\u00e6\u00b4a, mother of Meleager, whom she slew because he had in a quarrel\n killed her brothers, thus disgracing \u201cthe house of Thestius,\u201d her father,\n 138-140.\nAm-al-the\u00b4a, nurse of the infant Jupiter in Crete, 179.\nA-ma\u00b4ta, wife of Latinus, driven mad by Alecto, 277.\nAm\u00b4au-ry of Hauteville, false-hearted Knight of Charlemagne, 825-830.\nAm\u00b4a-zons, mythical race of warlike women, 144-145, 153.\nAm-bro\u00b4si-a, celestial food used by the gods, 3.\nAm\u00b4mon, Egyptian god of life, identified by Romans with phases of Jupiter,\n the father of gods, 123.\nAm-phi-a-ra\u00b4us, a great prophet and hero at Argos, 182.\nAm-phi\u00b4on, a musician, son of Jupiter and Antiope (_See_ Dirce), 113,\n 192-193.\nAm-phi-tri\u00b4te, wife of Neptune, 172, 173.\nAm-phyr\u00b4sos, a small river in Thessaly, 180.\nAm\u00b4pyx, assailant of Perseus, turned to stone by seeing Gorgon\u2019s head,\n 121.\nAm-ri\u00b4ta, nectar giving immortality, 321.\nA\u00b4mun, 292.\n _See_ Ammon.\nAm\u00b4y-mo\u00b4ne, one of the fifty daughters of Dana\u00fcs, and mother by Poseidon\n (Neptune) of Nauplius, the father of Palamedes, 144.\nAn\u00b4ax-ar\u00b4e-te, a maiden of Cyprus, who treated her lover Iphis with such\n haughtiness that he hanged himself at her door, 78, 79.\nAn-bess\u00b4a, Saracenic governor of Spain (725 A.D.), 648.\nAn-ce\u00b4us, one of the Argonauts, 137.\nAn-chi\u00b4ses, beloved by Aphrodite (Venus), by whom he became the father of\n \u00c6neas, 258, 259, 265, 271, 272.\nAn-dr\u00e6\u00b4mon, husband of Dryope; saw her changed into a tree, 64, 65.\nAn\u00b4dret, a cowardly knight, spy upon Tristram, 456.\nAn-drom\u00b4a-che, wife of Hector, 213, 225, 260.\nAn-drom\u00b4e-da, daughter of King Cephas, delivered from monster by Perseus,\n 118-120.\nAn\u00b4eur-in, Welsh bard, 531.\nAn-gel\u00b4i-ca, Princess of Cathay, 665-672, 678-686, 693, 704-710, 732, 751.\nA-nem\u00b4o-ne, short-lived wind-flower, created by Venus from the blood of\n the slain Adonis, 67.\nAn-ger\u00b4bo-de, giant prophetess, mother of Fenris, Hela, and the Midgard\n Serpent, 344.\nAn\u00b4gle-sey, a Northern British island, refuge of Druids fleeing from\n Romans, 362.\nAn-t\u00e6\u00b4us, giant wrestler of Libya, killed by Hercules, who, finding him\n stronger when thrown to the earth, lifted him into the air and strangled\n him, 122, 146.\nAn-te\u00b4a, wife of jealous Pr\u0153tus, 125.\nAn-te\u00b4nor, descendants of, in Italy, 381.\nAn\u00b4te-ros, deity avenging unrequited love, brother of Eros (Cupid), 7.\nAn\u00b4thor, a Greek, 285.\nAn-tig\u00b4o-ne, daughter of \u00c6dipus, Greek ideal of filial and sisterly\n fidelity, 181-184.\nAn-til\u00b4o-chus, son of Nestor, 207, 221.\nAn-ti\u00b4o-pe, Amazonian queen, 153, 192, 194.\n _See_ Dirce.\nA-nu\u00b4bis, Egyptian god, conductor of the dead to judgment, 293, 294.\nAp\u00b4en-nines, 43.\nAph-ro-di\u00b4te. _See_ Venus, Dione, etc.\nA\u00b4pis, Egyptian bull-god of Memphis, 295, 299.\nA-pol\u00b4lo, god of music and song, 3, 5, 8, 13, 19, 20-23, 38, 47, 67-68,\n 104, 112, 113, 123, 127, 173, 174, 179, 180, 185, 196, 199, 206, 216, 218,\n 220, 222, 223, 224, 225, 228, 232, 252, 259, 274, 301.\nA-pol\u00b4lo Bel-ve-dere\u00b4, famous antique statue in Vatican at Rome, 306.\nA-pol\u00b4lo, Oracle of, 69, 81, 92, 259, 297.\nA-pol\u00b4lo, temple to, 157, 228, 314.\nApples of the Hesperides, wedding gifts to Juno, guarded by daughters of\n Atlas and Hesperis, stolen by Atlas for Hercules, 145.\nAq\u00b4ui-lo, or Boreas, the North Wind, 176.\nAq\u00b4ui-taine, ancient province of Southwestern France, 406.\nA-rach\u00b4ne, a maiden skilled in weaving, changed to a spider by Minerva for\n daring to compete with her, 108-111.\nAr-ca\u00b4di-a, a country in the middle of Peloponnesus, surrounded on all\n sides by mountains, 9, 34, 138, 280.\nAr\u00b4ca-dy, star of, the Pole-star, 33.\nAr\u00b4cas, son of Jupiter and Callisto, 34.\nArcher, constellation of the, 40.\nAr\u00b4den, forest of, 661, 667, 668, 703.\nA-re-op\u00b4a-gus, court of the, at Athens, 235.\nA\u00b4res, called Mars by the Romans, the Greek god of war, and one of the\n great Olympian gods, 7.\nAr-e-thu\u00b4sa, nymph of Diana, changed to a fountain, 55-56, 58.\nAr\u00b4gius, king of Ireland, father of Isoude the Fair, 453.\nAr\u00b4go, builder of the vessel of Jason for the Argonautic expedition, 130,\n 132, 133.\nAr\u00b4go-lis, city of the Nemean games, 155.\nAr\u00b4go-nauts, Jason\u2019s crew seeking the Golden Fleece, 130, 131, 137, 144,\n 158, 176.\nAr\u00b4gos, a kingdom in Greece, 182, 234, 285, 289, 307.\nAr\u00b4gus, of the hundred eyes, guardian of Io, 29-31, 130, 133, 255, 302.\nA-ri-ad\u00b4ne, daughter of King Minos, who helped Theseus slay the Minotaur,\n 152, 156, 165.\nA-rim\u00b4a-nes. _See_ Ahriman.\nAr\u00b4i-mas\u00b4pi-ans, one-eyed people of Syria, 129.\nA-ri\u00b4on, famous musician, whom sailors cast into the sea to rob him, but\n whose lyric song charmed the dolphins, one of which bore him safely to\n land, 195-198.\nAr-is-t\u00e6\u00b4us, the bee-keeper, in love with Eurydice, 185, 189-191.\nAr-mor\u00b4i-ca, another name for Britain, 375, 388, 400.\nAr-ri-da\u00b4no, a magical ruffian, slain by Orlando, 687, 689, 690.\nAr\u00b4te-mis. _See_ Diana.\nArth-gal\u00b4lo, brother of Elidure, British king, 386.\nAr\u00b4thur, king in Britain about the 6th century, 375, 390, 392, 394-417,\n 441, 442, 444, 461, 466, 484, 487, 508-514, 515-521, 534, 539, 546-549,\n 554, 564-569, 611-614, 622.\nA\u00b4runs, an Etruscan who killed Camilla, 286.\nAs\u00b4gard, home of the Northern gods, 330, 345.\nAsh\u00b4ta-roth, a cruel spirit, called by enchantment to bring Rinaldo to\n death, 804-805.\nA\u00b4sia, 152, 161.\nAs\u00b4ke, the first man, made from an ash tree, 329.\nAs-tol\u00b4pho of England, one of Charlemagne\u2019s knights, 653, 656, 667, 673,\n 675, 722, 731, 739-740, 769-779, 783-784, 791.\nAs-tr\u00e6\u00b4a, goddess of justice, daughter of Astr\u00e6us and Eos, 15.\nAs-ty\u00b4a-ges, an assailant of Perseus, 121.\nAs-ty\u00b4a-nax, son of Hector of Troy, established kingdom of Messina in\n Italy, 697.\nA-su\u00b4ras, opponents of the Braminical gods, 321.\nAt-a-lan\u00b4ta, beautiful daughter of King of Icaria, loved and won in a\n foot-race by Hippomenes, 138-140, 141-142.\nA\u00b4te, the goddess of infatuation, mischief and guilt, 222.\nAth\u00b4a-mas, son of \u00c6olus and Enarete, and king of Orchomenus, in B\u0153otia,\n 129, 130, 174.\n _See_ Ino.\nA-the\u00b4ne, tutelary goddess of Athens; the same as Minerva, 152.\nAth\u00b4ens, the capital of Attica, about four miles from the sea, between the\n small rivers Cephissus and Ilissus, 95, 107, 136, 137, 150, 151, 153, 154,\n 235, 307.\nA\u00b4thor, Egyptian deity, progenitor of Isis and Osiris, 292.\nA\u00b4thos, the mountainous peninsula, also called Acte, which projects from\n Chalcidice in Macedonia, 43.\nAt-lan\u00b4tes, foster-father of Rogero, a powerful magician, 693, 703, 720,\n 737, 739.\nAt-lan\u00b4tis, according to an ancient tradition, a great island west of the\n Pillars of Hercules, in the ocean, opposite Mount Atlas, 273.\nAt\u00b4las, a Titan, who bore the heavens on his shoulders, as punishment for\n opposing the gods; one of the sons of Iapetus, 5, 44, 117-118, 146, 149,\n 206.\nAt\u00b4las, Mount, general name for range in northern Africa, 145.\nAt\u00b4ro-pos, one of the Fates (which _See_), 9.\nAt\u00b4ti-ca, a state in ancient Greece, 153, 154, 158.\nAud-hum\u00b4bla, the cow from which the giant Ymir was nursed. Her milk was\n frost melted into raindrops, 329.\nAu-ge\u00b4an stables, cleansed by Hercules, 144.\nAu-ge\u00b4as, king of Elis, 144.\nAu-gus\u00b4tan age, reign of Roman Emperor Augustus C\u00e6sar, famed for many\n great authors, 308.\nAu-gus\u00b4tus, the first imperial C\u00e6sar, who ruled the Roman Empire 31\n B.C.-14 A.D., 11, 308.\nAu\u00b4lis, port in B\u0153otia, meeting-place of Greek expedition against Troy,\n 213.\nAu-ro\u00b4ra, identical with Eos, goddess of the dawn, 23, 26, 53, 72,\n 207-208.\nAu-ro\u00b4ra Bo-re-a\u00b4lis, splendid nocturnal luminosity in northern sky,\n called Northern Lights, probably electrical, 331.\nAu\u00b4tumn, attendant of Ph\u0153bus, the Sun, 39.\nAv\u00b4a-lon, land of the Blessed, an earthly paradise in the Western Seas,\n burial-place of King Arthur, 395, 400, 520.\nAv\u00b4a-tar, name for any of the earthly incarnations of Vishnu, the\n Preserver (Hindu god), 321.\nAv\u00b4en-tine, Mount, one of the Seven Hills of Rome, 146.\nA-ver\u00b4nus, a miasmatic lake close to the promontory between Cum\u00e6 and\n Puteoli, filling the crater of an extinct volcano, by the ancients thought\n to be the entrance to the infernal regions, 265, 266.\nAv-i-cen\u00b4na, celebrated Arabian physician and philosopher, 313.\nA\u00b4ya, mother of Rinaldo, 820.\nAy\u00b4mon, Duke, father of Rinaldo and Bradamante, 791-792, 794.\n\n B\n\nBa\u00b4al, king of Tyre, 358.\nBab-y-lo\u00b4ni-an River, dried up when Pha\u00ebton drove the sun-chariot, 44.\nBac\u00b4cha-na\u00b4li-a, a feast to Bacchus that was permitted to occur but once\n in three years; attended by most shameless orgies, 161.\nBac\u00b4cha-nals, devotees and festal dancers of Bacchus, 161, 164.\nBac\u00b4chus (Dionysus), god of wine and revelry, 8, 10, 46-47, 123, 160-165,\n 179, 187.\nBa\u00b4don, battle of, Arthur\u2019s final victory over the Saxons, 394, 400.\nBag-de-ma\u00b4gus, King, a knight of Arthur\u2019s time, 427-428, 489.\nBal\u00b4dur, son of Odin, and representing in Norse mythology the sun-god,\n 343-347.\nBal-i-sar\u00b4do, Orlando\u2019s sword, 786.\nBan, King of Brittany, ally of Arthur, father of Launcelot, 391, 401, 424.\nBards, minstrels of Welsh Druids, 361, 531.\nBas\u00b4i-lisk. _See_ Cockatrice.\nBau\u00b4cis, wife of Philemon, visited by Jupiter and Mercury, 49-51.\nBay\u00b4ard, wild horse subdued by Rinaldo, 661-663, 672, 696, 704, 708,\n 768-769, 784-788, 814, 826.\nBe\u00b4al, Druids\u2019 god of life, 358.\nBear (Constellation of), 3.\nBed\u00b4i-vere, Arthur\u2019s knight, 517-525.\nBed\u00b4ver, King Arthur\u2019s butler, made governor of Normandy, 406, 407, 408,\n 410.\nBed\u00b4wyr, knightly comrade of Geraint, 570.\nBel-i-sar\u00b4da, Rogero\u2019s sword, 730.\nBel-ler\u00b4o-phon, demigod, conqueror of the Chim\u00e6ra, 125-126.\nBel-lo\u00b4na, the Roman goddess of war, represented as the sister or wife of\n Mars, 10.\nBel\u00b4tane, Druidical fire-festival, 359.\nBe\u00b4lus, son of Poseidon (Neptune) and Libya or Eurynome, twin brother of\n Agenor, 262.\nBen\u00b4di-geid Vran, King of Britain, 589-597.\nBe\u00b4o-wulf, hero and king of the Swedish Geats, 635-637.\nBer\u00b4o-e, nurse of Semele, 160.\nBer\u00b4tha, mother of Orlando, 656.\nBi\u00b4frost, rainbow bridge between the earth and Asgard (which _See_), 330,\n 349.\nBla\u00b4dud, inventor, builder of the city of Bath, 383.\nBla\u00b4mor, a knight of Arthur, 512, 523, 525.\nBle-ob\u00b4er-is, a knight of Arthur, 525.\nB\u0153-o\u00b4ti-a, state in ancient Greece, capital city Thebes, 213, 297.\nBo-hort\u00b4, King, a knight of Arthur, 399, 401, 424, 442, 443, 446-449,\n 497-502, 504-506, 507, 510, 512, 523, 524, 525.\nBo\u00b4na De\u00b4a, a Roman divinity of fertility, 10 n.\nBo-o\u00b4tes, also called Arcas, son of Jupiter and Calisto, changed to\n constellation of Ursa Major, 42.\nBo\u00b4re-as, North wind, son of \u00c6olus and Aurora, 176, 261.\nBos\u00b4po-rus (Bosphorus), the Cow-ford, named for Io (which _See_), when as\n a heifer she crossed that strait, 31.\nBrad-a-man\u00b4te, sister to Rinaldo; a female warrior, 697, 703, 708,\n 712-721, 727, 737, 738, 740, 765-768, 779, 791, 792, 794, 796-801.\nBrad-e-ma\u00b4gus, King, father of Sir Maleagans, 436, 439.\nBrag\u00b4i, Norse god of poetry, 332.\nBrah\u00b4ma, the Creator, chief god of Hindu religion, 320-325.\nBran\u00b4wen, daughter of Llyr, King of Britain, wife of Matholch, 591-597.\nBrazen Age, 14.\nBr\u00e9-cil\u00b4i-ande, forest of, where Vivian enticed Merlin, 391, 392, 475.\nBreng\u00b4wain, maid of Isoude the Fair, 454, 468-469.\nBren\u00b4nus, son of Molmutius, went to Gaul, became King of the Allobroges,\n 386.\nBreuse, the Pitiless, a caitiff knight, 464, 469.\nBri-a\u00b4re-us, hundred-armed giant, 52, 123, 267.\nBrice, Bishop, sustainer of Arthur when elected king, 398.\nBrig-li-a-do\u00b4ro, Orlando\u2019s horse, 759, 788.\nBri-se\u00b4is, captive maid belonging to Achilles, 216.\nBrit\u00b4to, reputed ancestor of British people, 379.\nBruh\u00b4ier, Sultan of Arabia, 862-866.\nBru-nel\u00b4lo, dwarf, thief, and king, 694, 718.\nBrun\u00b4hild, leader of the Valkyrie, 352, 354-357.\nBru\u00b4tus, great-grandson of \u00c6neas, and founder of city of New Troy\n (London), 375, 379-391.\n _See_ Pandrasus.\nBry\u00b4an, Sir, a knight of Arthur, 430.\nBud\u00b4dha, called The Enlightened, reformer of Brahmanism, deified teacher\n of self-abnegation, virtue, reincarnation, _Karma_ (inevitable sequence of\n every act), and _Nirvana_ (beatific absorption into the Divine), lived\n about 562-482 B.C., 321, 325-326.