Page:Tales from Chaucer.djvu/137

 they long lashed and strove for victory. Palamon fared in the fight like a raging lion, and Arcite a hungry tiger. They rushed together with the obstinate fury of wild boars, panting and foaming, while the blood flowed to their feet. And so I leave them fighting while I bring you the news of Theseus.

This famous King had so great a love for hunting, that scarcely the day dawned which did not find him ready with hounds and horn to follow the stag of largest limb: it was his chief delight. Having fulfilled his duty to the god of battle, he joined the train of Diana.

On this same day, then, Theseus, with his Queen Ippolita, and the fair Emily, all clad in green, had ridden forth to the chace, and towards this very grove where he had heard of some game. He therefore made for an open plain through which the deer was wont to take flight, and over a brook, and so right on his way. When the King had arrived at this open space, he looked under the level beams of the morning sun, and beheld the combatants, like two bulls fighting furiously. Their bright swords glanced to and fro like lightning, and