Page:Mistral - Mirèio. A Provençal poem.djvu/243

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"Then bare Sidonius witness. In his night—
He was born blind—he led to the true light
The men of Arles. And Maximin, beside,
The resurrection of the Crucified
Set forth, and bade them turn from sin away.
Arles was baptized upon that very day.

"The Spirit of the Lord hurried us on,
Like wind upon a fire of shavings blown.
Then, as we turned of these to take farewell,
Came messengers, before our feet who fell,
And passionately cried, 'O god-sent strangers!
Hear yet the story of our cruel dangers.

"'To our unhappy city came the sound
Of marvels wrought and oracles new found.
She sends us hither. We are dead who stand
Before you! Such a monster wastes our land!
A scourge of God, greedy of human gore,
It haunts our woods and gorges. We implore

"'Your pity. The beast hath a dragon's tail;
Bristles its back with many a horrid scale.
It hath six human feet, and fleet they are;
A lion's jaw; eyes red like cinnabar.
Its prey it hideth in a cavern lone,
Under a rock that beetles o'er the Rhone.