Such feats already he 'as achiev'd,115
In story not to be believ'd,
And 'twould to us be shame enough,
Not to attempt to fetch him off.
I would, quoth he, venture a limb
To second thee, and rescue him;120
But then we must about it straight,
Or else our aid will come too late;
Quarter he scorns, he is so stout,
And therefore cannot long hold out.
This said, they wav'd their weapons round125
About their heads, to clear the ground;
And joining forces, laid about
So fiercely, that th' amazed rout
Turn'd tail again, and straight begun,
As if the devil drove, to run.130
Meanwhile th' approach'd th' place where Bruin
Was now engag'd to mortal ruin:
The conqu'ring foe they soon assail'd;
First Trulla stav'd, and Cerdon tail'd,[1]
Until the mastiffs loos'd their hold:135
And yet, alas! do what they could,
The worsted bear came off with store
Of bloody wounds, but all before:[2]
For as Achilles, dipt in pond,
Was anabaptiz'd free from wound,140
Made proof against dead-doing steel
All over, but the pagan heel;[3]
- ↑ Trulla interposed her staff between the dogs and the bear, in order to part them; and Cerdon drew the dogs away by their tails. Staving and tailing are technical terms used in the bear-garden, but are sometimes applied metaphorically to higher pursuits, as law, divinity, &c.
- ↑ That is, honourable wounds. The reader familiar with Shakspeare will remember Old Siward, in the last scene of Macbeth:
Siw.Had he his hurts before?
Ross.Aye, in the front.
Why then God's soldier is he!
Had I as many sons as I have hairs,
I would not wish them to a fairer death.
And so his knell is knoll'd. - ↑ The Anabaptists insisted upon the necessity of immersion in baptism; so Butler uses the word "anabaptized" as equivalent to "dipt": but as the vulnerable heel was not dipt, he calls it "pagan."