\nBull, constellation, 40.\nByb\u00b4los, in Egypt, 294.\nByr\u00b4sa, original site of Carthage, 262.\n\n C\n\nCa\u00b4cus, gigantic son of Vulcan, slain by Hercules, whose captured cattle\n he stole, 146, 147.\nCad\u00b4mus, son of Agenor, king of Ph\u0153nicia, and of Telephassa, and brother\n of Europa, who, seeking his sister, carried off by Jupiter, had strange\n adventures\u2014sowing in the ground teeth of a dragon he had killed, which\n sprang up armed men who slew each other, all but five, who helped Cadmus\n to found the city of Thebes, 34, 91-94, 131, 174, 182, 301.\nCa-du\u00b4ce-us, Mercury\u2019s staff, 8, 49.\nCad-wal\u00b4lo, King of Venedotia (North Wales), 407.\nCaer-le\u00b4on, traditional seat of Arthur\u2019s court, 406, 413, 534, 553.\nC\u00e6\u00b4sar, Julius, Roman lawyer, general, statesman and author, conquered and\n consolidated Roman territory, making possible the Empire, 387, 388.\nCa-i\u00b4cus, a Greek river, 44.\nCairns, Druidical stone-piles, 359, 365.\nCal\u00b4ais, French town facing England, 133, 176.\nCal\u00b4chas, wisest soothsayer among the Greeks at Troy, 214, 217, 230.\nCal\u00b4i-burn, a sword of Arthur, 400.\nCal-li\u00b4o-pe, one of the nine Muses (which _See_), 8, 185.\nCal-lis\u00b4to, an Arcadian nymph, mother of Arcas (_See_ Bo\u00f6tes), changed by\n Jupiter to constellation Ursa Minor, 31-34.\nCal\u00b4pe, a mountain in the south of Spain, on the strait between the\n Atlantic and Mediterranean, now Rock of Gibraltar, 145.\nCal\u00b4y-don, home of Meleager, 138, 140.\nCa-lyp\u00b4so, queen of Island of Ogyia, where Ulysses was wrecked and held\n seven years, 245-247.\nCa-lyp\u00b4so Island, 245.\nCam\u00b4ber, son of Brutus, governor of West Albion (Wales), 381.\nCam\u00b4bria, 529.\nCam\u00b4e-lot, legendary place in England where Arthur\u2019s court and palace were\n located, 441, 453.\nCa-me\u00b4n\u00e6, prophetic nymphs, belonging to the religion of ancient Italy,\n 175.\nCa-mil\u00b4la, Volscian maiden, huntress and Amazonian warrior, favorite of\n Diana, 278, 286, 287.\nCam\u00b4lan, battle of, where Arthur was mortally wounded, 395.\nCan\u00b4ter-bury, English city, 516.\nCap\u00b4a-neus, husband of Evadne, slain by Jupiter for disobedience, 183.\nCa\u00b4pet, Hugh, King of France (987-996 A.D.), 870.\nCar\u00b4a-doc Brief\u00b4bras, Sir, great-nephew of King Arthur, 418-423.\nCar\u00b4a-hue, King of Mauretania, 853 ff., 861.\nCar\u00b4thage, African city, home of Dido (which _See_), 262.\nCas-san\u00b4dra, daughter of Priam and Hecuba, and twin-sister of Helenus, a\n prophetess, who foretold the coming of the Greeks but was not believed,\n 232.\nCas-si-bel-laun\u00b4us, British chieftain, fought but not conquered by C\u00e6sar,\n 387.\nCas-si-o-pe\u00b4ia, mother of Andromeda, 118, 120.\nCas-ta\u00b4li-a, fountain of Parnassus, giving inspiration to Oracular\n priestess named Pythia, 297.\nCas-ta\u00b4lian Cave, oracle of Apollo, 92.\nCastes (India), 323-325.\nCas\u00b4tor and Pol\u00b4lux\u2014the Dioscuri, sons of Jupiter and Leda,\u2014Castor a\n horseman, Pollux a boxer (_See_ Gemini), 133, 158-159, 202, 203.\nCau\u00b4ca-sus, Mount, 18, 43, 170.\nCa-vall\u00b4, Arthur\u2019s favorite dog, 564.\nCa-ys\u00b4ter, ancient river, 44.\nCe-bri\u00b4o-nes, Hector\u2019s charioteer, 220.\nCe\u00b4crops, first king of Athens, 107.\nCe-les\u00b4tials, gods of classic mythology, 3.\nCe\u00b4le-us, shepherd who sheltered Ceres, seeking Proserpine, and whose\n infant son Triptolemus was in gratitude made great by Ceres, 54, 57.\nCel-li\u00b4ni, Benvenuto, famous Italian sculptor and artificer in metals,\n 316.\nCelt\u00b4ic nations, ancient Gauls and Britons, modern Bretons, Welsh, Irish\n and Gaelic Scotch, 529.\nCen\u00b4taurs, originally an ancient race, inhabiting Mount Pelion in\n Thessaly; in later accounts represented as half horses and half men, and\n said to have been the offspring of Ixion and a cloud, 127-128, 166.\nCeph\u00b4a-lus, husband of beautiful but jealous Procris, 26-28, 95.\nCe\u00b4phe-us, King of Ethiopians, father of Andromeda, 118, 120.\nCeph\u00b4i-sus, a Grecian stream, 92.\nCer\u00b4be-rus, three-headed dog that guarded the entrance to Hades; called a\n son of Typhaon and Echidna, 88, 147, 196, 268.\nCe\u00b4res (_See_ Demeter), 8, 53, 54-57, 86, 169.\nCes\u00b4tus, the girdle of Venus, 6, 218.\nCey-lon\u00b4, 326.\nCe\u00b4yx, King of Thessaly (_See_ Halcyone), 69-75.\nCha\u00b4os, original Confusion, personified by Greeks as most ancient of the\n gods, 4, 12, 45.\nChar\u00b4le-magne, king of the Franks and emperor of the Romans, 375, 647,\n 650-655, 664-672, 674, 801-813 ff.\nCharles Mar-tel\u00b4, king of the Franks, grandfather of Charlemagne, called\n Martel (the Hammer) from his defeat of the Saracens at Tours, 648, 649,\n 650.\nChar\u00b4lot, son of Charlemagne, 818-821, 825, 827, 852, 858.\nCha\u00b4ron, son of Erebos, conveyed in his boat the shades of the dead across\n the rivers of the lower world, 88, 267.\nCha-ryb\u00b4dis, whirlpool near the coast of Sicily, 243-245, 261, 303, 304,\n 322.\n _See_ Scylla.\nChi-m\u00e6\u00b4ra, a fire-breathing monster, the fore part of whose body was that\n of a lion, the hind part that of a dragon, and the middle that of a goat,\n slain by Bellerophon, 122, 124-126, 267.\nChi\u00b4na, 326;\n Lamas (priests) of, 327.\nChi\u00b4os, island in the Grecian archipelago, 205.\nChi\u00b4ron, wisest of all the Centaurs, son of Cronos (Saturn) and Philyra,\n lived on Mount Pelion, instructor of Grecian heroes, 127, 128, 133,\n 173.\nChry-se\u00b4is, Trojan maid, taken by Agamemnon, 216.\nChry\u00b4ses, priest of Apollo, father of Chryseis, 216.\nCi-co\u00b4ni-ans, inhabitants of Ismarus, visited by Ulysses, 236.\nCim\u00b4bri, an ancient people of Central Europe, 529.\nCim-me\u00b4ri-a, a land of darkness, 31, 71, 529.\nCi\u00b4mon, Athenian general, 154.\nCir\u00b4ce, sorceress, sister of \u00c6etes, 60, 61, 117, 241-243.\nCi-th\u00e6\u00b4ron, Mount, scene of Bacchic worship, 164, 192.\nClar-i-mun\u00b4da, wife of Huon, 845-848.\nCli\u00b4o, one of the Muses (which _See_), 8.\nClor\u00b4i-dan, a Moor, 747-751.\nClo\u00b4tho, one of the Fates (which _See_), 9.\nClym\u00b4e-ne, an ocean nymph, 38-39.\nCly-tem-nes\u00b4tra, wife of Agamemnon, killed by Orestes, 234.\nCly\u00b4tie, a water-nymph, in love with Apollo, 104-105.\nCni\u00b4dos, ancient city of Asia Minor, seat of worship of Aphrodite (Venus),\n 66.\nCock\u00b4a-trice (or Basilisk), called King of Serpents, supposed to kill with\n its look, 312-314.\nCo-cy\u00b4tus, a river of Hades, 267.\nCol\u00b4chis, a kingdom east of the Black Sea, 130, 131, 137.\nCol\u00b4o-phon, one of the seven cities claiming the birth of Homer, 307.\nCo-lum\u00b4ba, St., an Irish Christian missionary to Druidical parts of\n Scotland, 362-363.\nCo\u00b4nan, Welsh king, 388.\nCon\u00b4stan-tine, Greek emperor, 791, 793.\nCor-deil\u00b4la, daughter of the mythical King Leir, 383-384.\nCo-ri-ne\u00b4us, a Trojan warrior in Albion, 381.\nCor\u00b4inth, city and isthmus of, 136, 151, 155, 195, 197, 199.\nCor-nu-co\u00b4pi-a of Achelous, 179.\nCorn\u00b4wall, southwest part of Britain, 381, 382.\nCor-ta\u00b4na, Ogier\u2019s sword, 853, 854, 865.\nCor-y-ban\u00b4tes, priests of Cybele, or Rhea, in Phrygia, who celebrated her\n worship with dances, to the sound of the drum and the cymbal, 143.\nCrab, constellation, 41.\nCranes and their enemies, the Pygmies, 128;\n of Ibycus, 198-201.\nCre\u00b4on, king of Thebes, 183.\nCrete, one of the largest islands of the Mediterranean Sea, lying south of\n the Cyclades, 95, 100, 109, 152, 259.\nCre-u\u00b4sa, daughter of Priam, wife of \u00c6neas, 136.\nCroc\u00b4a-le, a nymph of Diana, 34.\nCrom\u00b4lech, Druidical altar, 359.\nCro\u00b4nos, 9, 301.\n _See_ Saturn.\nCro-to\u00b4na, city of Italy, 288, 292.\nCu-chu\u00b4lain, Irish hero, called the \u201cHound of Ireland,\u201d 637-640.\nCul-dees\u00b4, followers of St. Columba, 363-364.\nCu-m\u00e6\u00b4an Sibyl, seeress of Cum\u00e6, consulted by \u00c6neas, sold Sibylline books\n to Tarquin, 275.\nCu\u00b4pid, child of Venus and god of love, 7, 20, 53, 65, 80-90, 193.\nCu-roi of Kerry, wise man, 638-640.\nCy\u00b4a-ne, river, opposed Pluto\u2019s passage to Hades, 53, 54, 55.\nCyb\u00b4e-le (Rhea, which _See_), 11, 142.\nCy-clo\u00b4pes, creatures with circular eyes, of whom Homer speaks as a\n gigantic and lawless race of shepherds in Sicily, who devoured human\n beings; they helped Vulcan to forge the thunderbolts of Zeus under \u00c6tna,\n 122, 123, 180, 205, 209, 210, 237-240, 247, 260.\nCym\u00b4be-line, king of ancient Britain, 388.\nCy\u00b4no-sure (Dog\u2019s tail), the Pole-star, at tail of Constellation Ursa\n Minor, 33.\nCyn\u00b4thi-an mountain top, birthplace of Artemis (Diana) and Apollo, 112.\nCy\u00b4prus, island off the coast of Syria, sacred to Aphrodite, 6, 63, 66,\n 78, 142, 233.\nCy-re\u00b4ne, a nymph, mother of Arist\u00e6us, 189-190.\n\n D\n\nD\u00e6\u00b4da-lus, architect of the Cretan Labyrinth; inventor of sails, 152,\n 156-157.\nDag\u00b4ue-net, King Arthur\u2019s fool, 469.\nDa\u00b4lai La\u00b4ma, chief pontiff of Thibet, 327.\nDan\u00b4a-e, mother of Perseus by Jupiter, 202.\nDa-na\u00b4i-des, the fifty daughters of Dana\u00fcs, king of Argos, who were\n betrothed to the fifty sons of \u00c6gyptus, but were commanded by their father\n to slay each her own husband on the marriage night, 186.\nDan\u00b4a-us (_See_ Danaides), 186.\nDaph\u00b4ne, maiden loved by Apollo, and changed into a laurel tree, 20-23.\nDar-da-nelles\u00b4, ancient Hellespont (which _See_), 129.\nDar\u00b4da-nus, progenitor of the Trojan kings, 206, 259.\nDar\u00b4di-nel, prince of Zumara, 745.\nDawn, 3, 5, 41.\n _See_ Aurora.\nDay, an attendant on Ph\u0153bus, the Sun, 39.\nDay-star (Hesperus), 41, 69, 71.\nDeath, 181, 220, 266.\n _See_ Hela.\nDe-iph\u00b4o-bus, son of Priam and Hecuba, the bravest brother of Paris, 213,\n 224.\nDe\u00b4ja-ni\u00b4ra, wife of Hercules, 147, 177, 179.\nDe\u00b4los, floating island, birthplace of Apollo and Diana, 38, 157, 162,\n 259.\nDel\u00b4phi, shrine of Apollo, famed for its oracles, 1, 123, 155, 234, 235,\n 297, 298.\nDel\u00b4phos, 21.\nDe-me\u00b4ter, Greek goddess of marriage and human fertility; identified by\n Romans with Ceres (which _See_), 8.\nDe-me\u00b4ti-a, South Wales, 407.\nDe-mod\u00b4o-cus, bard of Alcino\u00fcs, king of the Ph\u00e6acians, 202, 252.\nDeu-ca\u00b4li-on, king of Thessaly, who with his wife Pyrrha were the only\n pair surviving a deluge sent by Zeus, 16-17, 301.\nDi\u00b4a, island of, 162.\nDi-a\u00b4na (Artemis), goddess of the moon and of the chase, daughter of\n Jupiter and Latona, 6, 21, 26, 30, 34-36, 38, 53, 56, 101, 112, 123, 127,\n 134 n., 138, 139, 141, 154, 204, 206, 214, 235, 259, 278, 286, 380.\nDi-a\u00b4na of the Hind, antique sculpture in the Louvre, Paris, 306.\nDi-a\u00b4na, temple of, 314.\nDic\u00b4tys, a sailor, 162, 202.\nDid\u00b4i-er, king of the Lombards, 653.\nDi\u00b4do, queen of Tyre and Carthage, entertained the shipwrecked \u00c6neas, 262,\n 263, 268.\nDi-o-me\u00b4de, Greek hero during Trojan War, 213, 219, 229, 232.\nDi-o\u00b4ne, female Titan, mother of Zeus, of Aphrodite (Venus), 6.\nDi-o-ny\u00b4sus. _See_ Bacchus.\nDi-os-cu\u00b4ri, the Twins (_See_ Castor and Pollux), 158.\nDir\u00b4ce, wife of Lycus, king of Thebes, who ordered Amphion and Zethus to\n tie Antiope to a wild bull, but they, learning Antiope to be their mother,\n so treated Dirce herself, 192.\nDis. _See_ Pluto.\nDis\u00b4cord, apple of, 212.\n _See_ Eris.\nDis-cor\u00b4di-a, 266.\n _See_ Eris.\nDo-do\u00b4na, site of an oracle of Zeus (Jupiter), 296.\nDolphin, 196.\nDor\u00b4ce-us, a dog of Diana, 35.\nDo\u00b4ris, wife of Nereus, 44, 173.\nDrag\u00b4on\u2019s teeth sown by Cadmus, 301.\nDru\u00b4ids, ancient Celtic priests, 358-362.\nDry\u00b4-a-des (or Dryads), 169.\n _See_ Wood-nymphs.\nDry\u00b4o-pe, changed to a lotus plant, for plucking a lotus\u2014enchanted form of\n the nymph Lotis, 64-65.\nDu-bri\u00b4ci-us, bishop of Caerleon, 407, 408.\nDu\u00b4don, a knight, comrade of Astolpho, 783.\nDun-wal\u00b4lo Mol-mu\u00b4ti-us, British king and lawgiver, 385.\nDu-rin-da\u00b4na, sword of Orlando or Rinaldo, 658, 672, 687, 699, 754, 759,\n 765, 785-788.\nDwarfs in Wagner\u2019s Nibelungen Ring, 354.\n\n E\n\nEarth (G\u00e6a), 4, 5, 44;\n goddess of the, 145, 297.\nE-bu\u00b4di-ans, the, 732-733.\nEch\u00b4o, nymph of Diana, shunned by Narcissus, faded to nothing but a voice,\n 101-103.\nEck\u00b4len-lied, the, 354.\nEd\u00b4das, Norse mythological records, 329, 348, 351, 354.\nEd\u00b4e-ryn, son of Nudd, 562.\nE-ge\u00b4ri-a, nymph of the Fountain, 154, 175.\nEgypt, 123, 163, 233, 296.\nEis-tedd\u00b4fod, session of Welsh bards and minstrels, 361.\nE-lec\u00b4tra, the lost one of the Pleiades (which _See_); also, sister of\n Orestes (which _See_), 206, 234, 235.