Page:Mistral - Mirèio. A Provençal poem.djvu/128

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Away, Ourrias, away! Draw not the rein,
Urge thy unresting gallop o'er the plain,
White the green heron⁹ shout their fearsome cries
In thy mare's ear, as the good creature flies,
Till her ear trembles, and her nostrils quiver,
And eyes dilate. That night the great Rhone River

Slept on his stony bed beneath the moon,
As pilgrim of Sainte Baume¹⁰ may lay him down,
Fevered and weary, in a deep ravine.
"Ho!" cries the ruffian to three boatmen seen,
"Ho! Boat ahoy! We must cross, hark ye there!
On board or in the hold, I and my mare!"

"On board, my hearty, then, without delay!
There shines the night-lamp! And lured by its ray,"
Answered a cheery voice, "about our prow
And oars the fish frisk playfully enow.
It is good fishing, and the hour is fair.
On board at once! We have no time to spare."

Therewith upon the poop the villain clomb.
While, tethered to the stern, amid the foam
Swam the white mare. Now fishes huge and scaly
Forsook their grottoes, and leaped upward gayly,
And flashed on the smooth surface of the stream.
"Have a care, pilot! For this craft I deem