VI Because as foe to her and hers she knew The knight they were encountering, who had slain Her only brother and her father true; And was advised, the traitor would be fain By her, the remnant of her race, to do What he had perpetrated on the twain.

"Woman, while guarded by my arm (he said) I will not thou shouldst any danger dread."

VII As nearer now, the stranger knight espied That face, which was so hateful in his sight, With menacing and savage voice he cried, "Either with me prepare thyself to fight, Or arm thee not on that old woman's side, Who by my hand shall perish, as is right.

If thou contendest for her, thou art slain; For such their portion is who wrong maintain."

VIII Him young Zerbino answered courteously, Twas sign of evil and ungenerous will, And corresponded not with chivalry, That he a woman should desire to kill; Yet if the knight persists, he will not flee -- But bids him well consider first how ill 'Twould sound, that he, a gentle knight and good, Should wish to dip his hand in woman's blood.

IX This and yet more he vainly says; nor stand They idle long; from word they pa.s.s to deed; And having compa.s.sed on the level land Enough of ground, encounter on the mead.

Not fired in some rejoicing, from the hand Discharged, so fast the whistling rockets speed, As the two coursers bear the cavaliers To hurtle in mid s.p.a.ce with rested spears.

X Hermonides of Holland levelled low, And for the youth's left flank the stroke intended; But his weak lance was shivered by the blow, And little the opposing Scot offended: But vain was not the spear-thrust of his foe, Who bored his opposite's good shield, and rended His shoulder, by the lance pierced through and through, And good Hermonides on earth o'erthrew.

XI Thinking him slain who only lay amazed, By pity prest, Zerbino leapt to ground, And from his deathlike face the vizor raised; And he, as wakened out of sleep profound, In silence, hard upon Zerbino gazed; Then cried, "It does not me, in truth, confound, To think that I am overthrown by thee, Who seem'st the flower of errant chivalry.

XII "But it with reason grieves me this is done Upon account of a false woman's spite; Whose wicked cause I know not why you own, An office ill according with your might: And when to you the occasion shall be known Which urges me her wickedness to quite, Whene'er you think on it, you will repent How she by you was saved, and I was shent.

XIII "And if enough of breath, although I fear The contrary, is left me to expound Her evil actions, I shall make appear She in all guilt transgresses every bound.

I had a brother once: the youthful peer Set out from Holland's isle, our natal ground, To serve Heraclius, 'mid his knights arrayed, Who then the Grecian empire's sceptre swayed.

XIV "Brother in arms and bosom-friend installed Here was he by a baron of that court, Who, in a pleasant site, and strongly walled, On Servia's distant frontier had a fort.

Argaeus he of whom I tell was called, Husband of that ill hag, whom in such sort He loved, as pa.s.sed all mean, and misbecame One of his worth and honourable fame.

XV "But she, more volatile than leaf, when breeze Of autumn most its natural moisture dries, And strips the fluttering foliage from the trees, Which, blown about, before its fury flies, Changes her humour, and her husband sees, Whom she some time had loved, with other eyes, And in her every wish and every thought Schemes how my brother's love may best be bought.

XVI "But not Acroceraunus fronts the brine, -- Ill-famed -- against whose base the billow heaves, Nor against Boreas stands the mountain pine, That has a hundred times renewed its leaves, And towering high on Alp or Apennine, With its fast root the rock as deeply cleaves, So firmly as the youth resists the will Of that foul woman, sink of every ill.

XVII "Now, as it oft befalls a cavalier Who seeks and finds adventure, high and low, It happened that my gentle brother near His comrade's fort was wounded by a foe; Where often, uninvited by the peer, He guested, was his host with him or no; And thither he resorted from the field, There to repose until his wounds were healed.

XVIII "While there he wounded lay, upon some need It chanced Argaeus was compelled to ride.

Quickly that wanton, from his presence freed, As was her use, my brother's fealty tried.

But he, as one unstained in thought and deed, So fell a goad no longer would abide; And to preserve his faith, as lures increased, Of many evils chose what seemed the least.

XIX "To break communion with the cavalier, To him -- of many -- seemed the lightest ill, And go so far, that wanton should not hear More of his name: this purpose to fulfil Was honester (though quitting one so dear Was hard) than to content her evil will, Of her foul wishes to her lord impart, Who cherished her as fondly as his heart.

XX "And though yet smarting with his wounds and pined, He dons his arms, and from the tower departs; And wanders thence with firm and constant mind, Ne'er to return again into those parts.

But nought availed the purpose he designed; His projects Fortune baffled with new arts.

This while, behold! the castellain returned, And bathed in bitter tears the wife discerned.

XXI "And with flushed face, and hair in disarray, He asks of her what had disturbed her mood; Who, ere she in reply a word will say, Is vainly more than once to answer wooed; And all the while is thinking in what way The knight can best with vengeance be pursued.

And well it suited with her fickle vein, Lightly to change her love into disdain.

XXII " 'Ah! why should I conceal (in fine she cried) The fault committed while you were away?

For though I it from all the world should hide, This would my conscience to myself bewray.

The soul, which is with secret evil dyed, Does with such penitence its fault appay, As every corporal sufferance exceeds That thou couldst deal me for my evil deeds;

XXIII " 'If evil be the deed, when done parforce.

