Not to be subject to his yoke again,
She to some strong protector will have flown;
Who to his ignominy will maintain,
And utter scorn, the lady as his own:
And haply may she to some losel flee,
Who will her paramour and pander be.
“For remedy; he sends in haste a band
Of messengers, with letters far and nigh.
Some of Argìa here, some there demand;
Nor town unsearched is left in Lombardy.
Next he in person goes; nor any land
Leaves unexamined by himself or spy.
Yet cannot he discover means or way
For learning where concealed his consort lay.
“The servant last he called on whom was laid
The ill hest, but who had served not his despite;
And thither by his guidance was conveyed,
Where (as ’twas said) she vanished from his sight;
Who haply lurked by day in greenwood-shade,
And to some friendly roof retired at night.
He thither guided, where but forest-trees
He thinks to find, a sumptuous palace sees.
“This while for bright Argìa in that part
The fay had made with speedy toil prepare
An alabaster palace by her art,
Gilded within, without, and everywhere.
So wonderful, no tongue could tell, no heart
Conceive, how rich within, without how fair:
That, which thou deemed so fair, my master’s home,
Is but a cottage to that costly dome.
“Curtain and cloth of arras deck the wall,
Sumptuously woven and in different wise,
In vaulted cellar and in littered stall;
Not only spread in latticed galleries,
Not only spread in lordly bower and hall.
Vase, gold and silver, gems of many dyes,
Carved into cup and charger, blue, red, green,
And countless cloths of silk and gold are seen.
“He chanced upon the costly dome (as I
To you was in my story making known)
When he expected not a hut to spy,
And but a weary waste of woodland lone.
As he beheld the dome with wondering eye,
Anselmo thought his intellects were gone:
That he was drunk, or dreamed that wondrous sight
He weened, of that his wits had taken flight.
“An Aethiop woman posted at the door,
With blubber lip and nostril, he descries.
Nor will he see again, nor e’er before
Had seen a visage of such loathsome guise:
Ill-favoured—such was Aesop feigned of yore:
If there, she would have saddened Paradise.
Greasy and foul and beggarly her vest;
Nor half her hideousness have I exprest.
“Anselm, who saw no other wight beside
To tell who was that mansion’s lord, drew nigh
To the Aethiopian, and to her applied;
And she: ‘The owner of this house am I.’
The judge was well assured the negress lied,
And made that answer but in mockery:
But with repeated oaths the negress swears;
‘ ’Tis hers, and none with her the mansions shares;
“ ‘And would he see the palace, him invites
To view it at his ease; and recommends
If there be ought within which him delights,
To take it for himself or for his friends.’
Anselmo hears, and from his horse alights,
Gives it his man; and o’er the threshold wends;
And by the hag conducted, mounts from hall
Below to bower above, admiring all.
“Form, site, and sumptuous work doth he behold,
And royal ornament and fair device;
And oft repeats, not all this wide world’s gold
To buy the egregious mansion wound suffice.
To him in answer said that negress old;
‘And yet this dome, like others, hath its price;
If not in gold and silver, price less high
Than gold and silver will the palace buy;’
“And she to him prefers the same request,
Which erst Adonio to Argìa made.
A fool he deemed the woman and possest,
Who for a boon so foul and filthy prayed.
Yet ceased she not, though more than thrice represt;
And strove so well Anselmo to persuade,
Proffering, for his reward, the palace still,
She wrought on him to do her evil will.
“The wife Argìa, that is hid fast by,
When in such sin her husband she descries,
Springs forth and saith; ‘Ah! worthy deed! which I
Of doctor, that was deemed so passing wise,
Found in such foul and filthy work, espy!’
Bethink thee, if his kindling blushes rise;
If he stands mute! why opens not thy hollow
And central womb, O earth, the wretch to swallow?
“To clear herself and shame him, doth she stun
Anselmo, never ceasing to upbraid.
‘What pain should by thyself be undergone
For this so filthy deed, (Argìa said)
If thou would’st take my life for having done
What Nature prompted and a lover prayed;
One that was fair and gentle, and who brought
A gift, compared wherewith, this dome is nought?
“ ‘If worthy of one death thou deemest me,
Worthy art thou a hundred deaths to die:
And, though my pleasure might I do on thee,
So passing puissant in this place am I,
No other or worse vengeance done shall be
Upon my side, on thy delinquency.
The give against the take, O husband, place;
And, as ’twas granted thee, so grant me grace:
“ ‘And be there peace between us, and accord
That all be to forgetfulness consigned;
Nor thee I of thy fault by deed or word,
Nor me of mine, henceforward thou remind!’
This seemed a goodly bargain to her lord;
Nor to such pardon was he disinclined.
Thus peace and concord they at home restore,
And love each other dearly evermore.”
So said the mariner, and some brief fit
Of laughter in Montalban’s master stirred;
And made his visage burn, as if ’twas lit
With fire, when of Anselmo’s shame he heard.
Rinaldo greatly praised Argìa’s wit,
Who by such quaint device had trapped that bird;
Who fell into the net wherein the dame
Herself erewhile had fallen, but with less shame.
When the sun climbed a steeper road, the knight
Ordered the board with food to be supplied,
Which the good Mantuan landlord overnight
Took care with largest plenty to provide;
While the fair town, upon the left, from sight
Retired, and
