The Children's Hour, v 5. Stories From Seven Old FavoritesTappan, Eva March
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The Children's Hour, v 5. Stories From Seven Old Favorites
Tappan, Eva March
Children's stories; Literature -- Adaptations
Then mounting to the top of a hillock, whence they might have seen
both the flocks, had not the dust obstructed their sight, "Look
yonder, Sancho!" cried Don Quixote; "that knight whom thou seest in
the gilded arms, bearing in his shield a crowned lion couchant at the
feet of a lady, is the valiant Laurcalco, lord of the silver bridge.
He in the armor powdered with flowers of gold, bearing three crows
argent in a field azure, is the formidable Micocolembo, the great duke
of Quiracia. That other, of a gigantic size, that marches on his
right, is the undaunted Brandabarbaran of Boliche, sovereign of the
three Arabias; he is arrayed in a serpent's skin, and carries instead
of a shield a huge gate, which they say belonged to the temple which
Samson pulled down at his death, when he revenged himself upon his
enemies. But cast thy eyes on this side, Sancho, and at the head of
the other army see the victorious Timonel of Carcaiona, prince of New
Biscay, whose armor is quartered azure, vert, or, and argent, and who
bears in his shield a cat or, in a field gules, with these four
letters, MIAU, for a motto, being the beginning of his mistress's
name, the beautiful Miaulina, daughter to Alfeñiquen, duke of Algarva.
That other monstrous load upon the back of yonder wild horse, with
arms as white as snow, and a shield without any device, is a
Frenchman, now created knight, called Pierre Papin, baron of Utrique;
he whom you see pricking that pied courser's flanks with his armed
heels is the mighty duke of Nervia, Espartafilardo of the Wood,
bearing for device on his shield an asparagus plant with this motto in
Castilian, _Rastrea mi suerte_ (Divine my fate)." And thus he went on,
naming a great number of others in both armies, to every one of whom
his fertile imagination assigned arms, colors, impresses, and mottoes,
as readily as if they had really been that moment in being before his
eyes. And then proceeding without the least hesitation, "That vast
body," said he, "that is just opposite to us is composed of several
nations. There you see those who drink the pleasant stream of the
famous Xanthus; there the mountaineers that till the Massilian fields;
those that sift the pure gold of Arabia Felix: those that inhabit the
renowned and delightful banks of Thermodon. Yonder, those who so many
ways sluice and drain the golden Pactolus for its precious sand; the
Numidians, unsteady and careless of their promises; the Persians,
excellent archers; the Medes and Parthians, who fight flying; the
Arabs, who have no fixed habitations; the Scythians, cruel and savage,
though fair-complexioned; the sooty Ethiopians, that bore their lips;
and a thousand other nations whose countenances I know, though I have
forgotten their names. On the other side come those whose country is
watered with the crystal streams of Betis, shaded with olive trees;
those who bathe their limbs in the rich flood of the golden Tagus;
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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