XIV.

"If thou rememberest being in Gascony, When there advanced the nations out of Spain, The Christain cause had suffer'd shamefully,

Had not his valor driven them back again. Best speak the truth when there's a reason why: Know then, oh emperor! that all complaint: As for myself, I shall repass the mounts O'er which I cross'd with two and sixty counts.

XV.

""Tis fit thy grandeur should dispense relief,

So that each here may have his proper part, For the whole court is more or less in grief:

Perhaps thou deem'st this lad a Mars in heart?" Orlando one day heard this speech in brief, As by himself it chanced he sate apart: Displeased he was with Gan because he said it, But much more still that Charles should give him credit.

XVI.

And with the sword he would have murder'd Gan,
But Oliver thrust in between the pair,
And from his hand extracted Durlindan,
And thus at length they separated were.
Orlando, angry too with Carloman,

Wanted but little to have slain him there;
Then forth alone from Paris went the chief,
And burst and madden'd with disdain and grief.
XVII.

From Ermellina, consort of the Dane,

He took Cortana, and then took Rondell, And on towards Brara prick'd him o'er the plain; And when she saw him coming, Aldabelle Stretch'd forth her arms to clasp her lord again. Orlando, in whose brain all was not well, As "Welcome, my Orlando, home," she said, Raised up his sword to smite her on the head.

XVIII.

Like him a fury counsels; his revenge

On Gan in that rash act he seem'd to take, Which Aldabelle thought extremely strange; But soon Orlando found himself awake; And his spouse took his bridle on this change, And he dismounted from his horse, and spake Of every thing which pass'd without demur, And then reposed himself some days with her.

XIX.

Then full of wrath departed from the place,
As far as pagan countries roam'd astray;
And while he rode, yet still at every pace
The traitor Gan remember'd by the way;
And wandering on in error a long space,
An abbey which in a lone desert lay,
'Mid glens obscure, and distant lands he found,
Which form'd the Christian's and the pagan's bound.
XX.

The abbot was call'd Clermont, and by blood
Descended from Anglante; under cover
Of a great mountain's brow the abbey stood,

But certain savage giants look'd him over;
One Passamont was foremost of the brood,
And Alabaster and Morgante hover
Second and third, with certain slings, and throw
In daily jeopardy the place below.

XXI.

The monks could pass the convent gate no more, Nor leave their cells for water or for wood; Orlando knock'd, but none would ope, before Unto the prior it at length seem'd good; Enter'd, he said that he was taught to adore

Him who was born of Mary's holiest blood, And was baptized a Christian; and then show'd How to the abbey he had found his road.

XXII.

Said the abbot, "You are welcome; what is mine
We give you freely, since that you believe
With us in Mary Mother's Son divine;

And that you may not, cavalier, conceive
The cause of our delay to let you in

To be rusticity, you shall receive
The reason why our gate was barr'd to you:
Thus those who in suspicion live must do.

XXIII.

"When hither to inhabit first we came

These mountains, albeit that they are obscure, As you perceive, yet without fear or blame They seem'd to promise an asylum sure: From savage brutes alone, too fierce to tame, 'Twas fit our quiet dwelling to secure; But now, if here we'd stay, we needs must guard Against domestic beasts with watch and ward.

XXIV.

"These make us stand, in fact, upon the watch;
For late there have appear'd three giants rough;
What nation or what kingdom bore the batch
I know not, but they are all of savage stuff;
When force and malice with some genius match,
You know, they can do all-we are not enough:
And these so much our orisons derange,
I know not what to do, till matters change.

XXV.

"Our ancient fathers living the desert in,
For just and holy works were duly fed;
Think not they lived on locusts sole, 'tis certain
That manna was rain'd down from heaven instead;
But here 'tis fit we keep on the alert in [bread,

Our bounds, or taste the stones shower'd down for
From off yon mountain daily raining faster,
And flung by Passamont and Alabaster.

XXVI.

"The third, Morgante, 's savagest by far; he Plucks up pines, beeches, poplar-trees, and oaks, And flings them, our community to bury;

And all that I can do but more provokes." While thus they parley in the cemetery,

A stone from one of their gigantic strokes, Which nearly crush'd Rondell, came tumbling over, So that he took a long leap under cover.

XXVII.

"For God sake, cavalier, come in with speed; The manna's falling now," the abbot cried. "This fellow does not wish my horse should feed, Dear abbot," Roland unto him replied. "Of restiveness he'd cure him had he need;

That stone seems with good will and aim applied." The holy father said, "I don't deceive: They'll one day fling the mountain, I believe "

Then Passamont, who thought him slain outright,
Said, "I will go, and while he lies along,
Disarm me: why such craven did I fight?"
But Christ his servants ne'er abandons long,
Especially Orlando, such a knight,

As to desert would almost be a wrong.
While the giant goes to put off his defences,
Orlando has recall'd his force and senses:
XXXIV.

And loud he shouted, "Giant, where dost go?
Thou thought'st me doubtless for the bier outlaid;
To the right about-without wings thou'rt too slow
To fly my vengeance-currish renegade!
'Twas but by treachery thou laid'st me low."
The giant his astonishment betray'd,
And turn'd about, and stopp'd his journey on,
And then he stoop'd to pick up a great stone.

