he relates what happened with the horse that cratilius valued so highly, and which was so far famed.
"the size, beauty, and spirit of the horse i have before described, made cratilius value him very highly, and as desirous of having him tamed as i was to seize the opportunity of doing him a service; i thought that this was a fair means sent by providence, through which i might make myself useful and agreeable in the eyes of him who was now my master, and in some degree show that i deserved the praise bestowed on me by sulpicia; and so, with more haste than prudence i went up to the horse, and leapt upon his back, without placing my foot in the stirrup, for there was none to use. he started off with me without any power in the rein to direct or restrain him, and made his way towards a rock that overhung the sea; urging him on with my feet much against his wish, i made him leap off the rock into the sea below.[k]
"in the midst of our flight, it occurred to me that the sea was frozen, and therefore we should in all probability be dashed to pieces with the shock, so i considered my death and his as certain; but it was not so;—providence, that for its own good reasons watches over and preserves me, was my guard. the limbs of the powerful animal withstood the fall without any other damage than shaking me off, and rolling along the slippery surface for a considerable space. there was not a single person among the spectators on the shore who did not fully believe and think that i must be killed; but when they saw me rise up, although they thought the event a miracle, yet they considered my daring act to have been downright madness."
very hard it was to old maurice, to lend his belief to this tremendous leap of periander's, so much did it go beyond all the bounds of probability; at least, he thought, there should have been three or four legs broken, that the courtesy of the hearers might not have been so severely tried in listening to so very outrageous a performance. however, so great was the credit which periander had with them all, that they did not even express a doubt, for as it is one of the inconveniences of lying, that even when a liar speaks truth he is not believed, so it is the glory of the truth-teller to be credited, even when he exaggerates a little; and as maurice's private thoughts did not interfere with the discourse, periander went on, saying, "i returned to shore with the horse—i even mounted him again—and tried to incite him a second time to renew the feat he had just performed, but it was impossible, for, fixing himself firmly on his haunches on the point of the rock, he broke the reins, remaining as if nailed to the ground. he was covered with a profuse sweat from head to foot, and so thoroughly frightened, that he was changed from a lion into a lamb, and from a savage beast into a noble horse, so that when the grooms came to handle him, they found that they could caparison and mount him, and ride him with the most entire security, and he showed such activity and such perfect paces, that the king was quite enchanted, and sulpicia was pleased to see my actions support her words.
"the frost lasted three months, and during this time a vessel was finished building which the king had begun, and which was intended to navigate these seas, and clear them of the pirates, enriching himself with the spoil.
"in the meantime i was of service to him in various hunting parties, when i proved myself experienced and sagacious, and hardy in bearing fatigue and hardships, for the chase is something like war, and to it belong fatigue, hunger, and thirst, sometimes even death. the liberality of the princess sulpicia was unbounded to me and my companions, and the kindness and courtesy of the king equalled it. the twelve fishermen who had gone with sulpicia were already rich; those who had been with me were become so. the ship was finished, and by the king's orders it was amply supplied with everything necessary, and i was appointed to command it, with free liberty to do exactly what i pleased; so after having kissed his hands for this very great benefit, i told him that i wished to obtain his leave to go and seek for my sister auristella, who, as i had heard, was in the power of the king of denmark. cratilius gave me permission to do all i wished, saying that i had obliged him for ever by my good conduct; thus speaking like a king whose gracious acts are always enhanced by affability, and in sulpicia also i found the same: her gentle breeding was accompanied by the most lavish generosity, so that i and all my people, enriched and well content, embarked without leaving a single one behind. our first course was straight to denmark, where i hoped to find my sister, but all i found there, was the intelligence that she and some other women had been stolen away from the sea-shore by some pirates. thus my wanderings were to begin anew, and my grief and lamentations renewed, in which i was joined by carino and solercio, who imagined that their young wives shared the fate and captivity of auristella."
"their suspicions," said arnoldo, interrupting him, "were well founded."
"we swept all these seas," continued periander, "circumnavigated nearly every island round about, everywhere inquiring for tidings of my sister. it seemed to me, and doubtless may be thought of every great beauty, that charms such as hers could not remain long concealed, and that the light of her loveliness must shine out, let the place where she was confined be ever so dark; and her exceeding great prudence, i trusted, would be the clue whereby to extricate her from any labyrinth.
"we took pirates, released prisoners, restored property fourfold to the right owners, and also enriched our own ship with all sorts of wealth. at length my companions felt a wish to return home to their nets and families; carino and solercio fancied that it was possible they might find their wives there, since they were to be discovered nowhere else. before this, however, we had come to the island, the name of which is, i believe, scinta, where we heard of the festival and games given by king polycarp, and we felt a desire to join in them, but our ship could not get near, owing to the contrary wind; so dressing ourselves as rowers, we manned the boat, and went off to the appointed place. there i won the prizes; there i was crowned as victor in all the contests, and thence sprang sinforosa's curiosity to know who i was, as you have seen by the eagerness with which she sought to discover my history. we returned to our ship, and my companions were resolved to leave me; i asked them to let me keep the boat as a reward for all the perils we had encountered together. they would have given me the ship too if i had wished it, and said, 'they would not have left me, but that it seemed my own desire to be alone;' in fine, accompanied by six of my fishermen, who would not quit me, perhaps in consequence of the recompense i offered them, i embarked in the boat they had given me—embraced and bade adieu to my friends—and steered towards the barbarous isle, for i had heard the account of the customs of its inhabitants, and of the false and foolish prophecy by which they were deluded, which i need not repeat, as you already know it. we crossed the island, were taken prisoners and thrown into the dungeon, where their captives were buried alive. i was one day dragged from it, in order to be sacrificed; then followed the tempest, which dispersed the rafts they used as boats, and drove me out into the open sea on a portion of one of them, tied hand and foot, and fast-bound to it. then i fell into the compassionate hands of prince arnoldo; and afterwards, by his order, i went ashore again to the island, disguised, that i might discover if auristella was there, he being then ignorant that she was my sister; and there i found her, just about to be sacrificed, the barbarians supposing her to be a man: i knew her, and prevented her death, by declaring her to be a female, as clelia told you. as to the history of how they got there, that she herself must relate when it pleases her. all that afterwards befell us in the island is well-known to you; and now with this and what my sister has still to tell, you will rest satisfied with having heard all that you desired to know of our adventures."
