CXCVIII.

Said Clarien:--"Lady, speak not thus--Behold, Messengers we, from Baligant, who swears To free Marsile, and to him sends his glove And staff as tokens--on the Ebro float Four thousand galleys, skiffs and swiftest boats; More sails than can be numbered! Rich and great The Emir.--Carle, pursued to France, shall be Per force, or still, or dead, or penitent." Said Bramimunde:--"Yea, greater ills will come. To meet the Franks you need not go so far; Carle seven years in Spain has tarried. Brave Is he in battle, and a Baron true; Ready to die ere he will quit the field; No king on earth but is to him a child. Carle's spirit yields before no living man." Aoi.