\nEl-eu-sin\u00b4i-an Mysteries, instituted by Ceres, and calculated to awaken\n feelings of piety and a cheerful hope of better life in the future, 57.\nE-leu\u00b4sis, Grecian city, 54, 57.\nEl\u00b4gin Marbles, Greek sculptures from the Parthenon of Athens, now in\n British Museum, London, placed there by Lord Elgin, 155.\nE-li-au\u00b4res, enchanter, 419.\nEl\u00b4i-dure, a king of Britain, 386.\nE\u00b4lis, ancient Greek city, 55, 144, 155.\nEl\u00b4li, old age; the one successful wrestler against Thor, 341.\nEl\u00b4phin, son of Gwyddno, 626-633.\nElves, spiritual beings, of many powers and dispositions\u2014some evil, some\n good, 348.\nEl-vid\u00b4nir, the hall of Hela (which _See_), 333.\nE-lys\u00b4i-an Fields, the land of the blest, 2.\nE-lys\u00b4i-an Plain, whither the favored of the gods were taken without\n death, 2.\nE-lys\u00b4i-um, a happy land, where there is neither snow, nor cold, nor rain.\n Hither favored heroes, like Menelaus, pass without dying, and live happy\n under the rule of Rhadamanthus. In the Latin poets Elysium is part of the\n lower world, and the residence of the shades of the blessed, 196, 269,\n 272, 273.\nEm\u00b4bla, the first woman, 329.\nEn-cel\u00b4a-dus, giant defeated by Jupiter, 52, 122.\nEn-dym\u00b4i-on, a beautiful youth beloved by Diana, 61, 204.\nE\u00b4nid, wife of Geraint, 568, 573.\nEn\u00b4na, vale of, home of Proserpine, 53, 58.\nE\u00b4noch, the patriarch, 772.\nEpi-dau\u00b4rus, a town in Argolis, on the Saronic gulf; chief seat of the\n worship of \u00c6sculapius, whose temple was situated near the town, 94, 95,\n 151, 298.\nEp-i-me\u00b4theus, son of Iapetus; husband of Pandora; with his brother\n Prometheus took part in creation of man, 13, 18.\nE-pi\u00b4rus, country to the west of Thessaly, lying along the Adriatic Sea,\n 260, 292.\nE-po\u00b4pe-us, a sailor, 162.\nEr\u00b4a-to, one of the Muses (which _See_), 8.\nEr\u00b4bin of Cornwall, father of Geraint, 568, 570.\nEr\u00b4e-bus, son of Chaos; region of darkness, entrance to Hades, 4, 56, 88,\n 153, 187, 277.\nE-rid\u00b4a-nus, river, 45.\nE-ri\u00b4nys (_pl._ E-rin\u00b4ny-es), one of the Furies (which _See_), 9, 235.\nEr\u00b4i-phy\u00b4le, sister of Polynices, bribed to decide on war, in which her\n husband was slain, 182, 183.\nE\u00b4ris (Discordia), goddess of discord. At the wedding of Peleus and\n Thetis, Eris being uninvited threw into the gathering an apple \u201cFor the\n Fairest,\u201d which was claimed by Hera (Juno), Aphrodite (Venus) and Athena\n (Minerva). Paris, being called upon for judgment, awarded it to Aphrodite,\n 211.\nEr-i-sich\u00b4thon, an unbeliever, punished by famine, 167, 169-171, 177.\nE\u00b4ros. _See_ Cupid.\nEr\u00b4y-the\u00b4ia, island, 145, 146.\nE\u00b4ryx, a mount, haunt of Venus, 53.\nE-se\u00b4pus, river in Paphlagonia, 208.\nEs-tril\u00b4dis, wife of Locrine, supplanting divorced Guendolen, 381.\nE-te\u00b4o-cles, son of \u0152dipus and Jocasta, 182, 183.\nE-trus\u00b4cans, ancient people of Italy, 281.\nEt\u00b4zel, king of the Huns, 353.\nEu-bo\u00b4ic Sea, where Hercules threw Lichas, who brought him the poisoned\n shirt of Nessus, 148.\nEude, king of Aquitaine, ally of Charles Martel, 649.\nEu-m\u00e6\u00b4us, swineherd of \u00c6neas, 254, 257.\nEu-men\u00b4i-des, also called Erinnyes, and by the Romans Furi\u00e6 or Dir\u00e6, the\n Avenging Deities, 201, 234.\n _See_ Furies.\nEu-phor\u00b4bus, a Trojan, killed by Menelaus, 289.\nEu-phros\u00b4y-ne, one of the Graces (which _See_), 8.\nEu-ro\u00b4pa, daughter of the Ph\u0153nician king Agenor, by Zeus the mother of\n Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Sarpedon, 91, 109.\nEu\u00b4rus, the East wind, 176.\nEu-ry\u00b4a-lus, a gallant Trojan soldier, who with Nisus entered the Grecian\n camp, both being slain, 282, 283, 284.\nEu-ryd\u00b4i-ce, wife of Orpheus, who, fleeing from an admirer, was killed by\n a snake and borne to Tartarus, where Orpheus sought her and was permitted\n to bring her to earth if he would not look back at her following him; but\n he did, and she returned to the Shades, 185-188, 191, 196.\nEu-ryl\u00b4o-chus, a companion of Ulysses, 241.\nEu-ryn\u00b4o-me, female Titan, wife of Ophion (which _See_), 4, 5.\nEu-rys\u00b4theus, taskmaster of Hercules, 128, 143-147.\nEu-ryt\u00b4i-on, a Centaur (_See_ Hippodamia), 127, 145.\nEu-ter\u00b4pe, Muse who presided over music, 8.\nEux\u00b4ine Sea, 2, 130.\nE-vad\u00b4ne, wife of Capaneus, who flung herself upon his funeral pile and\n perished with him, 182, 183.\nE-van\u00b4der, Arcadian chief, befriending \u00c6neas in Italy, 279-281, 285.\nEve, 5, 17, 301.\nEv\u00b4niss-yen, quarrelsome brother of Branwen, 590, 591.\nEx-cal\u00b4i-bar, sword of King Arthur, 398, 399, 413, 519.\n\n F\n\nFaf\u00b4ner, a giant turned dragon, treasure-stealer; by the Solar Theory\n simply the Darkness who steals the day, 354, 355, 356.\nFal-er-i\u00b4na, an enchantress, 678, 686, 688.\nFam\u00b4ine, 170.\nFa\u00b4solt, a giant, brother of Fafner, and killed by him, 354.\n\u201cFas\u00b4ti,\u201d Ovid\u2019s, a mythological poetic calendar, 309.\nFa\u00b4ta Mor-ga\u00b4na, a mirage, 691.\nFates, the three, described as daughters of Night\u2014to indicate the darkness\n and obscurity of human destiny\u2014or of Zeus and Themis, that is, \u201cdaughters\n of the just heavens:\u201d they were Clo\u00b4tho, who spun the thread of life;\n Lach\u00b4e-sis, who held the thread and fixed its length, and At\u00b4ro-pos, who\n cut it off, 9, 56, 67, 170, 180, 181.\nFauns, cheerful sylvan deities, represented in human form, with small\n horns, pointed ears, and sometimes goat\u2019s tail, 10, 76.\nFau\u00b4nus, son of Picus, grandson of Saturnus, and father of Latinus,\n worshipped as the protecting deity of agriculture and of shepherds, and\n also as a giver of oracles, 10, 36, 166, 209, 276.\nFa-vo\u00b4ni-us, the West wind, 176.\nFear, 266.\nFen\u00b4ris, a wolf, the son of Loki the Evil Principle of Scandinavia;\n supposed to have personated the element of fire, destructive except when\n chained, 332, 333, 344, 349.\nFen-sa\u00b4lir, Freya\u2019s palace, called the Hall of the Sea, where were brought\n together lovers, husbands, and wives who had been separated by death,\n 344.\nFer\u00b4ra-gus, a giant, opponent of Orlando, 657-658.\nFer\u00b4rau, one of Charlemagne\u2019s knights, 667, 669, 737.\nFer\u00b4rex, brother of Porrex, the two sons of Leir, 385.\nFire-worshippers, of ancient Persia, 318-320.\n _See_ Parsees.\nFlol-lo, Roman tribune in Gaul, 405, 406.\nFlo\u00b4ra, Roman goddess of flowers and spring, 10, 176.\nFlor-de\u00b4lis, fair maiden beloved by Florismart, 675-676, 678, 683, 702,\n 763, 767.\nFlor\u00b4is-mart, Sir, a brave knight, 656, 675-676, 678, 692, 702, 737, 740,\n 764, 783-789.\nFloss-hil\u00b4da, one of the Rhine daughters (which _See_), 354.\nFortunate Fields, 2.\nFortunate Islands (_See_ Elysian Plain), 273.\nFo\u00b4rum, market-place and open square for public meetings in Rome,\n surrounded by courthouses, palaces, temples, etc., 281.\nFran\u00b4cus, son of Histion, grandson of Japhet, great-grandson of Noah,\n legendary ancestor of the Franks, or French, 379.\nFre\u00b4ki, one of Odin\u2019s two wolves, 330.\nFrench language, 374.\nFrey, or Freyr, god of the sun, 332, 336, 347, 348, 349.\nFrey\u00b4a, Norse goddess of music, spring, and flowers, 332, 334, 335, 347,\n 351, 355.\nFrick\u00b4a, goddess of marriage, 355.\nFrig\u00b4ga, goddess who presided over smiling nature, sending sunshine, rain,\n and harvest, 344, 345, 347, 351, 352.\nFroh, one of the Norse gods, 354.\nFron-ti\u00b4no, Rogero\u2019s horse, 695.\nFrost Giants, 349.\nFul\u00b4la, 419.\nFu\u00b4ries (Erinnyes), the three retributive spirits who punished crime,\n represented as snaky-haired old woman, named Alecto, Meg\u00e6ra, and\n Tisiphone, 9, 186, 198, 199, 266, 269, 270, 277.\nFus-ber\u00b4ta, Rinaldo\u2019s sword, 710.\n\n G\n\nG\u00e6\u00b4a, or Ge, called Tellus by the Romans, the personification of the\n earth; described as the first being that sprang from Chaos, and gave birth\n to Uranus (Heaven) and Pontus (Sea), 1-2.\nGa-ha\u00b4ri-et, knight of Arthur\u2019s court, 404, 414.\nGa-he\u00b4ris, knight, 429, 430, 434, 508.\nGal\u00b4a-fron, King of Cathay, father of Angelica, 665, 685.\nGal\u00b4a-had, Sir, the pure knight of Arthur\u2019s Round Table, who safely took\n the Siege Perilous (which _See_), 487-491, 494, 504-506.\nGal-a-te\u00b4a, a Nereid or sea-nymph, 173, 197.\nGal-a-te\u00b4a, statue carved and beloved by Pygmalion, 209-211.\nGa\u00b4len, Greek physician and philosophical writer, 313.\nGal\u00b4le-hant, King of the Marches, 425, 442.\nGames, national athletic contests in Greece\u2014Olympian, at Olympia; Pythian,\n near Delphi, seat of Apollo\u2019s oracle; Isthmian, on the Corinthian Isthmus;\n Nemean, at Nemea in Argolis, 155.\nGan, treacherous Duke of Maganza, 663, 801-805.\nGan\u00b4e-lon of Mayence, one of Charlemagne\u2019s knights, 656.\nGan\u00b4ges, river in India, 44.\nGa\u00b4no, a peer of Charlemagne, 653.\nGan\u00b4y-mede, the most beautiful of all mortals; carried off to Olympus that\n he might fill the cup of Zeus and live among the immortal gods, 150.\nGar\u00b4eth, Arthur\u2019s knight, 414, 508.\nGau-dis\u00b4so, Sultan, 838 ff.\nGaul, ancient France, 405.\nGau\u00b4ta-ma, Prince, the Buddha (which _See_), 325.\nGa-wain\u00b4, Arthur\u2019s knight, 392, 402, 403, 404, 409, 414-417, 432-434, 438,\n 442, 474, 484-485, 487, 490-491, 508-514, 515-516, 546, 548-549, 554, 555,\n 613.\nGawl, son of Clud, suitor for Rhiannon, 585-588, 606.\nGem\u00b4i-ni (_See_ Castor), constellation created by Jupiter from the\n twin-brothers after death, 158.\nGen\u00b4ghis Khan, Tartar conqueror, 327.\nGe\u00b4ni-us, in Roman belief, the protective Spirit of each individual man,\n 11.\n _See_ Juno.\nGeof\u00b4frey of Mon\u00b4mouth, translator into Latin of the Welsh History of the\n Kings of Britain (1150), 375, 379.\nGe-raint\u00b4, a knight of King Arthur, 556-582.\nGer\u00b4da, wife of Frey, 336.\nGe\u00b4ri, one of Odin\u2019s two wolves, 330.\nGe\u00b4ry-on, a three-bodied monster, 145.\nGes\u00b4nes, navigator sent for Isoude the Fair, 477.\nGi-al\u00b4lar Horn, the trumpet that Heimdal will blow at the judgment day,\n 349.\nGi\u00b4ants, beings of monstrous size and of fearful countenances; represented\n as in constant opposition to the gods, 122-123;\n in Wagner\u2019s Nibelungen Ring, 354.\nGi\u00b4bich-ung race, ancestors of Alberich, 356, 357.\nGi-bral\u00b4tar, great rock and town at southwest corner of Spain (_See_\n Pillars of Hercules), 145.\nGil\u00b4das, a scholar of Arthur\u2019s court, 564.\nGi-rard\u00b4, son of Duke Sevinus, 826.\nGlas\u00b4ton-bur-y, where Arthur died, 395.\nGlau-cus, a fisherman, loving Scylla, 59-61, 174, 213.\nGleip\u00b4nir, magical chain on the wolf Fenris, 333.\nGlew\u00b4lw-yd, Arthur\u2019s porter, 610, 611.\nGods of the ancient myths, 12, 354.\nGolden Age, 9, 14, 301.\nGolden Apples, 117-118, 145-146.\nGolden Fleece, of ram used for escape of children of Athamas, named Helle\n and Phryxus (which _See_); after sacrifice of ram to Jupiter, fleece was\n guarded by sleepless dragon and gained by Jason and Argonauts (which\n _See_; also Helle), 129-133, 134.\nGon\u00b4er-il, daughter of Leir, 383-384.\nGor\u00b4di-an Knot, tying up in temple the wagon of Gordius, he who could\n untie it being destined to be lord of Asia; it was cut by Alexander the\n Great, 48.\nGor\u00b4di-us, a countryman who, arriving in Phrygia in a wagon, was made king\n by the people, thus interpreting an oracle, 48.\nGor\u00b4gons, three monstrous females, with huge teeth, brazen claws and\n snakes for hair, sight of whom turned beholders to stone; Medusa, the most\n famous, slain by Perseus (which _See_), 115.\nGor\u00b4lois, Duke of Tintadel, 397, 398.\nGou-ver-nail, squire of Isabella, queen of Lionesse, protector of her son\n Tristram while young, 449, and his squire in knighthood, 463.\nGraal, the Holy, cup from which the Saviour drank at Last Supper, taken by\n Joseph of Arimathea to Europe, and lost, its recovery becoming a sacred\n quest for Arthur\u2019s knights, 392, 475, 487.\nGraces, three goddesses who enhanced the enjoyments of life by refinement\n and gentleness; they were Aglaia (brilliance), Euphrosyne (joy), and\n Thalia (bloom), 4, 8.\nGra-das\u00b4so, king of Sericane, 672, 700, 702, 737, 740, 765, 768-769,\n 784-788.\nGr\u00e6\u00b4\u00e6, three gray-haired female watchers for the Gorgons, with one movable\n eye and one tooth between the three, 115-116.\nGrand La\u00b4ma, Buddhist pontiff in Thibet, 327.\nGreat Bear, constellation, 32-33, 36, 42.\nGren\u00b4del, monster slain by Beowulf, 635.\nGriefs, 266.\nGry\u00b4phon (griffin), a fabulous animal, with the body of a lion and the\n head and wings of an eagle, dwelling in the Rhip\u00e6an mountains, between the\n Hyperboreans and the one-eyed Arimaspians, and guarding the gold of the\n North, 128.