Chapter 15 - Page 2

the
tables, seizing the food from the dishes, and overturning everything
with the flapping of their broad wings. In vain the guests struck at
them with knives and any weapons which they had, and Astolpho drew his
sword and gave them repeated blows, which seemed to have no more
effect upon them than if their bodies had been made of tow.
At last Astolpho thought of his horn. He first gave warning to the
king and his guests to stop their ears; then blew a blast. The
Harpies, terrified at the sound, flew away as fast as their wings
could carry them. The paladin mounted his Hippogriff, and pursued
them, blowing his horn as often as he came near them. They stretched
their flight towards the great mountain, at the foot of which there is
a cavern, which is thought to be the mouth of the infernal abodes.
Hither those horrid birds flew, as if to their home. Having seen
them all disappear in the recess, Astolpho cared not to pursue them
farther, but, alighting, rolled huge stones into the mouth of the
cave, and piled branches of trees therein, so that he effectually
barred their passage out, and we have no evidence of their ever having
been seen since in the outer air.
After this labor, Astolpho refreshed himself by bathing in a
fountain whose pure waters bubbled from a cleft of the rock. Having
rested awhile, an earnest desire seized him of ascending the
mountain which towered above him. The Hippogriff bore him swiftly
upwards, and landed him on the top of the mountain, which he found
to be an extensive plain.
A splendid palace rose in the middle of this plain, whose walls
shone with such brilliancy that mortal eyes could hardly bear the
sight. Astolpho guided the winged horse towards this edifice, and made
him poise himself in the air while he took a leisurely survey of
this favored spot and its environs. It seemed as if nature and art had
striven with one another to see which could do the most for its
embellishment.
Astolpho, on approaching the edifice, saw a venerable man advance to
meet him. This personage was clothed in a long vesture as white as
snow, while a mantle of purple covered his shoulders, and hung down to
the ground. A white beard descended to his middle, and his hair, of
the same color, overshadowed his shoulders. His eyes were so
brilliant, that Astolpho felt persuaded that he was a blessed
inhabitant of the heavenly mansions.
The sage, smiling benignantly upon the paladin, who from respect had
dismounted from his horse, said to him: "Noble chevalier, know that it
is by the Divine will you have been brought to the terrestrial
paradise. Your mortal nature could not have borne to scale these
heights and reach these seats of bliss if it were not the will of
Heaven that you should