XLII A hermit in the poop the bark did guide With snowy beard descending to mid breast; Who when from far the Paladin be spied, Him to ascend his ready pinnace prest. "My son, unless thou loathest life, (he cried) And wouldst that Death to-day thy course arrest, Content thee in my bark to cross the water; For yonder path conducts thee straight to slaughter. XLIII "Within six miles, no further, shalt thou light (Pursued the hermit) on the bloody seat, Where dwells a giant, horrible to sight, Exceeding every stature by eight feet. From him wayfaring man or errant knight Would vainly hope with life to make retreat; For some the felon quarters, some he flays, And some he swallows quick, and some he slays. XLIV "He, 'mid the cruel horrors he intends, Takes pleasure in a net, by cunning hands Contrived, which near his mansion he extends; So well concealed beneath the crumbling sands, That whoso uninstructed thither wends, Nought of the subtle mischief understands; And so the giant scares him with his cries, That he within the toils in terror flies; XLV "Whom with loud laughter, to his seat hard by He drags along, enveloped in his snare; And knight and damsel views with equal eye, And for his prisoners' worth has little care. Then, having sucked their brains and life-blood dry, Casts forth their bones upon the desert lair; And round about his griesly palace pins, For horrid ornament, their bloody skins. XLVI "Take this, -- my son, oh! take this other way, Which thee will to the sea in safety guide." "I thank thee, holy father, for thy say, (To him the fearless cavalier replied) But cannot peril against honour weigh, Far dearer than my life. To the other side Me vainly dost thou move to pass the wave; Rather for this I seek the giant's cave. XLVII "I with dishonour life to flight may owe; But worse than death loath thus to save my head. The worst that can befall me if I go, Is I my blood shall with the others shed: But if on me such mercy God bestow, That I remain alive, the giant dead, Secure for thousands shall I make the ways; So that the greater good the risque o'erpays. XLVIII "I peril but the single life of one Against safety of the countless rest." -- "Go then in peace," (the other said). "my son, And to thy succour, form 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 battlements was not, whence strung Might not be seen some wretched prisoner hung.