But, be it what it may, the mischief know; Then, with my sword from this polluted corse, Delivered, let my spotless spirit go; And quench these wretched eyes, which in remorse, I, if I lived, on earth must ever throw, As the least penance of so foul a blame, And, look on whom they may, must blush for shame.

XXIV " 'My honour has been ruined by thy mate, Who to this body violence has done, And fearing lest I all to thee relate, Without farewell the graceless churl is gone.'

She by this story made her husband hate The youth, than whom before was dearer none.

Argaeus credits all, without delay Arms him, and, breathing vengeance, posts away.

XXV "In knowledge of that country not to seek, He overtook the knight in little s.p.a.ce; For my poor brother, yet diseased and weak, Rode, unsuspicious, at an easy pace; Argaeus, eager his revenge to wreak, a.s.sailed him straight in a sequestered place.

My brother would excuse him if he might, But his indignant host insists on fight.

XXVI "This one was sound and full of new disdain, That weak and friendly, as aye wont to be: My brother was ill fitted to sustain His altered comrade's new-born enmity.

Philander, then unmeriting such pain, (So was the stripling named, described by me) Not gifted with the power to undergo Such fierce a.s.sault, was taken by the foe.

XXVII " 'Forbid it, Heaven! I should be led astray So by just wrath and thy iniquity, (To him Argaeus cried) as thee to slay, Who loved thee once, and certes thou lovedst me, Though in the end thou ill didst this display, I yet desire this ample world may see That, measured by my deeds, I rank above Thyself in hate as highly as in love.

XXVIII " 'In other mode shall I chastise the deed, Than spilling more of thine ill blood.' The peer, This said, commands his followers, on a steed, Of verdant boughs composed to place a bier, And with the knight half-lifeless homeward speed, And in a tower enclose the cavalier; There dooms the guiltless stripling to remain, And suffer prisonment's perpetual pain.

XXIX "Yet nothing but his former liberty Thence to depart was wanting to the knight; In all the rest, as one at large and free, He ordered, and was still obeyed aright.

But that ill dame her former phantasy Pursuing ever with unwearied sprite, Having the keys, repaired nigh every day To the close turret where the prisoner lay.

x.x.x "And evermore my brother she a.s.sailed, And with more boldness prest her former suit.

'Mark what to thee fidelity availed!'

(She cries) 'which all mere perfidy repute.

With what triumphant joy shalt thou be hailed!

What n.o.ble spoils are thine, what happy fruit!

Oh what a worthy guerdon is thy meed!

Branded by all men for a traitor's deed!

x.x.xI " 'How well thou mightst have given, and without stain Of thine own honour, what I sought of thee!

Now of so rigorous mood the worthy gain Have and enjoy. In close captivity Thou art; nor ever hope to break thy chain, Unless thou soften thy obduracy.

But, if compliant, I a mean can frame To render thee thy liberty and fame.'

x.x.xII " 'No, no; have thou no hope,' (replied the knight,) 'That my true faith shall ever change, although It thus should happen that, against all right, I should so hard a sentence undergo.

Let the world blame. Enough that in HIS sight -- Who sees and judges every thing below, And in HIS grace divine my fame can clear -- My innocence unsullied shall appear.

x.x.xIII " 'Does not Argaeus deem enough to sty Me in his prison, let him take away This noisome life. Nor yet may Heaven deny Its meed, though ill the world my work appay.

And yet he who condemns me may, when I Am parted from this tenement of clay, Perceive that he has wronged me in the end, And shall bewail when dead his faithful friend.'

x.x.xIV "Thus oftentimes that shameless woman prest The good Philander, but obtained no fruit.

Nursing her blind desires, which knew not rest In seeking what her wicked love may boot, She her old vices, in her inmost breast, Ransacks for what may best the occasion suit, And sifts them all: then, having overrun A thousand evil thoughts, resolved on one.

x.x.xV "Six months she waited ere again she sought The prisoner's tower, as she was wont before: From which the sad Philander hoped and thought That love to him the dame no longer bore.

Lo! Fortune for her an occasion wrought, (To evil deed propitious evermore) To give effect, with memorable ill, To her irrational and evil will.

x.x.xVI "The husband had an ancient feud with one Who was by name Morando hight the fair; Who even within the fort would often run In its lord's absence; but the knight's repair At the wide distance of ten miles would shun, Was he a.s.sured the castellain was there: Who now, to lure him thither, bruited how He for Jerusalem was bound by vow.

x.x.xVII "Said he would go; and went. Thus each who spies His outset, of his journey spreads the fame: Nor he, who only on his wife relies, Trusts any with his purpose but the dame, And home returned when dusky waxed the skies; Nor ever, save at evening, thither came; And with changed ensigns, at the dawn of day, Unseen of any, always went his way.

x.x.xVIII "He now on this side, now on the other side, Roved round his castle but to ascertain If credulous Morando, who to ride Thither was wonted, would return again.

All day he in the forest used to hide, And, when he saw the sun beneath the main, Came to the tower, and, through a secret gate, Was there admitted by his faithless mate.

x.x.xIX "Thus every one, except his consort ill, Argaeus many miles away suppose: She, when 'tis time her errand to fulfil, Hatching new mischief, to my brother goes.

Of tears she has a ready shower at will, Which from her eyes into her bosom flows, ' -- Where shall I succour find, now needed most, So that my honour be not wholly lost,