Page:Mistral - Mirèio. A Provençal poem.djvu/43

] "Well, then, Mirèio, once at Nismes," he said, "They had foot-races on the esplanade; And on a certain day a crowd was there Collected, thicker than a shock of hair. Some shoeless, coatlees, hatless, were to run: The others only came to see the fun.

"When all at once upon the scene appears One Lagalanto, prince of foot-racers. In all Provence, and even in Italy, The fleetest-footed far behind left he. Yes: Lagalanto, the great Marseillais,— Thou wilt have heard his name before to-day.

"A leg, a thigh, he had would not look small By John of Cossa's,$14$ the great seneschal; And in his dresser many a pewter plate, With all his victories carved thereon in state; And you 'd have said, to see his scarfs, my lady, A wainscot all festooned with rainbows had he.

"The other runners, of whate'er condition, Threw on their clothes at this dread apparition: The game was up when Lagalanto came. Only one stout-limbed lad, Lou Cri by name, Who into Nismes had driven cows that day, Durst challenge the victorious Marseillais.