XC.
“With coiners him you oftentimes may see
“Harbour in some obscure and close repair.
“So oft he changes home and company,
“To light on him would be a fortune rare:
“Yet have I hope to point him out to thee:
“If to Sleep’s house thou wilt at midnight fare,
“Him wilt thou surely find; for to repose
“At night he ever to that harbour goes.”
XCI.
Though Fraud was alway wont to deal in lies,
So like the simple truth appears her say,
The angel yields the tale belief; and flies
Forth from the monastery without delay,
Tempers his speed, and schemes withal in wise
To finish at the appointed time his way,
That at the house of Sleep (the mansion blind
Full well he knew) this Silence he may find.
XCII.
In blest Arabia lies a pleasant vale[14],
Removed from village and from city’s reach.
By two fair hills o’ershadowed is the dale,
And full of ancient fir and sturdy beech.
Thither the circling sun without avail
Conveys the cheerful daylight: for no breach
The ray scan make through boughs spread thickly round;
And it is here a cave runs under ground.
