Hudibras | Page 6

in blood.
For, as we said, he always
chose
To carry vittle in his hose,
That often tempted rats and mice

The ammunition to surprise: 320 And when he put a hand but in

The one or t' other magazine,
They stoutly in defence on't stood,

And from the wounded foe drew blood;
And 'till th' were storm'd and
beaten out, 325 Ne'er left the fortify'd redoubt.
And tho' Knights
Errant, as some think,
Of old did neither eat nor drink,
Because,
when thorough desarts vast,
And regions desolate, they past, 330
Where belly-timber above ground,
Or under, was not to be found,

Unless they graz'd, there's not one word
Of their provision on record;

Which made some confidently write, 335 They had no stomachs, but
to fight.
'Tis false: for ARTHUR wore in hall
Round table like
a farthingal,
On which with shirt pull'd out behind,
And eke before,
his good Knights din'd. 340 Though 'twas no table, some suppose,

But a huge pair of round trunk hose;
In which he carry'd as much
meat
As he and all the Knights cou'd eat,
When, laying by their
swords and truncheons, 345 They took their breakfasts, or their
nuncheons.
But let that pass at present, lest
We should forget where
we digrest,
As learned authors use, to whom
We leave it, and to th'
purpose come, 350
His puissant sword unto his side,
Near his undaunted heart, was ty'd;

With basket-hilt, that wou'd hold broth,
And serve for fight and
dinner both.
In it he melted lead for bullets, 355 To shoot at foes, and
sometimes pullets,
To whom he bore so fell a grutch,
He ne'er gave
quarter t' any such.
The trenchant blade, Toledo trusty,
For
want of fighting, was grown rusty, 360 And ate unto itself, for lack

Of somebody to hew and hack.
The peaceful scabbard where it dwelt

The rancour of its edge had felt;
For of the lower end two handful
365 It had devour'd, 'twas so manful;

And so much scorn'd to lurk in
case,
As if it durst not shew its face.
In many desperate attempts,

Of warrants, exigents, contempts, 370 It had appear'd with courage
bolder
Than Serjeant BUM invading shoulder.
Oft had it ta'en

possession,
And pris'ners too, or made them run.
This sword a dagger had t' his page, 375 That was but little for his age;

And therefore waited on him so,
As dwarfs upon Knights Errant do.

It was a serviceable dudgeon,
Either for fighting or for drudging.
380 When it had stabb'd, or broke a head,
It would scrape trenchers,
or chip bread;
Toast cheese or bacon; tho' it were
To bait a
mouse-trap, 'twould not care.
'Twould make clean shoes; and in the
earth 385 Set leeks and onions, and so forth.
It had been 'prentice to a
brewer,
Where this and more it did endure;
But left the trade,
as many more
Have lately done on the same score. 390
In th' holsters, at his saddle-bow,
Two aged pistols he did stow,

Among the surplus of such meat
As in his hose he cou'd not get.

These wou'd inveigle rats with th' scent, 395 To forage when the cocks
were bent;
And sometimes catch 'em with a snap
As cleverly as th'
ablest trap.
They were upon hard duty still,
And ev'ry night stood
centinel, 400 To guard the magazine i' th' hose
From two-legg'd and
from four-legg'd foes.
Thus clad and fortify'd, Sir Knight
From peaceful home set forth to
fight.
But first with nimble, active force 405 He got on th' outside of
his horse;
For having but one stirrup ty'd
T' his saddle, on the
further side,
It was so short, h' had much ado
To reach it with his
desp'rate toe: 410 But, after many strains and heaves,
He got up to the
saddle-eaves,
From whence he vaulted into th' seat,
With so much
vigour, strength and heat,
That he had almost tumbled over 415 With
his own weight, but did recover,
By laying hold on tail and main,

Which oft he us'd instead of rein.
But now we talk of mounting steed,
Before we further do proceed,
420 It doth behoves us to say something
Of that which bore our
valiant bumkin.
The beast was sturdy, large, and tall,
With mouth
of meal, and eyes of wall.
I wou'd say eye; for h' had but one, 425 As

most agree; tho' some say none.
He was well stay'd; and in his gait

Preserv'd a grave, majestick state.
At spur or switch no more he skipt,

Or mended pace, than Spaniard whipt; 430 And yet so fiery, he
wou'd bound
As if he griev'd to touch the ground:
That CAESAR's
horse , who, as fame goes
Had corns upon his feet and toes,

Was not by half so tender hooft, 435 Nor trod upon the ground so soft.

And as that beast would kneel and stoop
(Some write) to take his
rider up,
So HUDIBRAS his ('tis well known)
Wou'd often do to set
him down. 440 We shall not need to say what lack
Of leather was
upon his back;
For that was hidden under pad,
And breech of
Knight, gall'd full as bad.
His strutting ribs on both sides show'd 445
Like furrows he himself had plow'd;
For underneath the skirt of
pannel,
'Twixt ev'ry two there was a channel
His