Francis I., who loved the chase, would often go into the forest, attended by his young lords, and hunt the boar and deer for days together. These youths took great pleasure in talking of their skill to the ladies of the court, or in challenging one another who could kill the finest stag.... The Queen of Navarre sometimes joined good-naturedly in these conversations; she would smilingly call these gay young lords ‘bad sportsmen,’ and exhort them ‘to go a-hunting after better game.’ Here is one of these conversations of Fontainebleau, which she herself relates: As a youth was riding one day to the wood, He asked of a lady so wise and good If the game he sought for could be found In the forest that spread so thickly round; For the young man’s heart with desire beat high To kill the deer. The dame, with a sigh, Replied: ‘It’s the season for hunters, ’tis true, But alas! no hunter true are you. ‘In the wood where none but believers go Is the game you seek, but do not know; It is in that bitter wood of the cross Which by the wicked is counted dross; But to huntsmen good its taste is sweet, And the pain it costs is the best of meat. If that your mind were firmly set Every honour but this to forget, No other game would be sought by you.... But ... you are not a hunter true.’ As he heard these words, the hunter blushed. And with anger his countenance flushed: ‘You speak at random, dame,’ he cried; ‘The stag will I have, and nought beside.’ MARGARET. ‘The stag you seek is close in view, But ... you are not a hunter true. ‘Sit you down by the fountain’s brim, And in patience wait for him; There, with soul and body at rest, Drink of that spring so pure and blest: All other means but this are nought. For eager in the toils of your heart to be caught, The stag will come running up to you; But ... you are not a hunter true.’ THE YOUNG HUNTER. ‘Dame, ’tis an idle tale you tell; Wealth and glory, I know full well, Are not to be won without toil and care. Of your water so pure not a drop will I share. MARGARET. Then the stag will never be caught by you, For ... you are not a hunter true.’ The young hunter understands at last what is wanted of him, and, after some further conversation with the lady, he exclaims: ‘With earnest faith my heart is filled; All my worldly thoughts I yield At the voice of my Saviour Christ Jesu!’ MARGARET. ‘Yes, now you are a hunter true!’[654] This narrative, and others of a like nature contained in the _Marguerites_, were in all probability facts before they became poems. The little ballads were circulated at court; everybody wished to read the queen’s ‘tracts,’ and many of the nobility of France, who afterwards embraced the cause of the Reform, owed their first religious sentiments to Margaret.