LV.

Then to the abbey they went on together,
Where waited them the abbot in great doubt.
The monks, who knew not yet the fact, ran thither,
To their superior, all in breathless rout,
Saying with tremor, "Please to tell us whether
You wish to have this person in or out ?"
The abbot, looking through upon the giant,
Too greatly fear'd, at first, to be compliant.

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, "Though 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 you could 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,

The abbot show'd a chamber, where array'd

Much armour was, and hung up certain bows; And one of these Morgante for a whim Girt on, though useless, he believ'd, 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.

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 rejoicings 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 honour 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,

(1) "Gli dette in su la testa un gran punzone." It is strange that Pulci should have literally anticipated the technical terms of my old friend and master, Jackson, and the art which he has carried to its highest pitch. "A punch on the

He gave him such a punch upon the head,1 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 tub was on one shoulder, and there were
The hogs on t'other, and he brush'd apace
On to the abbey, though by no means near,
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

head," or "a punch in the head,"-" un punzone in su la testa,' is the exact and frequent phrase of our best pugilists, who little dream that they are talking the purest Tuscan.