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"I am very glad every fool knows that too," said Wamba, "and pork, I
think, is good Norman-French; and so when the brute lives, and is in
the charge of a Saxon slave, she goes by her Saxon name; but becomes a
Norman, and is called pork, when she is carried to the Castle-hall to
feast among the nobles; what dost thou think of this, friend Gurth, ha?"

"It is but too true doctrine, friend Wamba, however it got into thy
fool's pate."

"Nay, I can tell you more," said Wamba, in the same tone; "there is old
Alderman Ox continues to hold his Saxon epithet, while he is under the
charge of serfs and bondsmen such as thou, but becomes Beef, a fiery
French gallant, when he arrives before the worshipful jaws that are
destined to consume him. Mynheer Calf, too, becomes Monsieur de Veau
in the like manner; he is Saxon when he requires tendance, and takes a
Norman name when he becomes matter of enjoyment."

"By St Dunstan," answered Gurth, "thou speakest but sad truths; little
is left to us but the air we breathe, and that appears to have been
reserved with much hesitation, solely for the purpose of enabling us to
endure the tasks they lay upon our shoulders. The finest and the fattest
is for their board; the loveliest is for their couch; the best and
bravest supply their foreign masters with soldiers, and whiten distant
lands with their bones, leaving few here who have either will or the
power to protect the unfortunate Saxon. God's blessing on our master
Cedric, he hath done the work of a man in standing in the gap; but
Reginald Front-de-Boeuf is coming down to this country in person, and we
shall soon see how little Cedric's trouble will avail him.--Here, here,"
he exclaimed again, raising his voice, "So ho! so ho! well done, Fangs!
thou hast them all before thee now, and bring'st them on bravely, lad."

"Gurth," said the Jester, "I know thou thinkest me a fool, or thou
wouldst not be so rash in putting thy head into my mouth. One word to
Reginald Front-de-Boeuf, or Philip de Malvoisin, that thou hast
spoken treason against the Norman,--and thou art but a cast-away
swineherd,--thou wouldst waver on one of these trees as a terror to all
evil speakers against dignities."

"Dog, thou wouldst not betray me," said Gurth, "after having led me on
to speak so much at disadvantage?"

"Betray thee!" answered the Jester; "no, that were the trick of a wise
man; a fool cannot half so well help himself--but soft, whom have we
here?" he said, listening to the trampling of several horses which
became then audible.

"Never mind whom," answered Gurth, who had now got his herd before him,
and, with the aid of Fangs, was driving them down one of the long dim
vistas which we have endeavoured to describe.

"Nay, but I must see the riders," answered Wamba; "perhaps they are come
from Fairy-land with a message from King Oberon."

"A murrain take thee," rejoined the swine-herd; "wilt thou talk of such
things, while a terrible storm of thunder and lightning is raging within
a few miles of us? Hark, how the thunder rumbles! and for summer rain,
I never saw such broad downright flat drops fall out of the clouds; the
oaks, too, notwithstanding the calm weather, sob and creak with their
great boughs as if announcing a tempest. Thou canst play the rational if
thou wilt; credit me for once, and let us home ere the storm begins to
rage, for the night will be fearful."

Wamba seemed to feel the force of this appeal, and accompanied his
companion, who began his journey after catching up a long quarter-staff
which lay upon the grass beside him. This second Eumaeus strode hastily
down the forest glade, driving before him, with the assistance of Fangs,
the whole herd of his inharmonious charge.






A Monk there was, a fayre for the maistrie,
An outrider that loved venerie;
A manly man, to be an Abbot able,
Full many a daintie horse had he in stable:
And whan he rode, men might his bridle hear
Gingeling in a whistling wind as clear,
And eke as loud, as doth the chapell bell,
There as this lord was keeper of the cell.
--Chaucer.

Notwithstanding the occasional exhortation and chiding of his companion,
the noise of the horsemen's feet continuing to approach, Wamba could
not be prevented from lingering occasionally on the road, upon every
pretence which occurred; now catching from the hazel a cluster of
half-ripe nuts, and now turning his head to leer after a cottage maiden
who crossed their path. The horsemen, therefore, soon overtook them on
the road.

Their numbers amounted to ten men, of whom the two who rode foremost
seemed to be persons of considerable importance, and the others
their attendants. It was not difficult to ascertain the condition and
character of one of these personages. He was obviously an ecclesiastic
of high rank; his dress was that of a Cistercian Monk, but composed of
materials much finer than those which the rule of that order admitted.
His mantle and hood were of the best Flanders cloth, and fell in ample,
and not ungraceful folds, around a handsome, though somewhat corpulent

"I am very glad every fool knows that too," said Wamba, "and pork, I

think, is good Norman-French; and so when the brute lives, and is in

the charge of a Saxon slave, she goes by her Saxon name; but becomes a

Norman, and is called pork, when she is carried to the Castle-hall to

feast among the nobles; what dost thou think of this, friend Gurth, ha?"

