Meanwhile th' incomparable Colon,825
To aid his friend, began to fall on;
Him Ralph encounter'd, and straight grew
A dismal combat 'twixt them two:
Th' one arm'd with metal, th' other wood;
This fit for bruise, and that for blood.830
With many a stiff thwack, many a bang,
Hard crab-tree and old iron rang;
While none that saw them could divine
To which side conquest would incline:
Until Magnano, who did envy835
That two should with so many men vie,
By subtle stratagem of brain
Perform'd what force could ne'er attain;
For he, by foul hap, having found
Where thistles grew on barren ground,840
In haste he drew his weapon out,
And having cropp'd them from the root,
He clapp'd them under th' horse's tail,[1]
With prickles sharper than a nail.
The angry beast did straight resent845
The wrong done to his fundament,
Began to kick, and fling, and wince,
As if h' had been beside his sense,
Striving to disengage from thistle,
That gall'd him sorely under his tail;850
Instead of which he threw the pack
Of Squire and baggage from his back,
And blund'ring still with smarting rump,
He gave the Knight's steed such a thump
As made him reel. The Knight did stoop,855
And sat on further side aslope.
This Talgol viewing, who had now,
By flight, escap'd the fatal blow,
He rally'd, and again fell to 't;
For catching foe by nearer foot,860
He lifted with such might and strength,
As would have hurl'd him thrice his length,
- ↑ The same trick was played upon Don Quixote's Rosinante and Sancho's dapple.
