The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-07-03

but of all other nations The tale of
Orlando is, to most of us rloderns, A
disconnected one, which fails to sustain
its interest-the characters are too
many, the incidents too many and TOO
widely scattered among the dramatis
personnae. To read and appreciate or
1ando Furioso" easily one should have
lived in the days of the stage coach
and not in those of the motor car. Whom
one has to read As cantos of verse he
needs a leisure which the hurrying
world will seldom allow him now. 1t is
doubtful II Orlando" would find a pub
Usher today. And yet there is in the
great epic some indefnab BILE thing that
persists and lives as centuries go by
and are lost. Though just now there
are thousands who speak of Orla ndo
and of Ariosto to one who has read the
story of the one and the work of the
other. yet here and there are quiet and
scholarly men who delight in both.
w lay with his great army Of
w French and Germans beneath
the shadow of the Pyrenees there came
to his camp the peer Orlando. Heartily
did the Emperor welcome Orlando. for
the peer was renowned throughout the
world as a brave warrior and a skillful
captain. and Charlemagne was now Con-
fronted by a mighty Paynim host under
Marsillius, King of Spain, and Agra
mant, Emperor of Africa. But Orlando
came not alone to the camp of Charlie
magne. In his company was young
woman of wondrous beauty, Angelica,
daughter of the King of Cathay. Or
lando, who had been roaming about the
world in search of adventure, had seen
the maiden at her fathers court and
loved her In India and other eastern
lands he had proclaimed her worth and
beauty and raised trophies to her. Many
a joust had he fought in her honor. and
at length had eloped with her from her
fathers court and had brought her to
Europe to make her his wife.
In the camp of the Emperor when Or
lando reached there was the peer Rinal-
do of Montalbando, Duke Aymon's son,
and no sooner had he cast his eyes upon
Angelica than he coveted her. ihere
was like to be strife between Orlando
and Rinaldo over the girl, and the EN-
peror, desiring that these two peers of
valor should turn their arms against
the enemy rather than against eaclF
other, gave Angelica into the keeping
of old Duke Namus, saying to the two
peers that he should possess her as his
wife who fought most bravely in the
coming battle.
The battle resulted in a complete rout
for the Christian host. and, in the con-
fusion of the fight which succeeded the
defeat. Angelica found herself alone in
wood. Mounted upon her favorite palfrey,
she had watched the battle from, a safe
distance, until, seeing the inevitable de-
feat, she had fed. In a forest path An
gelica came upon another fugitive Rinal-
do. His horse. Bayardo, had escaped
from him and the knight was wandering
about on foot, fully clad in mail and with
his helmet upon his head. Now although
Rinaldo had been badly smitten with the
charms of Angelica. the lady had not re-
ciprocated In fact, she had great
aversion to that peer, and when she saw
him she urged her steed to f1y from his
presence even more rapidly than she had
fed from the advance of the Paynim
army. She let her palfrey choose his own
course and soon found herself come to a
river. Upon the banks of the stream
stood Paynim knight Ferrau. who had
unhelnieted and was bending down to
drink when the lovely vision of the flying
Angelica burst upon his view.
The Paynim was hot with wounds and
battle, and so hastily had he bent to as
suage his thirst that he had dropped his
helmet in the stream and was striving
to u
up. Rinaldo had followed fast upon the
trail of Angelica, and uttering cries of
fright, she besought the Paynim to pro-
tect her from her pursuer. He was a
courteous heather, and, quickly drawing
his sword, stood ready to receive the
charge of the furious Rinaldo. The peer,
seeing a Moslem foeman In his path drew
swiftly and the two stood opposed in du-
bious fight until they discovered that the
fair cause of their battle had betaken her
self off and there was no prize to strug-
gle for! So they ceased their combat.
and agreed to renew it when they should |
have overtaken the woman in the case
in pursuit of whom they at once set out
The two warriors took different routes.
each believing that he was on the right
track, and at length the Paynim with
surprise found himself back where he had
started FROM He had hurried forward
in circle in the forest and now stood
again beside the stream where he and
Rinaldo had fought. AS he stood there
appeared to him the ghost of Argalia.
brother of Angelica, who had fallen in
battle beneath the arm OF Ferrau. The
phantom shade bore in its hands the lost
helmet of the Moor and addressing the
beathen knight. babe him, IL he aspired to
wear the helmet again, to win and wear
Orlando's casque. The startled Paynim
was specchless at first and then swore by
all his heather gods that never In fight
or foray would he again wear helmet until
he had made his own the casque OF the
great peer Orlando. Ferrau thought no
more now of Angelica, but set out to roam
the world until he should find Orlando and
win from him in fight his helmet.
Meantime Rinaldo, hurrying in pur-
suit of the feeting fair, had come
across his lost steed the good Bayardo.
who frightened by the tumut of the
recent battle, would not stop. even at |
the command Of his master. Rinaldo set |
out to catch the vagrant steed. and In
SO doing abandoned, for the time at
least his pursuit of Angelica. The
fugitive maiden fed for a day and a |