THE HORSE AS AN EPIC CHARACTER 



citizens of Bordeaux, hearing of this, with one accord, 

 big and small, cried out: " Bayard took the horse and 

 Renaud took the master." The greatest service Bayard 

 ever rendered was during a great siege, when Renaud 

 and his brothers suffered terribly from famine. For 

 fourteen days, until relief came, the horse's blood, 

 drawn from him every day, kept them alive. 



We come now to the end of Bayard's career. Mar- 

 chegai, sharing AioFs prosperity, is honored and happy 

 in his old age. Bayard, partaking of Renaud's hard 

 fortunes, obtains sorrow and ill treatment as his lot. 

 When peace is declared between Charlemagne and the 

 rebelHous house of Montauban, Renaud was forced to 

 surrender his faithful companion. Charlemagne, only 

 too well pleased to be able to wreak vengeance upon 

 Bayard, had him thrown from a bridge with a stone 

 collar about his neck to ensure his drowning. There 

 was not a peer there but did weep for Bayard and cen- 

 sure the king. But Bayard did not die. He broke the 

 stone and fled to the forest of Ardennes, where once a 

 year, upon midsummer day, he can still be seen. The 

 poet dismisses him with a few harsh words. " When 

 he sees a man, he does not go up to him. No, he runs 

 away like an evil spirit unwiUing to serve God." 



The next horse, Sharatz, comes from Bulgaria, and 

 his exploits are described in the ballads about the 

 national hero Marko Kralyevich. Marko is told by his 

 mother that at the death of his father the latter's steed, 



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