\nGue\u00b4bers, Persian fire-worshippers, 320.\nGuen\u00b4do-len, wife of Locrine, 381-382.\nGuen\u00b4e-vere, wife of King Arthur, beloved by Launcelot, 425, 435-437,\n 439-441, 445-448, 481, 507, 522, 523, 524, 534, 555-557, 565.\nGuer\u00b4in, lord of Vienne, father of Oliver, 658, 660.\nGui-de\u00b4ri-us, son of Cymbeline, 388.\nGuil-la-mu\u00b4ri-us, king in Ireland, 407.\nGui-mier\u00b4, betrothed of Caradoc, 419-420.\nGul-lin-burs\u00b4ti, the boar drawing Frey\u2019s car, 347.\nGull\u00b4topp, Heimdell\u2019s horse, 347.\nGun-fa\u00b4si-us, King of the Orkneys, 407.\nG\u00fcn\u00b4ther, Burgundian king, brother of Kriemhild, 352, 356, 357.\nGu\u00b4trune, half-sister to Hagen, 356.\nGwern, son of Matholch and Branwen, 593, 595.\nGwer\u00b4nach the Giant, 620-622.\nGwiff\u00b4ert Pe\u00b4tit, ally of Geraint, 582.\nGwydd\u00b4no, Garan\u00b4hir, King of Gwaelod, 626.\nGwyr, judge in the court of Arthur, 570.\nGy\u00b4oll, river, 345.\n\n H\n\nHa\u00b4des, originally the god of the nether world\u2014the name later used to\n designate the gloomy subterranean land of the dead, 147.\nH\u00e6\u00b4mon, son of Creon of Thebes, and lover of Antigone, 183.\nH\u00e6-mo\u00b4ni-an city, 73.\nH\u00e6\u00b4mus, Mount, northern boundary of Thrace, 31, 43.\nHa\u00b4gan, a principal character in the Nibelungen Lied, slayer of Siegfried,\n 352, 353, 354, 356, 357.\nHal-cy\u00b4o-ne, daughter of \u00c6neas, and the beloved wife of Ceyx, who, when he\n was drowned, flew to his floating body, and the pitying gods changed them\n both to birds (kingfishers), who nest at sea during a certain calm week in\n winter (\u201chalcyon weather\u201d), 69-76.\nHam-a-dry\u00b4ads, tree- or wood-nymphs, 76, 172.\n _See_ Nymphs.\nHar-mo\u00b4ni-a, daughter of Mars and Venus, wife of Cadmus, 94, 182.\nHa-roun\u00b4 al Ra\u00b4schid, Caliph of Arabia, contemporary of Charlemagne, 655.\nHar\u00b4pies, monsters, with head and bust of woman, but wings, legs and tail\n of birds, seizing souls of the wicked, or punishing evil-doers by greedily\n snatching or defiling their food, 176, 259-260, 276, 770.\nHar-poc\u00b4ra-tes, Egyptian god, Horus, 293.\nHeaven, 4.\nHe\u00b4be, daughter of Juno, cupbearer to the gods, 3, 135, 149, 150.\nHe\u00b4brus, ancient name of river Maritzka, 187.\nHec\u00b4a-te, a mighty and formidable divinity, supposed to send at night all\n kinds of demons and terrible phantoms from the lower world, 131, 134, 135,\n 266.\nHec\u00b4tor, son of Priam and champion of Troy, 213, 214, 217, 218, 220, 221,\n 222, 223, 224, 227, 260.\nHec\u00b4tor, one of Arthur\u2019s knights, 443, 491.\nHec\u00b4tor de Ma-rys\u00b4, a knight, 430, 432-434, 510, 512, 523, 524, 525.\nHec\u00b4u-ba, wife of Priam, king of Troy, to whom she bore Hector, Paris, and\n many other children, 223, 224, 226, 232.\nHe-gi\u00b4ra, flight of Mahomet from Mecca to Medina (622 A.D.), era from\n which Mahometans reckon time, as we do from the birth of Christ,\n 647-648.\nHeid\u00b4run, she-goat, furnishing mead for slain heroes in Valhalla, 331.\nHeim\u00b4dall, watchman of the gods, 332, 347, 349.\nHel, the lower world of Scandinavia, to which were consigned those who had\n not died in battle, 345.\nHe\u00b4la (Death), the daughter of Loki and the mistress of the Scandinavian\n Hel, 332, 344, 345, 349.\nHel\u00b4en, daughter of Jupiter and Leda; wife of Menelaus; carried off by\n Paris and cause of the Trojan War, 77, 153, 158, 212, 223, 229, 232, 233,\n 424.\nHel\u00b4e-nus, son of Priam and Hecuba, celebrated for his prophetic powers,\n 260, 261, 379.\nHe-li\u00b4a-des, sisters of Pha\u00ebton, 45.\nHel\u00b4i-con, Mount, in Greece, residence of Apollo and the Muses, with\n fountains of poetic inspiration, Aganippe and Hippocrene, 43, 124.\nHe-lio-op\u00b4o-lis, city of the Sun, in Egypt, 311.\nHel\u00b4las, Greece, 2.\nHel\u00b4le, daughter of Thessalian King Athamas, who, escaping from cruel\n father with her brother Phryxus, on ram with golden fleece, fell into the\n sea-strait since named for her (_See_ Golden Fleece), 129.\nHel\u00b4les-pont, narrow strait between Europe and Asia Minor, named for Helle\n (which _See_), 106, 129.\nHen\u00b4gist, Saxon invader of Britain, 449 A.D., 530.\nHe-ph\u00e6s\u00b4tos, 6.\n _See_ Vulcan.\nHe\u00b4ra, called Juno by the Romans, a daughter of Cronos (Saturn) and Rhea,\n and sister and wife of Jupiter, 6.\n _See_ Juno.\nHer\u00b4cu-les, athletic hero, son of Jupiter and Alcmena, achieved twelve\n vast labors and many famous deeds, 128, 130, 133, 143-149, 150, 151, 153,\n 165, 177, 178, 179, 181, 193, 229, 279, 301, 379.\nHer\u00b4cu-les, Pillars of (_See_ Pillars of Hercules), 145.\nHer\u00b4cu-les, the twelve labors of, 144-147.\nHer\u00b4e-ward the Wake, hero of the Saxons, 641-643.\nHer\u00b4mes (Mercury), messenger of the gods, deity of commerce, science,\n eloquence, trickery, theft, and skill generally, 18, 49-51, 293.\nHer-mi\u00b4o-ne, daughter of Menelaus and Helen, 233.\nHer\u00b4mod, the nimble, son of Odin, 345.\nHe\u00b4ro, a priestess of Venus, beloved of Leander (which _See_), 105-106.\nHe-rod\u00b4o-tus, Greek historian, 307.\nHe\u00b4si-od, Greek poet, 273.\nHes-pe\u00b4ri-a, ancient name for Italy, 259.\nHes-per\u00b4i-des (_See_ Apples of the Hesperides), 46, 145.\nHes\u00b4pe-rus, the evening star (also called Day-Star, p. 41), 53, 69, 145.\nHes\u00b4ti-a, called Vesta by the Romans, the goddess of the hearth, 10.\nHil\u00b4de-brand, German magician and champion, 353.\nHin\u00b4du mythology, 320-321.\nHin\u00b4du triad, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva (which _See_), 320-323.\nHip-po-cre\u00b4ne (_See_ Helicon), 124.\nHip-po-da-mi\u00b4a, wife of Pirithous, at whose wedding the Centaurs offered\n violence to the bride, causing a great battle, 127.\nHip\u00b4po-griff, winged horse, with eagle\u2019s head and claws, 719, 721, 722,\n 741.\nHip-pol\u00b4y-ta, Queen of the Amazons, 145, 154.\nHip-pol\u00b4y-tus, son of Thesus, 154.\nHip-pom\u00b4e-nes, who won Atalanta in foot-race, beguiling her with golden\n apples thrown for her to pick up, 66, 141-142.\nHis\u00b4ti-on, son of Japhet, 379.\nHo\u00b4dur, blind man, who, fooled by Loki, threw a mistletoe-twig at Baldur,\n killing him, 344-345.\nHo\u00b4el, king of Brittany, 400, 406, 408, 409, 411, 475.\nHoly Wars of Charlemagne, 375.\nHo\u00b4mer, the blind poet of Greece, about 850 B.C., 202, 212, 216, 273,\n 306-307.\nHope (_See_ Pandora), 14.\nHo\u00b4r\u00e6. _See_ Hours.\nHor\u00b4sa, with Hengist, invader of Britain, 530.\nHo\u00b4rus, Egyptian god of the sun, 293.\nHou-dain\u00b4, Tristram\u2019s dog, 454, 457.\nHours, 39, 41, 208.\nHring\u00b4ham, Baldur\u2019s ship, 347.\nHroth\u00b4gar, king of Denmark, 635.\nHu\u00b4gi, who beat Thialfi in foot-races, 340.\nHu\u00b4gin, one of Odin\u2019s two ravens, 330.\nHun\u00b4ger, 266, 333.\nHun\u00b4ding, husband of Sieglinda, 355.\nHu\u00b4on, son of Duke Sevinus, 826 ff.\nHy-a-cin\u00b4thus, a youth beloved by Apollo, and accidentally killed by him,\n changed in death to the flower, hyacinth, 67-68, 228.\nHy\u00b4a-des, Nys\u00e6an nymphs, nurses of infant Bacchus, rewarded by being\n placed as cluster of stars in the heavens, 160.\nHy\u00b4a-le, a nymph of Diana, 34.\nHy\u00b4dra, nine-headed monster slain by Hercules, 144, 149, 267, 269.\nHy-ge\u00b4i-a, goddess of health, daughter of \u00c6sculapius, 174.\nHy\u00b4las, a youth detained by nymphs of spring where he sought water, 133.\nHy\u00b4men, the god of marriage, imagined as a handsome youth and invoked in\n bridal songs, 20, 185.\nHy-met\u00b4tus, mountain in Attica, near Athens, celebrated for its marble and\n its honey, 63.\nHy-per-bo\u00b4re-ans, people of the far North, 2.\nHy-pe\u00b4ri-on, a Titan, son of Uranus and Ge, and father of Helios, Selene,\n and Eos, 4, 5;\n cattle of, 244.\nHyr-ca\u00b4nia, Prince of, betrothed to Clarimunda, 844, 845.\nHy-ri-e\u00b4us, king in Greece, 297.\n\n I\n\nI-ap\u00b4e-tus, a Titan, son of Uranus and Ge, and father of Atlas,\n Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Men\u0153tius, 4, 18.\nI-a\u00b4si-us, father of Atalanta, 138.\nIb\u00b4y-cus, a poet, story of, and the cranes, 198-201.\nI-ca\u00b4ri-a, island of the \u00c6gean Sea, one of the Sporades, 157.\nI-ca\u00b4ri-us, Spartan prince, father of Penelope, 184.\nIc\u00b4a-rus, son of D\u00e6dalus, he flew too near the sun with artificial wings,\n and, the wax melting, he fell into the sea, 156, 157.\nIce\u00b4land, 351, 405.\nIce-los, attendant of Morpheus, 72.\nI-col\u00b4um-kill. _See_ Iona.\nI\u00b4da, Mount, a Trojan hill, 43, 150, 211.\nI-d\u00e6\u00b4us, a Trojan herald, 226.\nI\u00b4das, son of Aphareus and Arene, and brother of Lynceus, 158.\nI-du\u00b4na, wife of Bragi, 332.\nI-gerne\u00b4, wife of Gorlois, and mother, by Uther, of Arthur, 397, 398.\nIl\u00b4i-ad, epic poem of the Trojan War, by Homer, 216, 227.\nIl\u00b4i-o\u00b4heus, a son of Niobe (which _See_), 113.\nIl\u00b4i-um. _See_ Troy.\nIl-lyr\u00b4i-a, Adriatic countries north of Greece, 31, 94.\nIm\u00b4o-gen, daughter of Pandrasus, wife of Trojan Brutus, 380.\nIn\u00b4a-chus, son of Oceanus and Tethys, and father of Phoroneus and Io; also\n first king of Argos, and said to have given his name to the river Inachus.\n 29.\nIn\u00b4cu-bus, an evil spirit, supposed to lie upon persons in their sleep,\n 389.\nIn\u00b4dia, 39, 161.\nIn\u00b4dra, Hindu god of heaven, thunder, lightning, storm and rain, 320.\nInfernal regions, 266-273.\nI\u00b4no, wife of Athamas, fleeing from whom with infant son she sprang into\n the sea and was changed to Leucothea (which _See_), 94, 164, 174.\nI\u00b4o, changed to a heifer by Jupiter, 29-31, 302.\nI-ob\u00b4a-tes, King of Lycia, 124, 125.\nI-o-la\u00b4us, servant of Hercules, 144.\nI-ol\u00b4cos, 133.\nI\u00b4o-le, sister of Dryope, 64-65.\nI-o\u00b4na, or Icolmkill, a small northern island near Scotland, where St.\n Columba founded a missionary monastery (563 A.D.), 362-366.\nI-o\u00b4ni-a, coast of Asia Minor, 69.\nI-o\u00b4ni-an Sea, 31.\nIph-i-ge-ni\u00b4a, daughter of Agamemnon, offered as a sacrifice but carried\n away by Diana, 214, 235.\nI\u00b4phis, died for love of Anaxarete, 78.\nIph\u00b4i-tus, friend of Hercules, killed by him, 147.\nIre\u00b4land, 362, 451 ff.\nI\u00b4ris, goddess of the rainbow, messenger of Juno and Zeus, 6, 71-72, 218,\n 225, 282.\nIron Age, 15.\nI\u00b4ron-side, Arthur\u2019s knight, 435.\nIs-a-bel\u00b4la, daughter of king of Galicia, 449, 742-745, 753, 759.\nI\u00b4sis, wife of Osiris; described as the giver of death, 292, 293-294.\nIsles of the Blessed, 2, 146, 273.\nIs\u00b4ma-rus, first stop of Ulysses, returning from Trojan War, 236.\nIsme\u00b4nos, a son of Niobe, slain by Apollo, 113.\nI-so\u00b4lier, friend of Rinaldo, 661, 662.\nI-soude\u00b4 the Fair, beloved of Tristram, 451-459, 461, 468, 469-472, 477.\nI-soude\u00b4 of the White Hands, married to Tristram, 475-477.\nIsth\u00b4mi-an Games, 155, 174.\n _See_ Games.\nIt\u00b4a-ly, 154, 259, 262, 263, 276, 285.\nIth\u00b4a-ca, home of Ulysses and Penelope, 184, 212, 236, 253.\nI-u\u00b4lus, son of \u00c6neas, 276, 277, 283, 287.\nI\u00b4vo, Saracen king, befriending Rinaldo, 663.\nIx-i\u00b4on, once a sovereign of Thessaly, sentenced in Tartarus to be lashed\n with serpents to a wheel which a strong wind drove continually around,\n 186, 270.\n\n J\n\nJa-nic\u00b4u-lum, Roman fortress on the _Janiculus_, a hill on the other side\n of the Tiber, 281.\nJa\u00b4nus, a deity from the earliest times held in high estimation by the\n Romans, 10, 281;\n temple of, 277.\nJa-pan\u00b4, 326.\nJa\u00b4phet (Iapetus), 18.\nJa\u00b4son, leader of the Argonauts, seeking the Golden Fleece, 130-133, 134,\n 135, 136, 138-139, 151.\nJa\u00b4va, 326.\nJo-cas\u00b4ta, 124, 182.\nJo\u00b4seph of Arimathea, who bore the Holy Graal to Europe, 506.\nJo\u00b4tun-heim, home of the giants in Northern mythology, 330, 335, 348.\nJove (Zeus), chief god of Roman and Grecian mythology, 5, 9, 18, 53, 56,\n 80, 98, 100, 118, 119, 172, 177, 183, 210, 216, 220, 221, 239, 245,\n 268.\n _See_ Jupiter.\nJoy\u00b4ous Garde, residence of Sir Launcelot of the Lake, 524.\nJug\u00b4ger-naut, Hindu deity, 322.\nJu\u00b4no, the particular guardian spirit of each woman (_See_ Genius), 11.\nJu\u00b4no, wife of Jupiter, queen of the gods, 6, 28-33, 37, 38, 71, 72, 81,\n 95, 101, 112, 123, 143, 144, 145, 149, 150, 160, 177, 211, 216, 218, 220,\n 261, 277, 278, 279, 282, 287, 289.\nJu\u00b4pi-ter, _Jovis-pater_, Father Jove; Jupiter and Jove used\n interchangeably, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16, 21, 29-32, 38, 40,\n 44, 45, 49, 50, 52, 89, 91, 92, 97, 107, 109, 116, 117, 123, 125, 127,\n 128, 130, 143, 148, 150, 153, 155, 158, 160, 173, 179, 180, 182, 187, 192,\n 204, 206, 207, 208, 211, 217, 218, 220, 221, 225, 226, 232, 240, 259, 263,\n 269, 287;\n oracle of, at Dodona, 296;\n statue of the Olympian, 303.\nJu\u00b4pi-ter Am\u00b4mon (_See_ Ammon), 296.\nJu\u00b4pi-ter Cap\u00b4i-to-li\u00b4nus, temple of, preserving the Sibylline books, 275.