"It is but too true doctrine, friend Wamba, however it got into thy

fool's pate."

"Nay, I can tell you more," said Wamba, in the same tone; "there is old

Alderman Ox continues to hold his Saxon epithet, while he is under the

charge of serfs and bondsmen such as thou, but becomes Beef, a fiery

French gallant, when he arrives before the worshipful jaws that are

destined to consume him. Mynheer Calf, too, becomes Monsieur de Veau

in the like manner; he is Saxon when he requires tendance, and takes a

Norman name when he becomes matter of enjoyment."

"By St Dunstan," answered Gurth, "thou speakest but sad truths; little

is left to us but the air we breathe, and that appears to have been

reserved with much hesitation, solely for the purpose of enabling us to

endure the tasks they lay upon our shoulders. The finest and the fattest

is for their board; the loveliest is for their couch; the best and

bravest supply their foreign masters with soldiers, and whiten distant

lands with their bones, leaving few here who have either will or the

power to protect the unfortunate Saxon. God's blessing on our master

Cedric, he hath done the work of a man in standing in the gap; but

Reginald Front-de-Boeuf is coming down to this country in person, and we

shall soon see how little Cedric's trouble will avail him.--Here, here,"

he exclaimed again, raising his voice, "So ho! so ho! well done, Fangs!

thou hast them all before thee now, and bring'st them on bravely, lad."

"Gurth," said the Jester, "I know thou thinkest me a fool, or thou

wouldst not be so rash in putting thy head into my mouth. One word to

Reginald Front-de-Boeuf, or Philip de Malvoisin, that thou hast

spoken treason against the Norman,--and thou art but a cast-away

swineherd,--thou wouldst waver on one of these trees as a terror to all

evil speakers against dignities."

"Dog, thou wouldst not betray me," said Gurth, "after having led me on

to speak so much at disadvantage?"

"Betray thee!" answered the Jester; "no, that were the trick of a wise

man; a fool cannot half so well help himself--but soft, whom have we

here?" he said, listening to the trampling of several horses which

became then audible.

"Never mind whom," answered Gurth, who had now got his herd before him,

and, with the aid of Fangs, was driving them down one of the long dim

vistas which we have endeavoured to describe.

"Nay, but I must see the riders," answered Wamba; "perhaps they are come

from Fairy-land with a message from King Oberon."

"A murrain take thee," rejoined the swine-herd; "wilt thou talk of such

things, while a terrible storm of thunder and lightning is raging within

a few miles of us? Hark, how the thunder rumbles! and for summer rain,

I never saw such broad downright flat drops fall out of the clouds; the

oaks, too, notwithstanding the calm weather, sob and creak with their

great boughs as if announcing a tempest. Thou canst play the rational if

thou wilt; credit me for once, and let us home ere the storm begins to

rage, for the night will be fearful."

Wamba seemed to feel the force of this appeal, and accompanied his

companion, who began his journey after catching up a long quarter-staff

which lay upon the grass beside him. This second Eumaeus strode hastily

down the forest glade, driving before him, with the assistance of Fangs,

the whole herd of his inharmonious charge.

A Monk there was, a fayre for the maistrie,

An outrider that loved venerie;

A manly man, to be an Abbot able,

Full many a daintie horse had he in stable:

And whan he rode, men might his bridle hear

Gingeling in a whistling wind as clear,

And eke as loud, as doth the chapell bell,

There as this lord was keeper of the cell.

--Chaucer.

Notwithstanding the occasional exhortation and chiding of his companion,

the noise of the horsemen's feet continuing to approach, Wamba could

not be prevented from lingering occasionally on the road, upon every

pretence which occurred; now catching from the hazel a cluster of

half-ripe nuts, and now turning his head to leer after a cottage maiden

who crossed their path. The horsemen, therefore, soon overtook them on

the road.

Their numbers amounted to ten men, of whom the two who rode foremost

seemed to be persons of considerable importance, and the others

their attendants. It was not difficult to ascertain the condition and

character of one of these personages. He was obviously an ecclesiastic

of high rank; his dress was that of a Cistercian Monk, but composed of

materials much finer than those which the rule of that order admitted.

His mantle and hood were of the best Flanders cloth, and fell in ample,

and not ungraceful folds, around a handsome, though somewhat corpulent