XLVIII.
“I peril but the single life of one
“Against the safety of the countless rest.”
—“Go then in peace,” (the other said) “my son,
“And to thy succour, from among the blest,
“May God dispatch the Archangel Michael down.”
—And him, with that, the simple hermit blest.
Astolpho pricks along Nile’s rosy strand,
More in his horn confiding than his brand.
XLIX.
Between the mighty river and the fen,
A path upon the sandy shore doth lie,
Barred by the giant’s solitary den,
Cut off from converse with humanity.
About it heads and naked limbs of men
Were fixed, the victims of his cruelty.
Window or battlement was not, whence strung,
Might not be seen some wretched prisoner hung.
L.
As in hill-farm or castle, fenced with moat,
The hunter, mindful what his dangers were,
Aye fastens on his door the shaggy coat
And horrid paws and monstrous head of bear[16];
So showed the giant those of greatest note,
Who, thither brought, had perished in his snare.
The bones of countless others wide were spread,
And every ditch with human blood was red.