\nJus\u00b4tice. _See_ Themis.\n\n K\n\nKa-dy-ri\u00b4ath, advises King Arthur, 564, 571.\nKai, son of Kyner, 570.\nKal\u00b4ki, tenth avatar (which _See_) of Vishnu, 321.\nKay, Arthur\u2019s steward and a knight, 399, 406, 407, 408, 410, 411, 418,\n 430, 431-432, 435, 440, 460, 481-482, 534, 547-548, 611, 614.\nKe-da\u00b4li-on, guide of Orion, 205-206.\nKer\u00b4man, desert of, 320.\nKic\u00b4va, daughter of Gwynn Gloy, 597-604.\nKil\u00b4wich, son of Kilydd, 608-619.\nKi-lydd\u00b4, son of Prince Kelyddon, of Wales, 608.\nKneph, spirit or breath, 292.\nKnights, training and life of, 368-371.\nKriem\u00b4hild, wife of Siegfried, 352, 353.\nKrish\u00b4na, eighth avatar (which _See_) of Vishnu, Hindu deity of fertility\n in nature and mankind, 321.\nKy\u00b4ner, father of Kay, 534.\nKy\u00b4non, son of Clydno, 534-539.\n\n L\n\nLab\u00b4y-rinth, the enclosed maze of passageways where roamed the Minotaur of\n Crete, killed by Theseus with aid of Ariadne, 152, 156.\nLach\u00b4e-sis, one of the Fates (which _See_), 9.\nLady of the Fountain, tale told by Kynon, 534-553.\nLa-er\u00b4tes, father of Ulysses, 185.\nL\u00e6s-try-go\u00b4ni-ans, savages attacking Ulysses, 241.\nLa\u00b4ius, King of Thebes, 123.\nLa\u00b4ma, holy man of Thibet, 327.\nLam-pe\u00b4tia, daughter of Hyperion, 244.\nLa-oc\u00b4o-on, a priest of Neptune, in Troy, who warned the Trojans against\n the Wooden Horse (which _See_), but when two serpents came out of the sea\n and strangled him and his two sons, the people listened to the Greek spy\n Sinon (which _See_), and brought the fatal Horse into the town, 115,\n 230.\nLa-o-da-mi\u00b4a, daughter of Acastus and wife of Protesilaus, 214.\nLa-od\u00b4e-gan, King of Carmalide, helped by Arthur and Merlin, 400-403.\nLa-om\u00b4e-don, King of Troy, 207.\nLap\u00b4i-th\u00e6, Thessalonians, whose king had invited the Centaurs to his\n daughter\u2019s wedding but who attacked them for offering violence to the\n bride, 127, 166.\nLa\u00b4res, household deities, 11.\nLark\u00b4spur, flower from the blood of Ajax, 228.\nLa-ti\u00b4nus, ruler of Latium, where \u00c6neas landed in Italy, 276.\nLat\u00b4mos, Mount, where Diana fell in love with Endymion, 204.\nLa-to\u00b4na, mother of Apollo, 6, 36-38, 112, 113.\nLaunce\u00b4lot, the most famous knight of the Round Table, 424-434, 436,\n 437-444, 446-448, 463, 465-466, 488, 491-494, 502-504, 507-514,\n 521-525.\nLau\u00b4sus, son of Mezentius, killed by \u00c6neas, 278, 285.\nLa-vin\u00b4i-a, daughter of Latinus and wife of \u00c6neas, 276, 287.\nLa-vin\u00b4i-um, Italian city named for Lavinia, 287.\nLaw. _See_ Themis.\nLe-an\u00b4der, a youth of Abydos, who, swimming the Hellespont to see Hero,\n his love, was drowned, 105-106.\nLe-ba-de\u00b4a, site of the oracle of Trophonius, 298.\nLe-byn\u00b4thos, \u00c6gean island, 157.\nLe\u00b4da, Queen of Sparta, wooed by Jupiter in the form of a swan, 109, 158.\nLeir, mythical King of Britain, original of Shakespeare\u2019s _Lear_, 383-384.\nLe\u00b4laps, dog of Cephalus, 26, 35.\nLem\u00b4nos, large island in the \u00c6gean Sea, sacred to Vulcan, 6, 130, 205,\n 229.\nLem\u00b4u-res, the spectres or spirits of the dead, 11.\nLe\u00b4o, Roman emperor, 409;\n Greek prince, 791, 793, 797, 801.\nLe\u00b4the, river of Hades, drinking whose water caused forgetfulness, 72,\n 271.\nLeu-ca\u00b4dia, a promontory, whence Sappho, disappointed in love, was said to\n have thrown herself into the sea, 203.\nLeu-co\u00b4the-a, a sea-goddess, invoked by sailors for protection (_See_\n Ino), 174.\nLew\u00b4is, son of Charlemagne, 825.\nLi\u00b4ber, ancient god of fruitfulness, 10, 11.\nLi-be\u00b4thra, burial-place of Orpheus, 187.\nLib\u00b4y-a, Greek name for continent of Africa in general, 145.\nLib\u00b4y-an Desert, in Africa, 44.\nLib\u00b4y-an Oasis, 296.\nLi\u00b4chas, who brought the shirt of Nessus to Hercules, 148.\nLi-mours\u00b4, Earl of, 580.\nLi\u00b4nus, musical instructor of Hercules, 193.\nLion, constellation, 41.\nLi\u00b4o-nel, knight of the Round Table, 424, 425, 430, 442, 443, 444,\n 497-501, 510, 512.\nLittle Bear, constellation, 32-33, 42.\nLlyr, King of Britain, 589.\nLo-crine\u00b4, son of Brutus in Albion, king of Central England, 381, 382.\nLo-e\u00b4gri-a, kingdom of (England), 450, 460, 468, 507.\nLo-ge-stil\u00b4la, a wise lady, who entertained Rogero and his friends, 731,\n 739.\nLo\u00b4gi, who vanquished Loki in an eating-contest, 339.\nLo\u00b4ki, the Satan of Norse mythology, son of the giant Farbanti, 332, 334,\n 335, 337, 339, 344-345, 346, 347, 349, 352, 354, 355.\nLo\u00b4mond, Lake, 405.\nLon\u00b4don, 381, 387, 402, 403-404.\nLot, King, a rebel chief, subdued by King Arthur, then a loyal knight,\n 403, 405, 407, 414.\nLo\u00b4tis, a nymph, changed to a lotus plant and in that form plucked by\n Dryope (which _See_), 64.\nLo\u00b4tus-Eaters, soothed to indolence; companions of Ulysses landing among\n them lost all memory of home and had to be dragged away before they would\n continue their voyage, 237.\nLove (Eros) issued from egg of Night, and with arrows and torch produced\n life and joy, 4.\nLu\u00b4can, one of Arthur\u2019s knights, 512, 517-518.\nLu\u00b4cius Ti-be\u00b4ri-us, Roman procurator in Britain demanding tribute from\n Arthur, 409.\nLud, British king, whose capital was called Lud\u2019s Town (London), 387.\nLud\u00b4gate, city gate where Lud was buried, 387.\nLu\u00b4ned, maiden who guided Owain to the Lady of the Fountain, 541-546, 552.\nLyc\u00b4a-has, a turbulent sailor, 162.\nLy-ca\u00b4on, son of Priam, 222.\nLyc\u00b4i-a, a district in Southern Asia Minor, 36, 124, 220.\nLyc-o-me\u00b4des, king of the Dolopians, who treacherously slew Theseus, 154,\n 212.\nLy\u00b4cus, usurping King of Thebes, 192.\nLyn\u00b4ceus, one of the sons of \u00c6gyptus, 158.\n\n M\n\nMab-i-no\u00b4ge-on, plural of _Mabinogi_; fairy tales and romances of the\n Welsh, 527-633.\nMa\u00b4bon, son of Modron, 619, 624.\nMa-cha\u00b4on, son of \u00c6sculapius, 218, 219, 229.\nMa\u00b4dan, son of Guendolen, 382.\nMa\u00b4doc, a forester of King Arthur, 554.\nMa\u00b4dor, Scottish knight, 445-448.\nMael\u00b4gan, king who imprisoned Elphin, 628.\nM\u00e6-o\u00b4ni-a, ancient Lydia, 162.\nMa\u00b4gi, Persian priests, 319.\nMa-ha-de\u00b4va, same as Siva (which _See_), 322.\nMa-hom\u00b4et, great prophet of Arabia, born in Mecca, 571 A.D., proclaimed\n worship of God instead of idols, spread his religion through disciples and\n then by force till it prevailed, with Arabian dominion, over vast regions\n in Asia, Africa, and Spain in Europe, 647.\nMa\u00b4ia, daughter of Atlas and Pleione, eldest and most beautiful of the\n Pleiades. 7.\nMail armour, 372.\nMal-a-gi\u00b4gi the Enchanter, one of Charlemagne\u2019s knights, 656, 666,\n 669-670, 673, 769, 804, 816-819.\nMa-le\u00b4a-gans, false knight, 436-441.\nMal-va\u00b4si-us, King of Iceland, 407.\nMam-bri\u00b4no, with invisible helmet, 780.\nMan, creation of, 12.\nMan-a-wyd\u00b4dan, brother of King Vran, of London, 589, 596, 597-605.\nMan-dri-car\u00b4do, son of Agrican, 698-701, 753-755, 760, 765.\nMan\u00b4tu-a, in Italy, birthplace of Virgil, 308.\nMa\u00b4nu, ancestor of mankind, 321.\nMar\u00b4a-thon, where Theseus and Pirithous met, 153.\nMark, King of Cornwall, husband of Isoude the Fair, 449, 450, 452, 468,\n 471.\nMar\u00b4mo-ra, Sea of, 106.\nMa\u00b4ro. _See_ Virgil.\nMar-phi\u00b4sa, sister of Rogero, 765-768.\nMars, 6, 94, 107, 131, 216, 224.\nMar-sil\u00b4i-us, Spanish king, treacherous foe of Charlemagne, 801-813.\nMar\u00b4sy-as, inventor of the flute, who challenged Apollo to musical\n competition, and, defeated, was flayed alive, 193.\nMats\u00b4ya, the Fish, first avatar (which _See_) of Vishnu, 321.\nMe-an\u00b4der, Grecian river, 44, 156.\nMe-de\u00b4a, princess and sorceress who aided Jason, 117, 131, 132, 134-137,\n 151, 152.\nMed-i-ter-ra\u00b4ne-an Sea, 1, 233.\nMe-do\u00b4ro, a young Moor, who wins Angelica, 745-752.\nMe-du\u00b4sa, one of the Gorgons (which _See_), 116-117, 124.\nMe-g\u00e6\u00b4ra, one of the Furies (which _See_), 9.\nMeg\u00b4a-ra, 98.\nMe-lam\u00b4pus, a Spartan dog, 35;\n the first mortal endowed with prophetic powers, 193-194.\nMe-lan\u00b4thus, steersman for Bacchus, 162.\nMe-le-a\u00b4ger, one of the Argonauts (_See_ Alth\u00e6a), 138-141.\nMel-i-a\u00b4dus, King of Lionesse, near Cornwall, 449.\nMel\u00b4i-cer\u00b4tes, infant son of Ino, changed to Pal\u00e6mon (_See_ Ino,\n Leucothea, and Pal\u00e6mon), 174.\nMe-lis\u00b4sa, priestess at Merlin\u2019s tomb, 716, 727-731, 738, 779.\nMe-lis\u00b4se-us, a Cretan king, 179.\nMel-pom\u00b4e-ne, one of the Muses (which _See_), 8.\nMem\u00b4non, the beautiful son of Tithonus and Eos (Aurora), and king of the\n Ethiopians, slain in Trojan War, 120, 207, 208, 227.\nMem\u00b4phis, Egyptian city, 295, 299.\nMen-e-la\u00b4us, son of King of Sparta, husband of Helen, 212, 213, 219, 221,\n 232, 233, 289.\nMen-\u0153\u00b4ceus, son of Creon, voluntary victim in war to gain success for his\n father, 183.\nMen\u00b4tor, son of Alcimus and a faithful friend of Ulysses, 246.\nMer\u00b4cu-ry (_See_ Hermes), 7, 13, 29-31, 49, 56, 89, 116, 123, 129, 147,\n 192, 214, 226, 242, 245, 251, 263, 301.\nMer\u00b4lin, enchanter, 389-393, 397, 399, 400, 401-403, 412, 413, 424, 467,\n 475, 715.\nMer\u00b4o-pe, daughter of King of Chios, beloved by Orion, 205.\nMes\u00b4mer-ism, likened to curative oracle of \u00c6sculapius at Epidaurus, 298.\nMet\u00b4a-bus, father of Camilla, 278.\nMet\u00b4a-mor\u00b4pho-ses, Ovid\u2019s poetical legends of mythical transformations, a\n large source of our knowledge of classic mythology, 309.\nMet-a-ni\u00b4ra, a mother, kind to Ceres seeking Proserpine, 54.\nMe-temp\u00b4sy-cho\u00b4sis, transmigration of souls\u2014rebirth of dying men and women\n in forms of animals or human beings, 272.\nMe\u00b4tis, Prudence, a spouse of Jupiter, 5.\nMe-zen\u00b4ti-us, a brave but cruel soldier, opposing \u00c6neas in Italy, 278,\n 281, 285, 286.\nMi\u00b4das, 46-48.\nMid\u00b4gard, the middle world of the Norsemen, 329, 330, 348.\nMid\u00b4gard serpent, a sea-monster, child of Loki, 332, 344, 349.\nMilky Way, starred path across the sky, believed to be road to palace of\n the gods, 15.\nMi\u00b4lo, a great athlete, 292.\nMi\u00b4lon, father of Orlando, 656.\nMil\u00b4ton, John, great English poet, whose History of England is here\n largely used, 378.\nMi\u00b4me, one of the chief dwarfs of ancient German mythology, 354, 356.\nMi-ner\u00b4va (Athene), daughter of Jupiter, patroness of health, learning,\n and wisdom, 3, 4, 7, 13, 50, 53, 107-111, 116, 117, 123, 124, 125, 147,\n 153, 154, 157, 183, 193, 211, 216, 229, 230, 235, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250,\n 251, 254;\n statue of, 304.\nMi\u00b4nos, King of Crete, 95, 98-100, 152, 154, 156, 165, 268.\nMin\u00b4o-taur, monster killed by Theseus, 152.\nMis\u00b4tle-toe, fatal to Baldur, 344, 360.\nMne-mos\u00b4y-ne, one of the Muses (which _See_), 4, 8.\nModesty, statue to, 184.\nMo\u00b4dred, nephew of King Arthur, 395, 409, 508, 515-518.\nMo\u00b4ly, plant, powerful against sorcery, 242.\nMo\u00b4mus, a deity whose delight was to jeer bitterly at gods and men, 9.\nMon\u00b4ad, the \u201cunit\u201d of Pythagoras, 289.\nMonsters, unnatural beings, evilly disposed to men, 122-129.\nMont-al\u00b4ban, Rinaldo\u2019s castle, 664.\nMonth, the, attendant upon the Sun, 39.\nMoon, 3, 5, 41, 43;\n goddess of, _see_ Diana.\nMo-raunt\u00b4, knight, an Irish champion, 450, 468.\nMor-ga\u00b4na, enchantress, the Lady of the Lake in \u201cOrlando Furioso,\u201d same as\n Morgane Le Fay in tales of Arthur, 414, 689, 690-692, 869.\nMor-gane\u00b4 le Fay, Queen of Norway, King Arthur\u2019s sister, an enchantress,\n 426-427, 521.\nMor\u00b4gan Tud, Arthur\u2019s chief physician, 566.\nMor\u00b4pheus, son of Sleep and god of dreams, 72, 73.\nMorte d\u2019Arthur, romance, by Sir Thomas Mallory, 378.\nMul\u00b4ci-ber, Latin name of Vulcan, 10.\nMull, Island of, 362.\nMu\u00b4nin, one of Odin\u2019s two ravens, 130.\nMu-s\u00e6\u00b4us, sacred poet, son of Orpheus, 194.\nMu\u00b4ses, The, nine goddesses presiding over poetry, etc.\u2014Calliope, epic\n poetry; Clio, history; Erato, love poetry; Euterpe, lyric poetry;\n Melpomene, tragedy; Polyhymnia, oratory and sacred song; Terpsichore,\n choral song and dance; Thalia, comedy and idyls; Urania, astronomy, 3, 8,\n 43, 124, 126, 187, 193.\nMus\u00b4pel-heim, the fire-world of the Norsemen, 349.\nMy-ce\u00b4n\u00e6, ancient Grecian city, of which Agamemnon was king, 213, 235.\nMyrd\u00b4din (Merlin), 531.\nMyr\u00b4mi-dons, bold soldiers of Achilles, 95-98, 219.\nMys\u00b4i-a, Greek district on northwest coast of Asia Minor, 130, 133.\nMythology, origin of, collected myths, describing gods of early peoples,\n 300-303.\n\n N\n\nNa\u00b4iads, water-nymphs, 36, 45, 167, 174, 178, 209.\nNa\u00b4mo, Duke of Bavaria, one of Charlemagne\u2019s knights, 656, 827 ff.\nNan\u00b4na, wife of Baldur, 347.\nNan\u00b4ters, British king, 403.