WILD SPORT IN BRITTANY. 317 



Telamon, a ringing cheer bursts from the crowd, and both 

 heroes prepare forthwith for the encounter. 



" Certain preliminaries, however, are still necessary before the 

 struggle actually begins. In order to give proof that no enmity 

 exists between them, the two combatants advance to the centre 

 of the ring, and, shaking hands cordially, swear that as they 

 commence the contest in a friendly spirit, so will they continue 

 to regard each other after the struggle is over. They then make 

 the sign of the cross, to indicate that they are Christians, and 

 have neither had recourse to witchcraft, enchanted herbs, nor 

 made compact with the devil, who, at the expense of their 

 eternal damnation, might give them superhuman strength for the 

 battle. This ceremony over, they and the crowd feel satisfied 

 that so far no foul play has been imported into the match, and 

 that the combatants go to work on equal terms." 



They then seize each other, shoulder and hip, deliberately 

 and firmly ; and, with legs apart and foreheads fixed against 

 each other, like two rafters of a house, " each propping each," 

 the beams of their backs fairly creak, and the sweat runs down 

 like rain, as, interlocked and with a lively use of the heel on, 

 the hollow of the knee, they tug, they strain, till at length one,, 

 more breathless and exhausted than the other, is uplifted bodily 

 in the air and thrown on the flat of his back heavily to the 

 ground. 



The prize is then awarded to the victor ; not such, however, 

 as Achilles offered when Ajax and Ulysses strove in vain for the 

 mastery not a fireproof tripod, valued at twelve oxen, to the 

 champion ; nor a damsel, valued at four oxen, to the vanquished ; 

 no, the first prize at Pleyben is simply a hat fluffy, broad- 

 brimmed, and heavy as the helmet of a dragoon ; but yet con- 

 tended for with as much earnestness and honesty as if it had 

 been a crown of gold. 



The wrestlers being barefooted, there was none of that savage 



