+T+orrent toke the wey a-geyn~ In to the forest of Mawdleyn~, 505 In the wyld-some way; Berys and apes there founde he, And wylde bestys great plente, And lyons where they lay. In a wod that wase tyght, 510 Yt Drew nere-hand nyght By dymmynge of the Day, Harkyn, lord{es}, {to} them came wo, He and hys squyer~ p{ar}tyd in two, Carfuƚƚ men then were they. 515 [Linenotes: 502. _noble_] so F. II; _nothere_ MS. 507-509: so F. II: _Berrys he sawe stondyng And wyld bestes ther goyng, Gret lyonys ther he fond._ MS. 510: _tyght_] so F. II; _thyke_ MS. 512: _By d._] so F. II; _And ine the Dawnyng_ MS. 513: _to--wo_] so F. II; _to_] of F. II. _what I schalle sey_ MS. 514: _in two_] so F. II; _they_ MS. 515: _men--they_] so F. II; _they were that Day_ MS.] (46) [Sidenote: and comes on a Dragon.] At the schedyng of a Rome Eche p{ar}tyd other frome, For sothe, ase I vndyrstond. Torrent toke a dulful wey Downe in~ a depe valey 520 Be-syd a weƚƚ strong. A lytyƚƚ be fore mydnyght Of a dragon he had syght, That grysly wase to {fond}; He had hym nowght to were, 525 But hys schyld and hys spere, f. 85a. That wase in~ hys squyer{es} hond. [Linenote: 524. _fond_] _syght_ MS.] [Headnote: A DRAGON ATTACKS TORRENT.] (47) [Sidenote: Torrent prays to Christ to be his help.] Torrent knelyd on hys kne, To I{es}u Cryst p{ra}yd he: ‘Lord, mykyƚƚ of myght, 530 Syne I wase in~ meche care, Let me nevuyr~ owt of {t}hys world far~, Tyƚƚ I haue take o{rd}er of knyght. Ase I ame falsely hether~ sent, Wyld-som weyes haue I went, 535 W{i}t{h} fynd{es} for to fyght. Now, I{es}u, for thy holy name, Ase I ame but man~ a-lone, Than~ be my helpe to nyght!’ [Linenotes: 532. _thys_] _hys_ (!) MS. 533. _haue_] _or_ add. (!) MS. _order_] _othere_ (!) MS.] (48) [Sidenote: The Dragon’s tail is 7 yards long,] Ase Torrent I{es}u gan~ p{ra}y, 540 He herd the dragon~, ther he lay Vndyr-nethe a clo{w}; Of an{d} on he wase stronge, Hys tayle wase VII yerd{es} long, That aftyr hyme he dr{o}we; 545 Hys wyngg{es} wase long and wyght, To the chyld he toke a flyght W{i}t{h} an howge sw{ow}e; Had he nether~ schyld ne spere, But p{ra}yd to god, he schold hyme were, 550 For he wase in dred i-nowe. [Linenotes: 542. _clow_] _colod_ or _colvd_, _l_ corrected from _d_, MS. 543. _and_] _an_ MS. 545. _drewe_ MS. 548. _swowe_] _swayne_ (!) MS. 551. _inowthe_ MS.] (49) [Sidenote: and has a fiery head on it. Torrent cuts 4 ells off the Dragon’s tail;]