Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 2.djvu/290

238 at last he turned, and lifting up his hand in the posture of a suppliant: Godlike Pindar, said he, spare my life, and possess my horse with these arms, beside the ransom, which my friends will give, when they hear I am alive, and your prisoner. Dog, said Pindar, let your ransom stay with your friends; but your carcase shall be left for the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the field. With that, he raised his sword, and with a mighty stroke cleft the wretched modern in twain, the sword pursuing the blow; and one half, lay panting on the ground to be trod in pieces by the horses feet; the other half, was born by the frighted steed through the field. This Venus took, washed it seven times in ambrosia, then struck it thrice with a sprig of amaranth; upon which, the leather grew round and soft, and the leaves turned into feathers, and being gilded before, continued gilded still; so it became a dove, and she harnessed it to her chariot.*
 * Hiatus valde de-
 * flendus in MS.

Day being far spent, and the numerous forces of the moderns half inclining to a retreat, there issued forth