\nNantes, site of Caradoc\u2019s castle, 419.\nNa\u00b4pe, a dog of Diana, 35.\nNar-cis\u00b4sus, who died of unsatisfied love for his own image in the water,\n 101-103.\nNau-sic\u00b4a-a, daughter of King Alcino\u00fcs, who befriended Ulysses, 248, 249.\nNau-sith\u00b4o-us, king of Ph\u00e6acians, 247, 248.\nNax\u00b4os, Island of, 152, 163, 165.\nNe\u00b4gus, King of Abyssinia, 328.\nNe-me\u00b4a, forest devastated by a lion killed by Hercules, 144, 155.\nNe-me\u00b4an Games, held in honor of Jupiter and Hercules, 155.\nNe-me\u00b4an Lion, killed by Hercules, 144.\nNem\u00b4e-sis, goddess of vengeance, 9.\nNen\u00b4ni-us, British combatant of C\u00e6sar, 387.\nNe-op-tol\u00b4e-mus, son of Achilles, 233.\nNe-pen\u00b4the, ancient drug to cause forgetfulness of pain or distress, 233.\nNeph\u00b4e-le, mother of Phryxus and Helle, 34, 129.\nNeph\u00b4thys, Egyptian goddess, 294.\nNep\u00b4tune, identical with Poseidon, god of the sea, 4, 5, 16, 44, 107, 109,\n 132, 144, 154, 171, 172, 173, 174, 190, 199, 205, 216, 217, 218, 223, 230,\n 244, 252, 261, 264, 297, 379.\nNe\u00b4re-ids, sea-nymphs, daughters of Nereus and Doris, 44, 167, 173, 196.\nNe\u00b4re-us, a sea-god, 44, 173, 174, 209.\nNes\u00b4sus, a centaur killed by Hercules, whose jealous wife sent him a robe\n or shirt steeped in the blood of Nessus, which poisoned him, 147.\nNes\u00b4tor, king of Pylos, renowned for his wisdom, justice, and knowledge of\n war, 130, 138, 139, 208, 213, 217, 218, 219, 353.\nNi\u00b4be-lun\u00b4gen Hoard, treasure seized by Siegfried from the Nibelungs,\n buried in the Rhine by Hagan after killing Siegfried, and lost when Hagan\n was killed by Kriemhild; theme of Wagner\u2019s four music-dramas, \u201cThe Ring of\n the Nibelungen,\u201d 353.\nNi\u00b4be-lun\u00b4gen Lied, German epic, giving the same nature-myth as the Norse\n Volsunga Saga, concerning the Hoard, 352, 354.\nNi\u00b4be-lun\u00b4gen Ring, Wagner\u2019s music-dramas, 354-357.\nNi\u00b4be-lungs, the, a race of Northern dwarfs, 353, 354.\nNid\u00b4hogge, a serpent in the lower world that lives on the dead, 330.\nNiffle\u00b4heim, mist world of the Norsemen; the Hades of absent spirits, 330,\n 333, 335, 348.\nNight, 4, 42, 208.\nNile, Egyptian river, 31, 44.\nNim\u00b4rod, tower of, 301.\nNi\u00b4nus, Tomb of, 24.\nNi\u00b4o-be, daughter of Tantalus, proud Queen of Thebes, whose seven sons and\n seven daughters were killed by Apollo and Diana, at which Amphion, her\n husband, killed himself, and Niobe wept until she was turned to stone,\n 111-115.\nNi\u00b4sus, King of Megara, 98-101, 282, 283, 284.\nNo\u00b4ah, as legendary ancestor of French, Roman, German, and British\n peoples, 379.\nNo\u00b4man, name assumed by Ulysses, 239.\nNorns, the three Scandinavian Fates, Urdur (the past), Verdandi (the\n present), and Skuld (the future), 330.\nNorthern Mythology, 328-357.\nNo\u00b4thung, magic sword, 355, 356.\nNo\u00b4tus, southwest wind, 176.\nNox, daughter of Chaos and sister of Erebus; personification of night, 4.\nNu\u00b4ma, second king of Rome, 11, 175.\nNymphs, beautiful maidens, lesser divinities of nature: Dryads and\n Hamadryads, tree-nymphs; Naiads, spring-, brook-, and river-nymphs;\n Nereids, sea-nymphs; Oreads, mountain- or hill-nymphs, 44, 79, 208.\nNy-s\u00e6\u00b4an nymphs, 160.\n\n O\n\nOcean, 2, 44, 273.\nO-ce\u00b4a-nus, a Titan, ruling watery elements, 4, 32, 59, 172, 174.\nO-cyr\u00b4o-e, a prophetess, daughter of Chiron, 127.\nOd\u00b4e-ric, 743.\nO\u00b4din, chief of the Norse gods, 329, 330, 331, 344, 347, 349, 351.\nOd\u00b4yar, famous Biscayan hero, 570.\nO-dys\u00b4seus. _See_ Ulysses.\nOd\u00b4ys-sey, Homer\u2019s poem, relating the wanderings of Odysseus (Ulysses) on\n returning from Trojan War, 3, 227, 236.\n\u0152d\u00b4i-pus, Theban hero, who guessed the riddle of the Sphinx (which _See_),\n becoming King of Thebes, 123-124, 182.\n\u0152\u00b4neus, King of Calydon, 138, 140.\n\u0152-no\u00b4ne, nymph, married by Paris in his youth, and abandoned for Helen,\n 229.\n\u0152-no\u00b4pi-on, King of Chios, 205.\n\u0152\u00b4ta, Mount, scene of Hercules\u2019 death, 148.\nO-gier\u00b4, the Dane, one of the paladins of Charlemagne, 653-654, 656,\n 848-872.\nOl\u00b4i-ver, companion of Orlando, 657, 659-660, 783-788, 789.\nOl\u00b4wen, wife of Kilwich, 609, 615.\nO-lym\u00b4pia, a small plain in Elis, where the Olympic games were celebrated,\n 155.\nO-lym\u00b4pi-ads, periods between Olympic games (four years), 155.\nO-lym\u00b4pi-an games, 155.\n _See_ Games.\nO-lym\u00b4pus, dwelling-place of the dynasty of gods of which Zeus was the\n head, 1, 3, 5, 43, 94, 218, 280.\nOm\u00b4pha-le, queen of Lydia, daughter of Iardanus and wife of Tmolus, 147.\nO-phi\u00b4on, king of the Titans, who ruled Olympus till dethroned by the gods\n Saturn and Rhea, 4, 5.\nOps. _See_ Rhea.\nOr\u00b4a-cles, answers from the gods to questions from seekers for knowledge\n or advice for the future, usually in equivocal form, so as to fit any\n event; also places where such answers were given forth, usually by a\n priest or priestess, 296-300.\nOrc, a sea-monster, foiled by Rogero when about to devour Angelica,\n 732-735.\nO\u00b4re-ads, nymphs of mountains and hills, 167, 170.\nO-res\u00b4tes, son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra; because of his crime in\n killing his mother, he was pursued by the Furies until purified by\n Minerva, 234, 235.\nO-ri\u00b4on, youthful giant, loved by Diana; Constellation, 122, 205-206.\nOr-i-thy\u00b4i-a, a nymph, seized by Boreas, 176.\nOr-lan\u00b4do, a famous knight and nephew of Charlemagne, 656-658, 659-660,\n 666, 667, 668, 669, 674-675, 676, 678-683, 685-693, 704, 705, 737, 740,\n 742-745, 753-759, 763, 773, 782, 783-788, 789-792, 803-813.\nOr\u00b4muzd (Greek, Oromasdes), son of Supreme Being, source of good as his\n brother Ahriman (Arimanes) was of evil, in Persian or Zoroastrian\n religion, 318.\nOr\u00b4pheus, musician, son of Apollo and Calliope, 130, 133, 158, 185-188,\n 191, 194, 271.\n _See_ Eurydice.\nO-si\u00b4ris, the most beneficent of the Egyptian gods, 292, 293-294.\nOs\u00b4sa, mountain of Thessaly, 43, 123.\nOs\u00b4sian, Celtic poet of the second or third century, 361.\nOv\u00b4id, Latin poet (_See_ Metamorphoses), 98, 275, 289, 308.\nO-wain\u00b4, knight at King Arthur\u2019s court, 534, 539-546, 548-549, 550-553.\nO-zan\u00b4na, a knight of Arthur, 435.\n\n P\n\nPac-to\u00b4lus, river whose sands were changed to gold by Midas (which _See_),\n 47.\nP\u00e6\u00b4on, a name for both Apollo and \u00c6sculapius, gods of medicine, 174.\nPa\u00b4gans, heathen, 12.\nPal\u00b4a-dins or peers, knights errant, 656.\nPa-l\u00e6\u00b4mon, son of Athamas and Ino (which _See_), 174.\nPal-a-me\u00b4des, messenger sent to call Ulysses to the Trojan War, 212.\nPal-a-me\u00b4des, Saracen prince at Arthur\u2019s court, 451, 455, 464, 472, 474,\n 510.\nPal\u00b4a-tine, one of Rome\u2019s Seven Hills, 281.\nPa\u00b4les, goddess presiding over cattle and pastures, 10, 11.\nPal-i-nu\u00b4rus, faithful steersman of \u00c6neas, 264, 267.\nPal-la\u00b4di-um, properly any image of Pallas Athene, but specially applied\n to an image at Troy, which was stolen by Ulysses and Diomedes, 229,\n 232.\nPal\u00b4las, son of Evander, 279, 280, 281, 282, 286, 287.\nPal\u00b4las A-the\u00b4ne (Minerva), 7, 81, 224, 249.\nPam\u00b4pha-gus, a dog of Diana, 35.\nPan, god of nature and the universe, 9, 30, 31, 47, 76, 166-168.\nPan-ath-e-n\u00e6\u00b4a, festival in honor of Pallas Athene (Minerva), 154.\nPan-de\u00b4an Pipes, musical instrument of reeds, made by Pan in memory of\n Syrinx (which _See_).\nPan-do\u00b4ra (all-gifted), first woman, dowered with gifts by every god, yet\n entrusted with a box she was cautioned not to open; but, curious, she\n opened it, and out flew all the ills of humanity, leaving behind only\n Hope, which remained, 13-14, 17, 18.\nPan-dra\u00b4sus, a king in Greece, who persecuted Trojan exiles under Brutus,\n great-grandson of \u00c6neas, until they fought, captured him, and, with his\n daughter Imogen as Brutus\u2019 wife, emigrated to Albion (later called\n Britain), 379-380.\nPan\u00b4o-pe, plain of, 92, 113.\nPan\u00b4thus, alleged earlier incarnation of Pythagoras, 289.\nPaph\u00b4la-go\u00b4ni-a, ancient country in Asia Minor, south of Black Sea, 208.\nPa\u00b4phos, daughter of Pygmalion and Galatea (both of which, _See_), 63, 66.\nPar\u00b4c\u00e6. _See_ Fates.\nPa-ri\u00b4ahs, lowest caste of Hindus, 324.\nPar\u00b4is, son of Priam and Hecuba, who eloped with Helen (which _See_), 211,\n 212, 213, 216, 218, 228, 229, 232, 261, 405.\nPar-nas-sian laurel, wreath from Parnassus, crown awarded to successful\n poets, 47.\nPar-nas\u00b4sus, mountain near Delphi, sacred to Apollo and the Muses, 16, 19,\n 20, 43, 297.\nPar\u00b4sees, Persian fire-worshippers (Zoroastrians), of whom there are still\n thousands in Persia and India, 320.\nPar\u00b4the-non, the temple of Athene Parthenos (\u201cthe Virgin\u201d) on the\n Acropolis of Athens, 155, 304.\nPasse-breul\u00b4, Tristram\u2019s horse, 462.\nPa-tro\u00b4clus, friend of Achilles, killed by Hector, 218, 219, 220, 221,\n 225.\nPe\u00b4cheur, King, uncle of Perceval, 483.\nPeers, the, 656.\nPeg\u00b4a-sus, winged horse, born from the sea-foam and the blood of Medusa,\n 124-126.\nPe\u00b4leus, king of the Myrmidons, father of Achilles by Thetis, 138, 173,\n 211.\nPe\u00b4li-as, usurping uncle of Jason, 130, 132, 136, 180.\nPe\u00b4li-on, mountain, 123, 133.\nPel\u00b4le-as, knight of Arthur, 435.\nPe-na\u00b4tes, protective household deities of the Romans, 11.\nPen\u00b4drag-on, King of Britain, elder brother of Uther-Pendragon (which\n _See_), who succeeded him, 389-390, 394, 396, 397.\nPe-nel\u00b4o-pe, wife of Ulysses, who, waiting twenty years for his return\n from the Trojan War, put off the suitors for her hand by promising to\n choose one when her weaving was done, but unravelled at night what she had\n woven by day, 77, 184, 185, 212, 254, 256.\nPe-ne\u00b4us, river god, 20;\n river, 144.\nPen-the-si-le\u00b4a, queen of Amazons, 228.\nPen\u00b4the-us, king of Thebes; having resisted the introduction of the\n worship of Bacchus into his kingdom, was driven mad by the god, 94, 161,\n 164.\nPe\u00b4nus, Roman house pantry, giving name to the Penates, 11.\nPep\u00b4in, father of Charlemagne, 650.\nPep\u00b4lus, sacred robe of Minerva, 155.\nPer\u00b4ce-val, a great knight of Arthur, 479-485, 494-497, 504-506, 507, 570.\nPer\u00b4dix, inventor of saw and compasses, 157.\nPer\u00b4i-an\u00b4der, King of Corinth, friend of Arion, 195-198.\nPer-i-phe\u00b4tes, son of Vulcan, killed by Theseus, 151.\nPer-seph\u00b4o-ne, goddess of vegetation, 8.\n _See_ Proserpine.\nPer\u00b4seus, son of Jupiter and Dana\u00eb, slayer of the Gorgon Medusa, deliverer\n of Andromeda from a sea-monster, 116-122, 124, 202.\nPh\u00e6-a\u00b4ci-ans, people who entertained Ulysses, 247-253.\nPh\u00e6\u00b4dra, faithless and cruel wife of Theseus, 153-154.\nPha-\u00eb-thu\u00b4sa, sister of Pha\u00ebton, 244.\nPha-\u00eb-ton, son of Ph\u0153bus, who dared attempt to drive his father\u2019s\n sun-chariot, 38-45.\nPhan\u00b4ta-sos, a son of Somnus, bringing strange images to sleeping men, 72.\nPha\u00b4on, beloved by Sappho, 203.\nPhe\u00b4lot, knight of Wales, 433-434.\nPher\u00b4e-din, friend of Tristram, unhappy lover of Isoude, 457, 458.\nPhid\u00b4i-as, famous Greek sculptor, 303, 304, 305.\nPhi-le\u00b4mon, husband of Baucis (which _See_), 49-51.\nPhil-oc-te\u00b4tes, warrior who lighted the fatal pyre of Hercules, 148, 229.\nPhil\u00b4o-e, burial-place of Osiris, 294.\nPhin\u00b4e-us, betrothed to Andromeda, 120-121, 130, 131, 259.\nPhleg\u00b4e-thon, fiery river of Hades, 269.\nPho\u00b4cis, 234, 235, 297.\nPh\u0153\u00b4be, one of the sisters of Pha\u00ebton, 91.\nPh\u0153\u00b4bus (Apollo), god of music, prophecy, and archery, the sun-god, 6, 22,\n 34, 38, 39-41, 68, 71, 92, 220.\nPh\u0153-ni\u00b4cia, 91, 233, 294, 301.\nPh\u0153-ni\u00b4ci-ans, 94, 296, 358.\nPh\u0153\u00b4nix, a messenger to Achilles, 217;\n also, a miraculous bird, dying in fire by its own act and springing up\n alive from its own ashes, 310-312.\nPhor\u00b4bas, a companion of \u00c6neas, whose form was assumed by Neptune in\n luring Palinuras the helmsman from his post, 264.\nPhryg\u00b4i-a, 48, 49, 112, 160.\nPhryx\u00b4us, brother of Helle (which _See_), 130.\nPin\u00b4a-bel, knight, 713.\nPillars of Hercules, two mountains\u2014Cal\u00b4p\u00e8, now the Rock of Gibraltar,\n southwest corner of Spain in Europe, and Ab\u00b4y-la, facing it in Africa\n across the strait, 145.\nPin\u00b4dar, famous Greek poet, 273.\nPin\u00b4dus, Grecian mountain, 43.\nPi-re\u00b4ne, celebrated fountain at Corinth, 125.\nPi-rith\u00b4o-us, king of the Lapith\u00e6 in Thessaly, and friend of Theseus,\n husband of Hippodamia (which _See_), 127, 138, 153, 158, 166.\nPleasure, daughter of Cupid and Psyche, 89.\nPle\u00b4ia-des, seven of Diana\u2019s nymphs, changed into stars, one being lost,\n 206, 208.