IX.
“It shall not need,” exclaimed the dwarfish Moor,
“For I, myself, will serve you as a guide;
“Who have the road set down, with other lore,
“So that you shall rejoice with me to ride.”
He meant the ring, but further hint forbore;
Lest dearly he the avowal should abide.
And she to him—“Your guidance gives me pleasure.”
Meaning by this she hoped to win his treasure.
X.
What useful was to say, she said, and what
Might hurt her with the Saracen, concealed.
Well suited to her ends, the host had got
A palfrey, fitting for the road or field.
She bought the steed, and as Aurora shot
Her rosy rays, rode forth with spear and shield:
And maid and courier through a valley wind,
Brunello now before and now behind.
XI.
From wood to wood, from mount to mountain hoar,
They clomb a summit, which in cloudless sky
Discovers France and Spain, and either shore.
As from a peak of Apennine the eye[3]
May Tuscan and Sclavonian sea explore,
There, whence we journey to Camaldoli.
Then through a rugged path and painful wended,
Which thence into a lowly vale descended.
