The Canterbury tales and Faerie queene &c., &c., &c., ed. for popular perusal with current illustrations and explanatory notes, by D. Laing Purves.

538 THE FAERIE QUEEN. [BOOK VI.
lamentation, wasted her goodly beauty, which To whom the captain in full angry wise
did fade "like to a flow'r that feels no heat of Made answer, that the maid of whom they
sun which may her feeble leaves with comfort spake
glad." Was his own purchase and his only prize;
With which none had to do, nor aught partake,
But he himself which did that conquest make;
Little for him to have one silly 2 lass;
Besides, through sickness now so wan and weak,
CANTO XI. That nothing meet in merchandise to pass:
So shew'd them her, to prove how pale and
She thievesefali out for Pastoreal,
Whilst elibee is slain: she was.
Her Calidorefrom them redeems, The sight of whom, though now decay'd and
And bringeth back again. mard,
marr'd,
THE joys of love, if they should ever last And eke but hardly seen by candle-light,
Without affliction or disquietness Yet, like a diamond of rich regard,3
That worldly chances do amongst them cast, In doubtful shadow of the darksome night,
Would be on earth too great a blessedness, With starry beams about her shining bright,
Liker to heav'n than mortal wretchedness: These merchants' fixed eyes did so amaze,
Therefore the wingid god, to let men weet1 That what through wonder, and what through
That here on earth is no sure happiness, delight,
A thousand sours hath temper'd with one sweet, A while on her they greedily did gae,
To make it seem more dear and dainty, as is And did her greatly like, and did her greatly
meet. praise.
At last when all the rest them offer'd were,
So did it now befall to Pastorella: Fortune, At last when the rt m offer'd were,
And prices to them placed at their pleasure,
not content with making her a captive among Th d a her
thieves, in dreadful darkness, threw on her Teyallrefusd inregardofher; 4
greater mischief; for the captain of the band, Noraught would buy, however prid with
one day viewing the prisoners, beheld with
lustful eyes that lovely guest, "fair Pastorella, ithouten her, whose worth above all reasure
whose sad mournful hue like the fair mornine of gold
clad in misty fog did shew." His barbarous But then the captain, fraught with more disclad in misty fog did shew." His barbarous ^ pleasure,
heart was fired with love; in his own mind, he pleasure,
heart was fd wh n hi on m, Bade them be still; his love should not be sold;
allotted her to himself as his part of the prey; Ba he rest tae if they ould; h e her to
and from that day he sought, by kindness ande if thy wol h h
threats combined, to win her to his will. But w
all that he could do did not one whit affect her Some of the chief robbers bade him forbear
constancy and purity; though at last, fearing such insolent language-for, let it grieve him
lest he might take by force what she denied, ever so much, the maid should be sold with the
she granted him some little show of favour, in rest, to enhance their price. The captain drew
the hope that either she might be set free, or his sword and dared any to lay hand on her;
her captivity eased: "a little well is lent that soon they fell to blows; "and the mad steel
gaineth more withal." The captain, however, about doth fiercely fly," making way for Death
was only stimulated to more eager urging of his to walk in a thousand dreadful shapes "in the
suit; till the maiden found no means to bar him, horror of the grisly night "-the candles having
but to feign a sudden sickness, during which he been quenched.
could approach her only when others were
present. While Pastorella lay sick, a company Like as a sort of hungry dogs, y-met
of merchants arrived at the island in quest of About some carcase by the common way,
slaves, and were met by some of the thieves. Do fall together, striving each to get
Conducting the new-comers to the captain, as The greatest portion of the greedy prey;
he sat " by his fair patient's side with sorrowful All on confused heaps themselves assay,
regret," the men asked that the captives might And snatch, and bite, and rend, and tug, and
be sold, and the price equally shared'among the tear;
band. Though "much appalled" by the re- Tha who them sees would wonder at their
quest, the captain could not but comply; Meli- fray,
bee, Corydon, and the rest, were brought forth And who sees not would be afraid to hear:
and shown to the merchants; but before any Such was the conflict of those cruel Brigands
bargain was concluded, some of the ganginquired there.
for the fair shepherdess who had been taken But first of all the robbers slew the captives,
along with the others, and began to extol her lest they should join against the weaker side,
beauty, "the more t' augment her price through or rise against the surviving remnant; Corydon
praise of comeliness." alone escaping craftily in the darkness. All
1 Know. 2 Simple. 3 Value. 5 However moderate the price set upon them.
4 In comparison with her. 6 Troop, crowd.