Page:The Book of the Courtier.djvu/310

 THE THIRD BOOK OF THE COURTIER Prince's person, for it is well befitting the Courtier to know them and to show grace in practising them; or indeed to tell of the method to be pursued in bodily exercises, such as riding, han- dling weapons and wrestling, and to tell wherein consists the difficulty of these accomplishments." Then my lady Duchess said, laughing: "Princes do not employ the personal service of so admirable a Courtier as this : and as for bodily exercises and physical strength and agility, we will leave to our friend messer Pietro Monte the duty of teaching them, when he shall deem the season more convenient; for now the Magnifico must speak of nothing but this Lady, of whom, methinks, you are already beginning to be afraid, and so would make us wander from our subject." Frisio replied: " Surely it is irrelevant and little to the purpose to speak of women now, especially when more remains to be said about the Courtier, for we ought not to mix one thing with another." "You are much in errour," replied messer Cesare Gonzaga; • " for just as no court, however great it be, can have in it adorn- ment or splendour or gaiety, without ladies, nor can any Cour- tier be graceful or pleasing or brave, or perform any gallant feat of chivalry, unless moved by the society and by the love and pleasure of ladies: so, too, discussion about the Courtier is always very imperfect, unless by taking part therein the ladies add their touch of that grace wherewith they perfect Courtiership and adorn it." My lord Ottaviano laughed, and said: "There you have a taste of that bait which makes men fools." 4-— Then my lord Magnifico, turning to my lady Duchess, said: " Since so it pleases you, my Lady, I will say what occurs to me, but with very great fear of not satisfying. And in sooth it would be a far lighter task to describe a lady worthy to be queen of the world, than a perfect Court Lady : because of the latter I know not where to take my model; while for the queen I should not need to go far, and it would be enough for me to think of the divine accomplishments of a lady whom I know,''' and, lost in contemplation, to bend all my thoughts to express clearly in words that which many see with their eyes; and if I 174