ON COLKSINO. 



107 



Tliose are tlie strongest hares which have their forms in Chap. XVI. 

 open and exposed places ; ^ for, IVoni boldness, they do not Hares. 



Tliey wrench her once or twice, ere she a turn will take, 



What's offer'd by tlie first, the other good doth make ; 



And turn for turn again with equal speed they ply, 



Bestirring their swift feet with strange agility : 



A harden'd ridge or way, wlien if the hare do win. 



Then as sliot from a bow she from the dogs doth spin, 



That strive to put her off, but when he cannot reach her, 



This giving him a coat, about again doth fetch her 



To him that comes behind, which seems tlie hare to bear ; 



But with a nimble turn she casts them both ariear : 



Till oft for want of breath to fall to ground they make her, 



The greyhounds both so spent that they want breath to take her. 



For the indications of speed, and strength of course, in the hare, see L'Ecole de la 

 Chasse, c. iv. " Lievre vigoureux, bon a chasser," &c. " The hare that renneth," 

 says Ue Langley, " w'. right stondyng eeres is but litel a ferd and is strong ; and 

 zit whan she iioldeth that oone eere upryght stondyng and that other y leyde lowe 

 upon her ryge, she fereth but litel the houndes. An hare that crompes hure tayle 

 upon hure rumpe whan she sterleth out of here forme, as a conyng, it is token she is 

 stronge and wele rennyng." 



1. Xenophon enters most fully into the description of the hare, her habits, haunts, 

 &c. — iroSwKecrTaToi fiev ai/v ^lalv ol opeioi, oi ireSivol 5e t/ttoj', PpaSuTaroi 5e ol f\eioi. 

 And so also ^lian, with some difference as to the speed of the mountain and plain 

 hares — Aayca 8e opeioi ovk ovtoos rax^^s ixTirepovv ol rois ireSiois ivoiKovyres, el fxii Trore 

 &pa KaKUfoi TceSlou exoiev viroKelixepov, iv cp KariovTes SiaOeovai, See also Polluc. 

 Onomast. L. v. c. xii. and Varr. de 11. R. L. in. c. xii. Much of Xenophon's 

 description is versified by Oppian : 



■nrwKas aeiSwuev, 6ripr\s iplSaipov unupriv 



(TWfjLa ireAet rirrGhv, \d(nov' Bo\iX'iTaTov oZas' 



0aihv virepdf Ktiprj, $aiol Tr({Ses, ovk taa. Kw\a, k. t. K. 



iWagstrr of 

 (Same. c. III. 



fol. 19. 



De Venat. 



De Natura. 



Animal. 



L. XIII. c. I4> 



Cyneget. 

 L. III. vs. 504. 



" Of hares soom goon faster and ben stronger than other, as of men and of other 

 beestis. And also the pasture and the contre wher thei abiden helpeth moche there- 

 to ; ffor whan an hare abideth and formeth in a playn contre ther as no busshes be, 

 suche hares ben comoniy strengest and wel rennyng. And also whan thei pasture of 

 too herbes, that oon is clepyd sorpol and that other pulegium, thei be stronge and fast 

 rennyng." 



/Waystrr of 



©amp. c. HI. 



fol. 20. 



