48
BATTLE OF THE
"Too belly-vaunting friend art thou, we too
On land and lake a thousand wonders view;
For Jove to us a twofold being gave,
On land to skip, and dive amid the wave.
Wouldst thou assurance full?—the proof is light—
Mount on my back, and grasp with all thy might,
Grasp for thy life—and thus in gleeful hour
Thy step shall pass the threshold of my bower."
This said, his back he leant;—sir Mouse upsprung
With airy leap, and round his plump neck clung,
The shore in sight, he laugh'd for very glee,
Elate with Puff-chops' reckless buoyancy:
But when the dark wave gurgled o'er his head,
When terror wildly whispered—"hope is fled"—
Forth gush'd the fruitless tear, he rent his hair,
And wedged his feet with all thy strength, Despair;
"Strange sight," he shriek'd, and then his heart 'gan reel,
"Oh that these paws one foot of earth could feel!"
He groan'd, he groan'd, in chilly fear's constraint,
When lo! a sight at which the staunchest faint,—
Vision of dread to both! along the lake
Loom'd large with towering neck, a water-snake;
Him Puff-chops saw and plunged, nor stay'd to think
On helpless comrade left alone to sink,
Down the dark depths of water far beneath
He plunged amain, and 'scap'd the night of death.
Straight on the water flat poor Crumb-catch falls,
Wrings his gaunt paws, and, drowning, shrieks and squalls;
On land and lake a thousand wonders view;
For Jove to us a twofold being gave,
On land to skip, and dive amid the wave.
Wouldst thou assurance full?—the proof is light—
Mount on my back, and grasp with all thy might,
Grasp for thy life—and thus in gleeful hour
Thy step shall pass the threshold of my bower."
This said, his back he leant;—sir Mouse upsprung
With airy leap, and round his plump neck clung,
The shore in sight, he laugh'd for very glee,
Elate with Puff-chops' reckless buoyancy:
But when the dark wave gurgled o'er his head,
When terror wildly whispered—"hope is fled"—
Forth gush'd the fruitless tear, he rent his hair,
And wedged his feet with all thy strength, Despair;
"Strange sight," he shriek'd, and then his heart 'gan reel,
"Oh that these paws one foot of earth could feel!"
He groan'd, he groan'd, in chilly fear's constraint,
When lo! a sight at which the staunchest faint,—
Vision of dread to both! along the lake
Loom'd large with towering neck, a water-snake;
Him Puff-chops saw and plunged, nor stay'd to think
On helpless comrade left alone to sink,
Down the dark depths of water far beneath
He plunged amain, and 'scap'd the night of death.
Straight on the water flat poor Crumb-catch falls,
Wrings his gaunt paws, and, drowning, shrieks and squalls;