And hurl'd a fragment of a size so large,

That if it had in fact fulfill'd its mission,

And Roland not avail'd him of his targe,
There would have been no need of a physician.
Orlando set himself in turn to charge,

And in his bulky bosom made incision
With all his sword. The lout fell, but, o'erthrown, he
However by no means forgot Macone.

XXXIX. Morgante had a palace in his mode,

Composed of branches, logs of wood, and earth, And stretch'd himself at ease on this abode, And shut himself at night within his berth. Orlando knock'd, and knock'd again, to goad The giant from his sleep; and he came forth, The door to open, like a crazy thing,

For a rough dream had shook him slumbering.

XL.

He thought that a fierce serpent had attack'd him, And Mahomet he call'd; but Mahomet

LVI.

Orlando, seeing him thus agitated,

Said quickly, "Abbot, be thou of good cheer; He Christ believes, as Christian must be rated, And hath renounced his Macon false;" which here Morgante with the hands corroborated,

A proof of both the giants' fate quite clear
Thence, with due thanks, the abbot God adored,
Saying, "Thou hast contented me, oh Lord!"
LVII.

He gazed; Morgante's height he calculated,
And more than once contemplated his size;
And then he said, "Oh giant celebrated!

Know that no more my wonder will arise,
How could you tear and fling the trees you late did,
When I behold your form with my own eyes,
You now a true and perfect friend will show
Yourself to Christ, as once you were a foe.

LVIII.

"And one of our apostles, Saul once named, Long persecuted sore the faith of Christ, Till one day, by the Spirit being inflamed,

Why dost thou persecute me thus!' said Christ;

And then from his offence he was reclaim'd,

And went for ever after preaching Christ, And of the faith became a trump, whose sounding O'er the whole earth is echoing and rebounding.

LIX.

"So, my Morgante, you may do likewise;

He who repents-thus writes the Evangelist, Occasions more rejoicing in the skies

Than ninety-nine of the celestial list. You may be sure, should each desire arise With just zeal for the Lord, that you'll exist Among the happy saints for evermore; But you were lost and damn'd to hell before!"

LX.

And thus great honor to Morgante paid
The abbot: many days they did repose.
One day, as with Orlando they both stray'd,
And saunter'd here and there, where'er they chose,
The abbot show'd a chamber, where array'd

Much armor was, and hung up certain bows;
And one of these Morgante for a whim
Girt on, though useless, he believed to him.

LXI.

There being a want of water in the place,
Orlando, like a worthy brother, said,
"Morgante, I could wish you in this case
To go for water." "You shall be obey'd,
In all commands," was the reply, "straightways."
Upon his shoulder a great tub he laid,
And went out on his way unto a fountain,
Where he was wont to drink below the mountain.

LXII.

Arrived there, a prodigious noise he hears,
Which suddenly along the forest spread;
Whereat from out his quiver he prepares

An arrow for his bow, and lifts his head; And lo! a monstrous herd of swine appears, And onward rushes with tempestuous tread, And to the fountain's brink precisely pours; So that the giant's join'd by all the boars.

LXIII.

Morgante at a venture shot an arrow,

Which pierced a pig precisely in the ear, And pass'd unto the other side quite thorough; So that the boar, defunct, lay tripp'd up near. Another, to revenge his fellow farrow,

Against the giant rush'd in fierce career, And reach'd the passage with so swift a foot, Morgante was not now. in time to shoot.

LXIV.

Perceiving that the pig was on him close,
He gave him such a punch upon the head
As floor'd him so that he no more arose,

Smashing the very bone; and he fell dead
Next to the other. Having seen such blows,
The other pigs along the valley fled;
Morgante on his neck the bucket took

Full from the spring, which neither swerved nor shook.

LXV.

The ton was on one shoulder, and there were
On to the abbey, though by no means near,
The hogs on t'other, and he brush'd apace

Nor spilt one drop of water in his race.
Orlando, seeing him so soon appear

With the dead boars, and with that brimful vase, Marvell'd to see his strength so very great; So did the abbot, and set wide the gate.

LXVI.

The monks, who saw the water fresh and good, Rejoiced, but much more to perceive the pork ;All animals are glad at sight of food:

They lay their breviaries to sleep, and work With greedy pleasure, and in such a mood,

That the flesh needs no salt beneath their fork. Of rankness and of rot there is no fear, For all the fasts are now left in arrear.

LXVII.

As though they wish'd to burst at once, they ate;
And gorged so that, as if the bones had been
In water, sorely grieved the dog and cat,
Perceiving that they all were pick'd too clean.
The abbot, who to all did honor great,
A few days after this convivial scene,
Gave to Morgante a fine horse, well train'd,
Which he long time had for himself maintain'd

LXVIII.

The horse Morgante to a meadow led,

To gallop, and to put him to the proof, Thinking that he a back of iron had,

Or to skim eggs unbroke was light enough; But the horse, sinking with the pain, fell dead, And burst, while cold on earth lay head and hoof, Morgante said, "Get up, thou sulky cur!" And still continued pricking with the spur.

• "Gil dette în su la testa un gran punzone." It is strange that Puld should have literally anticipated the technical terms of my old friend and mas ter, Jackson, and the art which he has carried to its highest pitch. "A punch on the head," or "a punch in the head,"-" un punzone in sa la testa," the exact and frequent phrase of our best pugilists, who little dream that theợ are talking the purest Tuscan.