Orlando in Love, episode 51: Mandricard and the Ogre In days when Pipin's son, King Charles, ruled his high, happy state in France, there came an eastern Saracen who almost ruined all the world. Not where the sun comes up at dawn nor where it sets -- nowhere on earth -- has there been seen a cavalier more daring, dauntless, or more fierce. That pagan's name was Mandricard, he of such courage and such strength, no greater ever lived, But he -~ the emperor of Tartary -- now traveled far from his home, seeking~vengeance for his father's death. Along the way, he made a friend, A mighty pagan named Gradasso, king of a great land far away. Together, they went towards France. After they passed through Syria, they reached a hill beside the sea. Gradasso, gazing down the shore toward a cliff of tumbled stones, saw tied with chain upon a rock a naked damsel, hair awry, in such despair, she asked to die. "Death," she was saying, "help me! For~I've truly lost all other hope!" Those cavaliers descended wildly and galloped toward that mammoth cliff, to learn about the maiden's plight and find who was to blame for it, The maid wept so abundantly she could have moved the stones to tears. She told those knights, "For pity, please~draw out your swords and take my life. If heaven or fortune wants me dead, I'd rather die by human hands than have a beast devour me." -- The pair of knights desired to know~her story, but she could not speak, since sobs stuck in her throat, and her~loud weeping overwhelmed her words. Despite the tears, she said, "If I~seem sad, I've cause to grieve yet more. I'll tell the reason, if there's time. What woman in the world's worse off? "An ogre lives beneath that cliff -- I don't know if you've seen an ogre, but this one's face is such a fright, to think of it makes my blood ice. "He's not tall, but as fat as six,~and hairy, with a beard that curls, and two bone spheres fill in for eyes. @ Nature -- anticipant -- was wise, because if he could see, that beast~would at once overwhelm the world. "He can't be beaten, though he's blind. I have seen him (who will believe me?) uproot oak trees like fennel shoots. Three giants once fell prey to him: He squashed them on the ground like frogs, and then he tore their thighs off, and~he boiled their chests, and baked the rest. "The ogre eats just human flesh and keeps a bowl of human blood~for drinking. You had better go~(go far!) before he sniffs you out. Right now he's lying in his den -- he is inside because he's sleeping -- but when he wakes up, he will scent~the presence -- instantly -- of men. "He'll track your footsteps like a hound. Defense is useless, as is flight. He'll hunt you for a hundred miles, and, ultimately, you will die. Therefore, I'm begging you to go, to leave me to my wretched death." -- She spoke thus, that unlucky lady, and tears rolled down her shining face. Gradasso barely kept from crying, and he'd already drawn his blade to break and slash away the chain that held her fastened to the stone, But the maid cried out, "Don't, by God! You'll die and you won't rescue me. This chain -- oh miserable me! -- leads through the boulder to his den "And if it's touched, then instantly~a switch is tripped, a bell rings out, and if that evil ogre's roused, there is not any hope of flight." Graddaso greatly wished to hear if that bell has a pleasing tone, and the maid hadn't closed her mouth~when -- casually -- he cut the chain. Inside, I'm telling you, it _clangs:_ It seems that thunder shakes the shore. The lady, frightened, pale, and faint,~screams out, "Ah me! My life is over! My body is convulsed by fear! That evil fiend will soon be here!" -- Now from its cave, the ogre came: Each finger was a leg's width thick, and his black nails were full of filth. His throat-crop dangles down his chest; His mouth has huge tusks like a boar's; And don't believe his snout is clean, for it's foul, red, defiled by blood. Gradasso wasn't scared of its~unusual and horrid form, and with his blade in hand, he charged, @ but his sword did not vex that beast, who grabbed his shield, and tore it off~his arm, @ and shattered it like ice. If it had grabbed his head like that, it would have crushed his helm like ash. The revels would have ended fast. He couldn't see what his hand grabbed,~and so he seized the shield by chance. Gradasso fell down, and the ogre~immediately picked him up @ and bore his burden to the cave. Gradasso struggled, writhed -- in vain: The monster bound him with a chain. -- As soon as he'd restrained that king, he came out of his cave again, and /Mandricard/ then greatly grieved because he'd lost his dear companion. King Mandricard possessed no sword, since he had made a sacred vow to wear none in his life~until he won the sword Orlando wore. He bent down, took a large, fat stone -- @ I swear that it weighed fifty pounds -- and hurtled it with all his power, hitting the monster in the chest. @ The beast was struck, but showed no terror; rather, his rage grew, and his scorn. He felt himself where he'd been hit, and his mouth foamed just like a boar's. He tried to get behind the knight, tracking him like a hunting hound, [sniff air] but Mandricard did not wait there -- he was adept, lithe, agile, quick. He scaled the incline of the cliff, and on that mountain slope, he stopped~and ripped a boulder from the bluff, @ threw it, and hit the ogre's forehead. @ The stone split in a thousand bits but hardly hurt that wicked beast, and certainly it didn't stop him -- the ogre never lost the scent. -- Mandricard climbed with all his strength, zig-zagging up the mountain till~he reached the top. The beast was close~behind and