Green meadows and rich fields were
here watered by clear streams; and lovely groves of palm and myrtle,
cedar and banyan, spread their thick shade over the gentle slopes of
hill, and offered a refuge from the heat of the mid-day sun. Birds of
paradise flashed like jewels in the blazing light, and modest brown
nightingales sang their sweet refrain to the conceited parrots, who sat
admiring themselves among the branches; while under the trees hares and
rabbits frisked merrily about, and stately stags led their graceful does
to drink at the river banks. Upon this fertile tract, which stretched
down to the very brink of the sea, the Hippogrif descended; and his feet
no sooner touched the ground than Prince Roger leaped from his back, and
made fast his bridle to the stem of a spreading myrtle-bush. Then he
took off his helmet and cuirass, and went to bathe his face and hands in
the cool waters of the brook; for his pulses were throbbing from his
swift ride, and he wanted nothing so much as an hour or two of repose.
Such rapid flying through the air is very wearying.
Could he have retained his wonderful horse, there is no knowing what
splendid adventures might have befallen him, but at a critical moment,
the Hippogrif vanished, and Prince Roger had to fare as best he could on
foot. After a time he met Bradamante again, he left the Saracen religion
and became a Christian, and he and Bradamante were united in wedlock.
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