34 THE MASTER OF GAME 



well live an hundred years ^ and the older he is 

 the fairer he is of body and of head, and more 

 lecherous, but he is not so swift, nor so light, 

 nor so mighty. And many men say, but I make 

 no affirmation upon that, when he is right old he 

 beateth a serpent with his foot till she be wrath, 

 and then he eateth her and then goeth to drink, 

 and then runneth hither and thither to the water 

 till the venom be mingled together and make him 

 cast all his evil humours that he had in his body, 

 and maketh his flesh come all new.^ The head of 

 the hart beareth medicine against the hardness of 

 the sinews and is good to take away all aches, espe- 

 cially when these come from cold : and so is the 

 marrow. They have a bone within the heart 

 which hath great medicine, for it comforteth the 

 heart, and helpeth for the cardiac, and many other 

 things which were too long to write, the which 

 bear medicine and be profitable in many diverse 

 manners. The hart is more wise in two things 

 than is any man or other beast, the one is in 

 tasting of herbs, for he hath better taste and better 

 savour and smelleth the good herbs and leaves 

 and other pastures and meating the which be 

 profitable to him, better than any man or beast. 

 The other is that he hath more wit and malice 



* Most old writers on the natural history of deer repeat this 

 fable. See Appendix : Hart. 

 2 See Appendix : Hart. 