almost got there first. That baron doesn't know what he~should do or how he'll get away, for on each slope and every path that evil monster follows him. He can't think of a single plan, however slight, for his defense. He tears up stones, throws thick, tough trees, but nothing he does slows the beast. Down toward a valley, down he ran, although he looked back often and -- behold! -- he found a chasm in~the mountain, cleft from top to bottom. That cavalier, who was convinced he'd die and be smashed into bits, raced full speed over to its edge~and, wearing all his armor, leapt. -- He safely reached the other side -- that jump was twenty yards or more -- but the foul beast that followed him was blind and didn't see the rift. The monster's fall could be heard as~he smashed against the valley floor: It seemed the world, the heavens crashed. He wasn't bouncing on a bed! That chasm was steep-sided, deep. He cracked three ribs inside his chest and with his blood he stained the stones. Elated, Mandricard then said, "Close does not count in jumping clefts! Now you be damned. You stay down there." -- Descending in a festive mood, he came down to the seaside cave,~set in the cliff: It was enormous,~adorned with gold, luxurious. After untying King Gradasso he freed the maiden from the stone, then all three dressed in their new spoils: they'd found expensive gems and clothes. The barons mounted and they galloped -- taking the lady of great beauty -- and as they rode beside the sea they spotted, far away, a ship. -- When it drew closer, they could see~the high flag of King Tibiano, the father of that very damsel, taken from him by callous fortune. This Tibiano was the king~of Cyprus, Rhodes and other lands, and he is searching every shore, for any sign of his lost daughter. He worries, he despairs, he weeps; he leads a life of constant grief. The lady joys to see his flag: she laughs: at the same time, she cries. By now they can discern the ship~much better, and the men aboard. The lady can no longer wait: she waves a cloth to signal them,~and, @ not to make this story long,~they board. The happiness is great, as one would think in such a case where one considered dead is found. As they prepare to sail again, the *ogre* comes along the cliff and runs full speed toward the sea! -- I tell you, everybody moves, most of them certain they are doomed. Each sailor, like a captain, rushed~to turn the rudder. They all pushed. The ogre came down to the water. Watchers could see his blood-soaked beard and on his back a chunk of cliff, planted with thorn trees, stumps, and roots. Light as an /acorn,/ what a hundred~oxen could not have budged, _he_ carried. That awful creature ran in haste, the sea already reached his waist. He moved like some great toad, his snout~upraised while his feet trod the sand, and, furious, he _hurled_ the mound @ where he heard creaking oarlocks sound. -- He _just_ missed, but that dirt clod sent~a surge of water to the tops'l. Had the throw been a little longer, the ship and crew would have been swamped. I don't believe I need to say whether the mariners are frightened: Even the most courageous sailor hides in the hold and won't appear. Now a wind rises in the east, great swells convulse the sea, waves crash, the heavens and the waters roar: the beast -- and land -- pass out of sight. No longer do they fear the ogre, the _storm_ is foremost in their minds. The sky is horrible and dark; Each hour the wind and tempest grow. Hard hailstones intermixed with rain fall nonstop with great force. The lightning~flashes; the thunder comes so fast there is no pause between the crashes. The sea rebels against its bounds -- more than one bucket fills the ship. The halyards sing, the ship complains~and groans down deep as if in pain. Now this wind, now another, springs; The sailors know no means to cope. The ship flies high among the clouds, then scrapes its hull against the shoals. -- Through every jeopardy it passes, until a huge wave hits the mast. The ship heels over -- almost sinks. @ Everyone cries to God for help. Two miles or more the heeled ship sailed, just on the point of foundering, with all the people in her lost -- don't ask if they were making vows -- when from the side a crosswind made~the tipped ship heel the other way. @ No one is heard, though they all scream, the wind sings so, so roars the sea. The wind shifts instantly around: Now the bow, now the sides it pounds~till, furious, a gust confounds~the high sea. Blowing from the east, it hits the poop and rams the ship, shoving the prow beneath the waves @ as far as, sometimes, fishing birds~descend. The ship, a bow-shot deep, then surfaces, flies up as fast~as missiles from a crossbow shaft, -- And from that night until next day, and from that morning till the night, all night, all day, it never stops until the ship is blown to shore on the frontier of France and Spain. They disembark along the strand, so battered by the waves they can't~believe they're actually on land. The dark night, the bad weather passes, and morning brings a calmer sky, and in the full, clear light of day, they set out to investigate. They wished to ascertain what realm~they'd happened onto and who ruled. After they'd had the ship unpacked, they mounted on their chargers, armed, but their quest didn't last too long because beyond a hill they heard~loud trumpets, voices, drums, and horns. King Charles and all his knights~now flee before a horde of Saracens, who've overcome them on that plain, and chase them towards Paris now. Just how our new arrivals will~affect the outcome of this war, I'll tell to you another time; For now, I have no wish to bore.