Resolv❜d to spare no flesh and blood,
To make my word and honour good;
Till tir'd, and taking truce at length,
For new recruits of breath and strength,
I felt the blows still ply'd as fast
As if th' had been by lovers plac'd,
In raptures of Platonic lashing,
And chaste contemplative bardashing;
When facing hastily about,
To stand upon my guard and scout,
I found th' infernal cunning-man,
And th' under-witch, his Caliban,
With scourges (like the furies) arm'd,
That on my outward quarters storm'd:
In haste I snatch'd my weapon up,
And gave their hellish rage a stop;
Call'd thrice upon your name, and fell
Courageously on Sidrophel;
Who now transform'd himself t' a bear,
Began to roar aloud, and tear;
When I as furiously press'd on,
My weapon down his throat to run;
Laid hold on him; but he broke loose,
And turn'd himself into a goose,
Div'd under water, in a pond,
Et, prenant la verge à l'instant,
Je m'en mis le dos tout en sang;
D'un vrai bourreau je fis le rôle,
Pour bien acquitter ma parole;
Tant qu'hors d'haleine je cessai,
Et, pour un moment, respirai;
Quand je me sentis de plus belle
Fesser d'une façon cruelle,
Pis que ne fut jamais traité,
Le ladre le plus décidé; (203)
Et regardant vîte en arrière,
Pour voir qui me frappait derrière,
Je vis le sorcier infernal
Avec son sous-sorcier féal,
Armés de fouets, avec furie
S'exercer sur ma friperie.
Et, pour les arrêter soudain,
Et punir ce couple vilain,
Je mis la main à mon épée,
Et trois fois vous ayant nommée,
J'attaquai d'abord Sidrophel,
Qui, pour parer le coup mortel,
D'un ours à l'instant prit la forme,
Braillant avec un bruit énorme.
J'allais toujours sur le sorcier
Pour lui fourrer par le gosier
Mon sabre jusque dans le foie, Mais soudain je ne vis qu'une oie,
To hide himself from being found.
In vain I sought him; but as soon
As I perceiv'd him fled and gone,
Prepar'd with equal haste and rage,
His under-sorcerer t' engage.
But bravely scorning to defile
My sword with feeble blood and vile,
I judg'd it better from a quick-
Set hedge to cut a knotted stick,
With which I furiously laid on,
Till, in a harsh and doleful tone,
It roar'd, O hold, for pity, sir:
I am too great a sufferer,
Abus'd as you have been, b' a witch
But conjur❜d into worse caprich;
Who sends me out on many a jaunt,
Old houses in the night to haunt,
For opportunities t' improve
Designs of thievery or love;
With drugs convey'd in drink or meat,
All feats of witches counterfeit ;
Kill pigs and geese with powder'd glass,
And make it for enchantment pass;
With cow-itch meazle like a leper,
And choak with fumes of Guinea pepper;
Qui, tout d'un coup, pour m'échapper,
Dans un étang s’alla plonger,
Et je ne le vis plus ensuite.
Aussitôt qu'il eut pris la fuite,
J'allais, en brave chevalier,
Pour attaquer le sous-sorcier,
Mais dédaignant que mon épée
Dans un sang si vil fût trempée,
Je crus que la bonne façon
couper un bâton
Dont je me servis à merveilles,
Et lui frottai bien les oreilles :
Tant que, me demandant quartier,
Il cria, Noble chevalier,
Daignez un moment vous contraindre,
Car je suis déja trop à plaindre;
Comme vous, je suis mal mené
Par ce sorcier, et condamné
A passer mainte nuit obscure
Dans quelque méchante masure,
Pour y faire le loup-garou,
Ou bien y trouver quelque trou
Pour faciliter voleries,
Ou d'amants les supercheries;
Mettre dans le boire ou manger
Drogues faites pour imiter
Tout le manége de sorcière;
Tuer avec poudre de verre,
Make lechers, and their punks, with dewtry,
Commit fantastical advowtry;
Bewitch Hermetic-men to run
Stark staring mad with manicon;
Believe mechanic virtuosi
Can raise them mountains in Potosi ;
And, sillier than the antic fools,
Take treasure for a heap of coals:
Seek out for plants and signatures,
To quack of universal cures;
With figures ground on panes of glass,
Make people on their heads to pass;
And mighty heaps of coin increase,
Reflected from a single piece;
To draw in fools, whose nat'ral itches
Incline perpetually to witches;
And keep me in continual fears,
And danger of my neck and ears;
When less delinquents have been scourg'd,
And hemp on wooden anvils forg'd,
Which others for cravats have worn
About their necks, and took a turn,
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