\nPlenty, the Horn of, 178-179.\nPlex-ip\u00b4pus, brother of Althea, 139.\nPlin\u00b4y, Roman naturalist, 313, 315, 317.\nPlu\u00b4to, the same as Hades, Dis, etc.; god of the Infernal Regions, 5, 8,\n 9, 52-56, 58, 88, 127, 135, 147, 153, 180, 186, 265, 267.\nPlu\u00b4tus, god of wealth, 9.\nPo, Italian river, 271.\nPole-star, 33.\nPo-li\u00b4tes, youngest son of Priam of Troy, 232.\nPol\u00b4lux, Castor and (Dioscuri, the Twins) (_See_ Castor), 133, 158-159,\n 202, 203.\nPol-y-dec\u00b4tes, king of Seriphus, 116, 202.\nPol-y-do\u00b4re, slain kinsman of \u00c6neas; whose blood nourished a bush that\n bled when broken, 258.\nPol-y-hym\u00b4ni-a, Muse of oratory and sacred song, 8.\nPo-ly\u00b4i-dus, soothsayer, 125.\nPol-y-ni\u00b4ces, King of Thebes, 182, 183.\nPol-y-phe\u00b4mus, giant son of Neptune, 173, 209, 237, 238, 260.\nPo-lyx\u00b4e-na, daughter of King Priam of Troy, 228, 232.\nPo-mo\u00b4na, goddess of fruit-trees (_See_ Vertumnus), 10, 11, 26, 76-79.\nPor\u00b4rex and Fer\u00b4rex, sons of Leir, King of Britain, 385.\nPor-tu\u00b4nus, Roman name for Pal\u00e6mon (which _See_), 174.\nPo-sei\u00b4don (Neptune), ruler of the ocean, 5.\nPoverty, 266.\nPrec\u00b4i-pice, threshold of Helas hall, 333.\nPres\u00b4ter John, a rumored priest or presbyter, a Christian pontiff in Upper\n Asia, believed in but never found, 327-328.\nPri\u00b4am, king of Troy, 207, 213, 223, 224, 225, 226, 228, 232.\nPri\u00b4wen, Arthur\u2019s shield, 400.\nPro\u00b4cris, beloved but jealous wife of Cephalus, 26-28.\nPro-crus\u00b4tes, who seized travellers and bound them on his iron bed,\n stretching the short ones and cutting short the tall; thus also himself\n served by Theseus, 151.\nPr\u0153\u00b4tus, jealous of Bellerophon, 125.\nPro-me\u00b4theus, creator of man, who stole fire from heaven for man\u2019s use,\n 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 173.\nPros\u00b4er-pine, the same as Persephone, goddess of all growing things,\n daughter of Ceres, carried off by Pluto, 8, 11, 53-57, 88, 134 n., 147,\n 186, 265, 266.\nPro-tes-i-la\u00b4us, slain by Hector the Trojan, allowed by the gods to return\n for three hours\u2019 talk with his widow Laodomia, 214.\nPro\u00b4teus, the old man of the sea, 60, 173, 190-191.\nPru\u00b4dence (Metis), spouse of Jupiter, 5.\nPry\u00b4deri, son of Pwyll, 597-607.\nPsy\u00b4che, a beautiful maiden, personification of the human soul, sought by\n Cupid (Love), to whom she responded, lost him by curiosity to see him (as\n he came to her only by night), but finally through his prayers was made\n immortal and restored to him; a symbol of immortality, 80-91.\nPu-ra\u00b4nas, Hindu Scriptures, 322.\nPwyll, Prince of Dyved, 583-588.\nPyg-ma\u00b4li-on, sculptor in love with a statue he had made, brought to life\n by Venus, 62-63;\n brother of Queen Dido, 262.\nPyg\u00b4mies, nation of dwarfs, at war with the Cranes, 128.\nPy\u00b4la-des, son of Straphius, friend of Orestes, 234.\nPyr\u00b4a-mus, who loved Thisbe, next-door neighbor, and, their parents\n opposing, they talked through cracks in the house-wall, agreeing to meet\n in the near-by woods; where Pyramus, finding a bloody veil and thinking\n Thisbe slain, killed himself, and she, seeing his body, killed herself.\n (Burlesqued in Shakespeare\u2019s \u201cMidsummer Night\u2019s Dream\u201d), 23-26.\nPyr\u00b4rha, wife of Deucalion (which _See_), 16-17.\nPyr\u00b4rhus (Neoptolemus), son of Achilles, 232.\nPy-thag\u00b4o-ras, Greek philosopher (540 B.C.), who thought numbers to be the\n essence and principle of all things, and taught transmigration of souls of\n the dead into new life as human or animal beings, 288.\nPyth\u00b4i-a, priestess of Apollo at Delphi, 297.\nPyth\u00b4i-an Games, 19, 155.\nPyth\u00b4i-an Oracle, 84.\nPy\u00b4thon, serpent springing from Deluge slum, destroyed by Apollo, 19.\n\n Q\n\nQui-ri\u00b4nus (from _quiris_, a lance or spear), a war god, said to be\n Romulus, founder of Rome, 10.\n\n R\n\nRab\u00b4i-can, noted horse, 684, 685, 730, 739, 740, 741, 766.\nRag-na-rok\u00b4, the twilight (or ending) of the gods, 348-349.\nRaj\u00b4puts, minor Hindu caste, 324.\nRe\u00b4gan, daughter of Leir, 383-384.\nRe-gil\u00b4lus, lake in Latium, noted for battle fought near by between the\n Romans and the Latins, 158.\nReg\u00b4gi-o, family from which Rogero sprang, 698.\nRe\u00b4mus, brother of Romulus, founder of Rome, 287.\nRhad-a-man\u00b4thus, son of Jupiter and Europa, after his death one of the\n judges in the lower world, 269, 273.\nRhap\u00b4so-dist, professional reciter of poems among the Greeks, 307.\nRhe\u00b4a, female Titan, wife of Saturn (Cronos), mother of the chief gods,\n worshipped in Greece and Rome, 4, 5, 8, 143, 161, 179.\nRhine, river, 353, 355, 357.\nRhine-maidens, or daughters, three water-nymphs, Flosshilda, Woglinda, and\n Wellgunda, set to guard the Nibelungen Hoard (which _See_), buried in the\n Rhine, 354, 355.\nRhodes, one of the seven cities claiming to be Homer\u2019s birthplace, 307.\nRho\u00b4do-pe, mountain in Thrace, 43.\nRhon\u00b4gom-yant, Arthur\u2019s lance, 612.\nRh\u0153\u00b4cus, a youth, beloved by a Dryad, but who brushed away a bee sent by\n her to call him to her, and she punished him with blindness, 172.\nRhi-an\u00b4non, wife of Pwyll, 584-588.\nRi-nal\u00b4do, one of the bravest knights of Charlemagne, 653, 656, 660-664,\n 668, 670-672, 673, 683-686, 692-693, 695, 703, 705, 708-711, 745, 768-769,\n 780-781, 789-792, 814-825.\nRiver Ocean, flowing around the earth, 2.\nRobert de Beau-vais\u00b4, Norman poet (1257), 377.\nRob\u00b4in Hood, famous outlaw in English legend, about time of Richard C\u0153ur\n de Lion, 643-646.\nRock\u00b4ing-ham, forest of, 399.\nRo\u00b4do-mont, king of Algiers, 693, 695-697, 761.\nRo-ge\u00b4ro, noted Saracen knight, 693-698, 702, 721-727, 728-731, 733, 740,\n 764, 765, 779-781, 788-801.\nRo\u00b4land (Orlando), 651-652, 653. _See_ Orlando.\nRomances, 374-378.\nRo-ma\u00b4nus, legendary great-grandson of Noah, 379.\nRome, 262, 287, 298.\nRom\u00b4u-lus, founder of Rome, 10, 287.\nRon, Arthur\u2019s lance, 400.\nRonces-valles\u00b4, battle of, 651-652, 801-803.\nRound Table, King Arthur\u2019s, instituted by Merlin the Sage for Pendragon,\n Arthur\u2019s father, as a knightly order, continued and made famous by Arthur\n and his knights, 396, 397, 410, 467.\nRu\u00b4nic characters, or runes, alphabetic signs used by early Teutonic\n peoples, written or graved on metal or stone, 330, 350.\nRu-tu\u00b4li-ans, an ancient people in Italy, subdued at an early period by\n the Romans, 276, 279, 281, 282.\nRy\u00b4ence, king in Ireland, 401.\n\n S.\n\nSa\u00b4bra, maiden for whom Severn River was named, daughter of Locrine and\n Estrildis, thrown into river Severn by Locrine\u2019s wife, transformed to a\n river-nymph, poetically named Sabrina, 174, 381.\nSac\u00b4ri-pant, king of Circassia, 674-676, 706-710.\nSaf\u00b4fire, Sir, knight of Arthur, 510.\nSa\u00b4gas, Norse tales of heroism, composed by the Skalds (which _See_),\n 351-357.\nSa-git-ta\u00b4ri-us, 128.\nSag\u00b4ra-mour, knight of Arthur, 432.\nSt. John, 772-777.\nSt. Michael\u2019s Mount, precipitous pointed rock-hill on the coast of\n Brittany, opposite Cornwall, 410.\nSak-ya-sin\u00b4ha, the Lion, epithet applied to Buddha, 325.\nSal\u00b4a-man\u00b4der, a lizard-like animal, fabled to be able to live in fire,\n 316-317.\nSal\u00b4a-mis, Grecian city, 79, 307.\nSal-mo\u00b4neus, son of \u00c6olus and Enarete, and brother of Sisyphus, 269.\nSal\u00b4o-mon, king of Brittany, at Charlemagne\u2019s court, 656.\nSamh\u00b4in, or \u201cfire of peace,\u201d a Druidical festival, 359.\nSa\u00b4mi-an sage (Pythagoras), 288.\nSa\u00b4mos, island in the \u00c6gean Sea, 157, 288.\nSam-o-thra\u00b4cian gods, a group of agricultural divinities, worshipped in\n Samothrace, 158.\nSam\u00b4son, Hebrew hero, thought by some to be original of Hercules, 301.\nSan-greal (_See_ Graal, the Holy), 486.\nSapph\u00b4o, Greek poetess, who leaped into the sea from promontory of\n Leucadia, in disappointed love for Phaon, 38, 203.\nSa\u00b4ra-cens, followers of Mahomet, 648.\nSar-pe\u00b4don, son of Jupiter and Europa, killed by Patroclus, 213, 220.\nSat\u00b4urn (Cronos), 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 276, 280, 281, 301.\nSat\u00b4ur-na\u00b4li-a, annual festival held by Romans in honor of Saturn, 9.\nSa-tur\u00b4ni-a, an ancient name of Italy, 281.\nSa\u00b4tyrs, male divinities of the forest, half man, half goat, 9, 10, 76.\nScal\u00b4i-ger, famous German scholar of 16th century, 313.\nScan-di-na\u00b4vi-a, mythology of, giving account of Northern gods, heroes,\n etc., 328-351.\nSche\u00b4ri-a, mythical island, abode of the Ph\u00e6acians, 243.\nSchrim\u00b4nir, the boar, cooked nightly for the heroes of Valhalla, becoming\n whole every morning, 331.\nSci\u00b4o, one of the island cities claiming to be Homer\u2019s birthplace, 307.\nSco\u00b4pas, King of Thessaly, 202, 203.\nScor\u00b4pion, constellation, 41, 43.\nScyl\u00b4la, sea-nymph beloved by Glaucus, but changed by jealous Circe to a\n monster and finally to a dangerous rock on the Sicilian coast, facing the\n whirlpool Charybdis, many mariners being wrecked between the two, 59-61,\n 243-245, 261;\n also, daughter of King Nisus of Megara, who loved Minos, besieging her\n father\u2019s city, but he disliked her disloyalty and drowned her,\n 98-101;\n also, a fair virgin of Sicily, friend of sea-nymph Galatea, 209-210.\nScy\u00b4ros, where Theseus was slain, 154.\nScyth\u00b4i-a, country lying north of Euxine Sea, 31, 43, 129, 170.\nSea, the, 1.\nSea-nymphs, 120, 209.\nSea\u00b4sons, 3, 6.\nSem\u00b4e-le, daughter of Cadmus and, by Jupiter, mother of Bacchus, 8, 94,\n 160.\nSe-mir\u00b4a-mis, with Ninus the mythical founder of the Assyrian empire of\n Nineveh, 23.\nSen\u00b4a-pus, King of Abyssinia, who entertained Astolpho, 770.\nSe-ra\u00b4pis, or Hermes, Egyptian divinity of Tartarus and of medicine, 293,\n 295.\nSerfs, slaves of the land, 371.\nSe-ri\u00b4phus, island in the \u00c6gean Sea; one of the Cyclades, 116, 202.\nSerpent (Northern constellation), 42.\nSes\u00b4tos, dwelling of Hero (which _See_, also Leander), 105.\n\u201cSeven against Thebes,\u201d famous Greek expedition, 182.\nSev\u00b4ern river, in England, 382.\nSev\u00b4i-nus, Duke of Guienne, 825.\nSha-lott\u00b4, the Lady of, 441 ff.\nSha-tri\u00b4ya, Hindu warrior caste, 323, 324.\nSher\u00b4as-min, French chevalier, 833-846.\nSib\u00b4yl, prophetess of Cum\u00e6, 265, 266-275.\nSi-ch\u00e6\u00b4us, husband of Dido (which _See_), 262.\nSic\u00b4i-ly, 55, 56, 58, 61, 195, 209, 260, 261, 264.\nSiege Per\u00b4i-lous, the chair of purity at Arthur\u2019s Round Table, fatal to\n any but him who was destined to achieve the quest of the Sangreal (_See_\n Galahad), 488.\nSieg\u00b4fried, young King of the Netherlands, husband of Kriemhild; she\n boasted to Brunhild that Siegfried had aided G\u00fcnther to beat her in\n athletic contests, thus winning her as wife, and Brunhild, in anger,\n employed Hagan to murder Siegfried. As hero of Wagner\u2019s \u201cValkyrie,\u201d he\n wins the Nibelungen treasure-ring, loves and deserts Brunhild, and is\n slain by Hagan, 352, 353, 355, 356-357.\nSieg-lin\u00b4da, wife of Hunding, mother of Siegfried by Siegmund, 355,\n 356-357.\nSieg\u00b4mund, father of Siegfried, 355.\nSig\u00b4tryg, Prince, betrothed of King Alef\u2019s daughter, aided by Hereward,\n 642.\nSi-gu\u00b4na, wife of Loki, 347.\nSi-le\u00b4nus, a Satyr, school-master of Bacchus, 46.\nSi-lu\u00b4res (South Wales), 375, 394.\nSilver Age, 14.\nSil\u00b4vi-a, daughter of Latin shepherd, 277.\nSil\u00b4vi-us, grandson of \u00c6neas, accidentally killed in the chase by his son\n Brutus, 379.\nSi-mon\u00b4i-des, an early poet of Greece, 201-203.\nSi\u00b4non, a Greek spy, who persuaded the Trojans to take the Wooden Horse\n (which _See_) into their city, 230, 231.\nSi\u00b4rens, sea-nymphs, whose singing charmed mariners to leap into the sea;\n passing their island, Ulysses stopped the ears of his sailors with wax,\n and had himself bound to the mast so that he could hear but not yield to\n their music, 242.\nSir\u00b4i-us, the dog of Orion, changed to the Dog-star, 206.\nSis\u00b4y-phus, condemned in Tartarus to perpetually roll up hill a big rock\n which, when the top was reached, rolled down again, 186, 270.\nSi\u00b4va, the Destroyer, third person of the Hindu triad of gods, 320, 322.\nSkalds, Norse bards and poets, 350.\nSkid-blad\u00b4nir, Freyr\u2019s ship, 348.\nSkir\u00b4nir, Frey\u2019s messenger, who won the god\u2019s magic sword by getting him\n Gerda for his wife, 336.\nSkry\u00b4mir, a giant, Utgard Loki (which _See_) in disguise, who fooled Thor\n in athletic feats, 337.\nSkuld, the Norn of the Future, 330.\nSleep, twin brother of Death, 220.\nSleip\u00b4nir, Odin\u2019s horse, 345.\nSo-bri\u00b4no, councillor to Agramant, 693, 784-785, 789.\nSom\u00b4nus, child of Nox, twin brother of Mors, god of sleep, 71-72, 264.