TALE IV.
THE CUP-BEARER.
There was in the county of Gloucester a hunting forest plentiful in boars, harts, and all venison according to the manner of the English. In this woody forest was a hillock, rising into a top to the stature of a man, into which knights and other hunters were accustomed to ascend, when, fatigued with heat and thirst they sought some remedy of their urgency. But some one, alone, his companions, from the condition of the place and business, being left at a distance, ascended: and when alone, as if speaking to another, he said, I thirst; immediately, on the sudden, by his side, stood a cup-bearer, with a cheerful countenance, and a stretched-out hand, bearing a great horn, adorned with gold and precious stones, as the manner is among the most ancient English, instead of a cup, wherein was presented nectar of an unknown but most sweet taste: which being drunk,
