Then the Princess loved him, and wrung her hands and cried, "Brave
knight, seek not to die with me; enough that I should perish. There
is no man living that can stand against this dragon. Thou canst
neither aid nor deliver me. Thou canst but share my doom."
As she spoke the words, the waters of the lake divided, and the
monster rose from its depths and espied its prey. At that the
virgin trembled, and cried again, "Fly! fly! O knight! stay not to
see me perish!"
For all answer St George flung himself upon his steed, made the
holy sign of the cross, and, commending himself to Christ, lowered
his lance and rushed full on the open jaws of the hideous beast.
With such force he directed his aim that the dragon was instantly
overthrown, and lay, disabled and powerless, at the feet of the saint.
Then, with the words of a holy spell, St. George cast a great fear
upon the monster, so that it was shorn of all its fury, and durst
not lift its body from the dust. Thereupon the blessed knight
beckoned to the Princess to approach, and bade her loose her girdle,
and, without fear, bind it about the dragon's neck. And when this
was done, behold, the beast followed the maid, spellbound, and thus
they entered the city.
But the people, when they saw the dragon approaching, fled tumultuously
on every side, crying out that they would all surely perish. St.
George therefore struck off the monster's head with his sword, and
bade them take heart and fear nothing, because the Lord had given
him grace over all evil things to deliver the earth from plagues.
So, when the people saw that the dragon was slain, they thronged
about St. George, and kissed his hands and his robe; and the king
embraced him joyfully, praising his valour and prowess above the
fame of all mortal men. And when the saint had preached to them
the faith of Christ, the whole city was straightway baptised; and
the king thereafter built a noble church to the honour of our Lady
and of the brave St. George. And from the foot of the altar flowed
forth a marvellous stream, whose waters healed all manner of sickness;
so that for many a long year no man died in that city.
Such is the legend of the patron saint of England,--a legend
reproduced in Spenser's poem of the "Faery Queen," wherein St.
George appears as the Red Cross Knight, and the Princess as Una,
the mystical maid, who, after the overthrow of the dragon, becomes
the bride of her champion.
Need I recall to any student of classic story the resemblance between
this sacred romance and that of the Greek hero Perseus, who rescued
the fair Andromeda from the fangs of the sea-monster which would
have devoured her? Or whose divine favour it was that directed
and shielded the Argive champion; whose winged sandals bore him
unharmed across sea and land; whose magic sword and helm armed
and defended him?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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