\nSoph\u00b4o-cles, Greek tragic dramatist, 235.\nSouth wind. _See_ Notus.\nSpar\u00b4ta, capital of Laced\u00e6mon, 158, 212, 233.\nSphinx, a monster, waylaying the road to Thebes and propounding riddles to\n all passers, on pain of death for wrong guessing, who killed herself in\n rage when \u00c6dipus guessed aright, 122, 123-124.\nSpring, 39, 56.\nStone\u00b4henge, circle of huge upright stones, fabled to be sepulchre of\n Pendragon, 397.\nStro\u00b4phi-us, father of Pylades, 234.\nStyg\u00b4i-an realm, Hades, 186.\nStyg\u00b4i-an sleep, escaped from the beauty-box sent from Hades to Venus by\n hand of Psyche, who curiously opened the box and was plunged into\n unconsciousness, 89.\nStyx, river, bordering Hades, to be crossed by all the dead, 160, 228.\nSu\u00b4dras, Hindu laboring caste, 323, 324.\nSummer, 39.\nSun, 3, 5, 39, 311.\nSur\u00b4tur, leader of giants against the gods in the day of their destruction\n (Norse mythology), 349.\nSur\u00b4ya, Hindu god of the sun, corresponding to the Greek Helios, 321.\nSu\u00b4tri, Orlando\u2019s birthplace, 656.\nSva-dil-fa\u00b4ri, giant\u2019s horse, 334, 335.\nSwan, Leda and, 158.\nSyb\u00b4a-ris, Greek city in Southern Italy, famed for luxury, 292.\nSyl-va\u00b4nus, Latin divinity identified with Pan, 76, 166.\nSym-pleg\u00b4a-des, floating rocks passed by the Argonauts, 131.\nSy\u00b4rinx, nymph, pursued by Pan, but escaping by being changed to a bunch\n of reeds (_See_ Pandean pipes), 30.\n\n T\n\nTac\u00b4i-tus, Roman historian, 311.\nT\u00e6n\u00b4a-rus, Greek entrance to lower regions, 186.\nTa\u00b4gus, river in Spain and Portugal, 44.\nTal\u00b4ie-sin, Welsh bard, 531, 627-633.\nTan\u00b4a-is, ancient name of river Don, 44.\nTan\u00b4ta-lus, wicked king, punished in Hades by standing in water that\n retired when he would drink, under fruit-trees that withdrew when he would\n eat, 112, 186, 270.\nTar\u00b4chon, Etruscan chief, 282.\nTa-ren\u00b4tum, Italian city, 197.\nTar-pe\u00b4ian rock, in Rome, from which condemned criminals were hurled, 280.\nTar\u00b4quins, a ruling family in early Roman legend, 275.\nTau\u00b4ris, Grecian city, site of temple of Diana (_See_ Iphigenia), 214,\n 234.\nTau\u00b4rus, a mountain, 43.\nTar\u00b4ta-rus, place of confinement of Titans, etc., originally a black abyss\n below Hades; later, represented as place where the wicked were punished,\n and sometimes the name used as synonymous with Hades, 5, 44, 52, 53, 73,\n 186, 187, 269, 293.\nTeir\u00b4tu, the harp of, 618.\nTel\u00b4a-mon, Greek hero and adventurer, father of Ajax, 98, 138, 139.\nTe-lem\u00b4a-chus, son of Ulysses and Penelope, 212, 233, 246, 254, 255, 256,\n 257.\nTel\u00b4lus, another name for Rhea, 134.\nTen\u00b4e-dos, an island in \u00c6gean Sea, 21.\nTer\u00b4mi-nus, Roman divinity presiding over boundaries and frontiers, 10.\nTerp-sich\u00b4o-re, Muse of dancing, 8.\nTer\u00b4ra, goddess of the earth, 146.\nTe\u00b4thys, goddess of the sea, 32, 40, 59, 172, 174.\nTeu\u00b4cer, ancient king of the Trojans, 78.\nTha-li\u00b4a, one of the three Graces (which _See_), 8.\nTham\u00b4y-ris, Thracian bard, who challenged the Muses to competition in\n singing, and, defeated, was blinded, 193.\nThaukt, Loki disguised as a hag, 346.\nThebes, city founded by Cadmus, and capital of B\u0153otia, 11, 92, 94, 111,\n 112, 123, 124, 161, 182, 183, 192, 296.\nThe\u00b4mis, female Titan, law-counsellor of Jove, 4, 7, 9, 15 n., 297.\nThe-o-do\u00b4ra, sister of Prince Leo, 794, 800.\nThe\u00b4ron, one of Diana\u2019s dogs, 35.\nTher-si\u00b4tes, a brawler, killed by Achilles, 228.\nThes\u00b4ce-lus, foe of Perseus, turned to stone by sight of Gorgon\u2019s head,\n 121.\nThe-se\u00b4um, Athenian temple in honor of Theseus, 154.\nThe\u00b4se-us, son of \u00c6geus and \u00c6thra, King of Athens, a great hero of many\n adventures, 130, 136, 138, 139, 147, 150-157, 158, 165, 177.\nThes\u00b4saly, 3, 69, 129, 130, 132, 170, 202.\nThes\u00b4ti-us, father of Althea (which _See_), 140.\nThe\u00b4tis, mother of Achilles, 173, 174, 211, 212, 216, 221, 222, 225, 228.\nThi\u00b4al-fi, Thor\u2019s servant, 337, 340.\nThis\u00b4be, Babylonian maiden beloved by Pyramus (which _See_), 23-26.\nThor, the thunderer, of Norse mythology, most popular of the gods, 331,\n 332, 334, 335, 337-343, 349, 352.\nThrace, 31, 130, 258.\nThri-na\u00b4ki-a, island pasturing Hyperion\u2019s cattle, where Ulysses landed,\n but, his men killing some cattle for food, their ship was wrecked by\n lightning, 244.\nThrym, giant, who buried Thor\u2019s hammer, 335.\nThu-cyd\u00b4i-des, Greek historian, 98.\nTi\u00b4ber, river flowing through Rome, 276, 299.\nTiber, Father, god of the river, 279.\nTi\u00b4gris, river, 35.\nTin-ta\u00b4del, castle of, residence of King Mark of Cornwall, 450.\nTi-re\u00b4si-as, a Greek soothsayer, 183.\nTi-siph\u00b4o-ne, one of the Furies (which _See_), 9, 269.\nTi\u00b4tans, the sons and daughters of Uranus (Heaven) and G\u00e6a (Earth),\n enemies of the gods and overcome by them, 4, 5, 13, 18, 52, 172, 269.\nTi-tho\u00b4nus, Trojan prince, 207.\nTit\u00b4y-us, giant in Tartarus, 122, 269.\nTmo\u00b4lus, a mountain god, 43, 47.\nTortoise, second avatar (which _See_) of Vishnu, 321.\nTournaments, 371-372, 665.\nTours, battle of (_See_ Abdalrahman and Charles Martel), 649-650.\nTox\u00b4e-us, brother of Melauger\u2019s mother, who snatched from Atalanta her\n hunting trophy, and was slain by Melauger, who had awarded it to her,\n 139.\nTriad, the Hindu, 320-321.\nTriads, Welsh poems, 532, 533.\nTri-mur\u00b4ti, Hindu Triad, 320.\nTrip-tol\u00b4e-mus, son of Celeus (which _See_), and who, made great by Ceres,\n founded her worship in Eleusis, 57.\nTris\u00b4tram, one of Arthur\u2019s knights, husband of Isoude of the White Hands,\n lover of Isoude the Fair, 449-466, 468-478.\nTri\u00b4ton, a demi-god of the sea, son of Poseidon (Neptune) and Amphitrite,\n 16, 60, 173, 174, 262.\nTr\u0153\u00b4zen, Greek city of Argolis, 150.\nTro\u00b4jans, 216, 259-264, 269, 277.\nTro\u00b4jan War, 138, 174, 184, 211-227.\nTro-ja-no\u00b4va, New Troy, city founded in Britain (_See_ Brutus, and Lud),\n 381.\nTro-pho\u00b4ni-us, oracle of, in B\u0153otia, 297-298.\nTrou\u00b4ba-dours, poets and minstrels of Provence, in Southern France, 374.\nTrou-veurs\u00b4, poets and minstrels of Northern France, 375.\nTroy, city in Asia Minor, ruled by King Priam, whose son, Paris, stole\n away Helen, wife of Menelaus the Greek, resulting in the Trojan War and\n the destruction of Troy, 206, 207, 212, 213, 214, 218, 224, 227, 229,\n 236.\nTroy, fall of, 227-232.\nTur\u00b4nus, chief of the Rutulianes in Italy, unsuccessful rival of \u00c6neas for\n Lavinia, 276, 277, 278, 279, 281, 282, 286-287.\nTur\u00b4pin, Archbishop of Rheims, 652-653, 656, 806-813.\nTur\u00b4quine, Sir, a great knight, foe of Arthur, slain by Sir Launcelot,\n 428.\nTy\u00b4phon, one of the giants who attacked the gods, were defeated, and\n imprisoned under Mt. \u00c6tna, 52, 123, 261, 293, 294.\nTyr, Norse god of battles, 333.\nTyre, Ph\u0153nician city governed by Dido (which _See_), 262.\nTyr\u00b4ians, 92, 262.\nTyr\u00b4rhe-us, herdsman of King Turnus in Italy, the slaying of whose\n daughter\u2019s stag aroused war upon \u00c6neas and his companions, 277.\n\n U\n\nU-ber\u00b4to, son of Galafron, 665.\nU-lys\u00b4ses (Greek, Odysseus), hero of the Odyssey, 60, 61, 76, 184, 212,\n 213, 217, 219, 228, 229, 230, 232, 233, 236-257, 261.\nU\u00b4ni-corn, fabled animal with a single horn, 315.\nU-ra\u00b4ni-a, one of the Muses, a daughter of Zeus by Mnemosyne, 8, 126.\nUr\u00b4dur, one of the Norns or Fates of Scandinavia, representing the Past,\n 330.\nUsk, British river, 406.\nUt\u00b4gard, abode of the giant Utgard-Loki, 338.\nUt\u00b4gard-Lo\u00b4ki, King of the Giants (_See_ Skrymir), 339-343.\nU\u00b4ther (Uther Pendragon), king of Britain and father of Arthur, 389-390,\n 394, 396, 397, 398.\nU-waine\u00b4, knight of Arthur\u2019s court, 432-434.\n\n V\n\nVa-is\u00b4sy-as, Hindu caste of agriculturists and traders, 323.\nVal-hal\u00b4la, hall of Odin, heavenly residence of slain heroes, 330, 331,\n 344, 348, 354, 355, 356.\nVal-ky\u00b4rie, armed and mounted warlike virgins, daughters of the gods\n (Norse), Odin\u2019s messengers, who select slain heroes for Valhalla and serve\n them at their feasts, 331, 347, 354, 355.\nVe, brother of Odin, 329, 330.\nVe\u00b4das, Hindu sacred Scriptures, 320, 321, 324.\nVen-e-do\u00b4ti-a, ancient name for North Wales, 407.\nVe\u00b4nus (Aphrodite), goddess of beauty, 6, 7, 11, 13, 53, 65-67, 76, 78,\n 80, 82, 86-89, 94, 123, 142, 165, 209, 211, 212, 216, 218, 232, 264,\n 265.\nVe\u00b4nus de Med\u00b4i-ci, famous antique statue in Uffizi Gallery, Florence,\n Italy, 305.\nVer-dan\u00b4di, the Present, one of the Norns (which _See_), 330.\nVer-tum\u00b4nus, god of the changing seasons, whose varied appearances won the\n love of Pomona, 76-79.\nVes\u00b4ta, daughter of Cronos and Rhea; goddess of the home-fire, or hearth,\n 10.\nVes\u00b4tals, virgin priestesses in temple of Vesta, 10.\nVe-su\u00b4vi-us, Mount, volcano near Naples, 266.\nVillains, peasants in the feudal scheme, 371.\nVig\u00b4rid, final battlefield, with destruction of the gods and their\n enemies, the sun, the earth, and time itself, 349.\nVi\u00b4li, brother of Odin and Ve, 329.\nVir\u00b4gil, celebrated Latin poet (_See_ \u00c6neid), 212, 266, 273, 275, 307-308.\nVir\u00b4go, constellation of the Virgin, representing Astr\u00e6a, goddess of\n innocence and purity, 15 n.\nVish\u00b4nu, the Preserver, second of the three chief Hindu gods, 320, 321,\n 325.\nViv\u00b4i-ane, lady of magical powers, who allured the sage Merlin and\n imprisoned him in an enchanted wood, 390-392, 424, 460, 521.\nVol\u00b4scens, Rutulian troop leader who killed Nisus and Euryalus, 284.\nVol\u00b4sung-a Sa\u00b4ga, an Icelandic poem, giving about the same legends as the\n Nibelungen Lied (which _See_), 217, 354.\nVor\u00b4ti-gern, usurping King of Britain, defeated by Pendragon, 389-390,\n 397.\nVul\u00b4can (Greek, H\u00e6phestus), god of fire and metal-working, with forges\n under \u00c6tna, husband of Venus, 4, 6, 10, 39, 41, 94, 123, 151, 182, 205,\n 222, 287, 301.\nVy-a\u00b4sa, Hindu sage, 320.\n\n W\n\nWain, the, constellation, 3.\nWell-gun\u00b4da, one of the Rhine-daughters (which _See_), 354.\nWelsh language, 531.\nWestern Ocean, 273.\nWinds, the, 176, 208.\nWinter, 39.\nWo\u00b4den, chief god in the Norse mythology; Anglo-Saxon for Odin, 330.\nWog-lin\u00b4da, one of the Rhine-daughters (which _See_), 354.\nWoman, creation of, 13.\nWooden Horse, the, filled with armed men, but left outside of Troy as a\n pretended offering to Minerva when the Greeks feigned to sail away;\n accepted by the Trojans (_See_ Sinon, and Laoco\u00f6n), brought into the city,\n and at night emptied of the hidden Greek soldiers, who destroyed the town,\n 229-232.\nWood-nymphs, 76, 167.\nWo\u00b4tan, Old High German form of Odin, 351, 352, 354, 355, 356.\n\n X\n\nXan\u00b4thus, river of Asia Minor, 44.\n\n Y\n\nYa\u00b4ma, Hindu god of the Infernal Regions, 321.\nYear, the, 39.\nYg-dra\u00b4sil, great ash tree, supposed by Norse mythology to support the\n universe, 330.\nY\u00b4mir, giant, slain by Odin, 329, 348.\nYn\u00b4ywl, Earl, host of Geraint, father of Enid, 558-564.\nYork, Britain, 405.\nY-se-ro\u00b4ne, niece of Arthur, mother of Caradoc, 418.\nYs\u00b4pa-da-den Pen\u00b4kawr, father of Olwen, 609, 612, 614, 617, 618, 625, 626.\n\n Z\n\nZend\u00b4a-ves\u00b4ta, Persian sacred Scriptures, 318.\nZeph\u00b4y-rus, god of the South wind, 68, 82, 83, 85, 176, 273.\nZer-bi\u00b4no, a knight, son of the king of Scotland, 742, 744, 749-751, 753,\n 759.\nZe\u00b4tes, winged warrior, companion of Theseus, 133, 176.\nZe\u00b4thus, son of Jupiter and Antiope, brother of Amphion, 192.\n _See_ Dirce.\nZeus, 4.\n _See_ Jupiter.\nZo-ro-as\u00b4ter, founder of the Persian religion, which was dominant in\n Western Asia from about 550 B.C. to about 650 A.D., and is still held by\n many thousands in Persia and in India, 318-320.\n\n\n\n\n TRANSCRIBER NOTES\n\nMisspelled words and printer errors have been corrected. Where multiple\nspellings occur, majority use has been employed.\n\nPunctuation has been maintained except where obvious printer errors\noccur. All ellipses have been spaced.\n\nShakspeare and Shakespeare appears several times throughout the text,\nand although obsolete, Shakspeare is a valid alternative form of\nShakespeare, and therefore both instances appear.\n\nSome illustrations were moved to facilitate page layout and a List of\nIllustrations was created and added after the Table of Contents.\n\nAll footnotes are linked and have been placed at the end of the book\nbefore the Appendices and Index.\n\n[The end of _Bulfinch's Mythology_, by Thomas Bulfinch.]","title":"Bulfinch's Mythology: The Age of Fable; The Age of Chivalry; Legends of Charlemagne","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":334997}