LX.
And, swimming, how, amid the watery roar,
A knight a weighty anchor in his throat
Had fix’d, and so had dragged him to the shore,
As men against the current track a boat.
This while Oberto comes; who, if his lore,
Who told the tale, were true, desires to note;
While his invading army, far and wide,
Ebuda burn and waste on every side.
LXI.
Oberto, though the Paladin to sight
Was dripping, and with water foul and gore;
With gore, that from the ore, emerged to light,
Whom he had entered bodily, he bore,
He for the county knew the stranger knight
As he perused his face; so much the more,
That he had thought when told the tidings, none
Save Roland could such mighty feat have done;
LXII.
Knew him, because a page of honour he
Had been in France[13], and for the crown, his right
Upon his father’s death, had crossed the sea
The year before. So often he the knight
Had seen, and had with him held colloquy,
Their times of meeting had been infinite.
He doffed his casque, with festive welcome pressed
Towards the count, and clasped him to the breast.
