206 Centaur, 



from the earth as if his entrails were hairs : le cluval volant, the 

 PegasUP, qui a les narnes dejeu ! When I bestride him I soar ; I 

 am a hawk. He trots the air; the earth sings when he touches 

 it ; the basest horn of his lioof is more musical than the pipe of 

 Hermes. 



Orl. He's the colour of the nutmeg. 



Dau. And of the heat of ginger. It is a beast for Perseus ; he 

 is pure air and fire, and the dull elements of earth and water 

 never appear in him. He is, indeed, a horse, and all other jacUs 

 you may call beasts. 



Con. Indeed, my lord, it is a most absolute and excellent 

 horse. 



Dau. It is a prince of jpaljreys ; his neigh is like the bidding 

 of a monarch, and his countenance enforces homage. 



Orl. No more, cousin. 



Dau. Nay, the man hath no wit that cannot, from the rising 

 of the lark to the lodging of the lamb, vary deserved praise on 

 my palfrey. It is a theme as fluent as the sea ; turn the sands 

 into eloquent tongues, and my horse is argument for them all ; 

 'tis a subject for a sovereign to reason on, and for a sovereign's 

 sovereign to ride on ; and for the world (familiar to us, and 

 unknown) to lay apart their particular functions, and wonder at 

 him. I once writ a sonnet in his praise, and began thus : — 



" Wonder of nature," — 



Orl. I have heard a sonnet begin so to one's mistress. 



Dau. Then did they imitate that which I composed to my 

 courser ; for my horse is my mistress. 



Orl. Your mistress bears well. 



Dau. Me well ; which is the prescript praise and perfection of 

 a good and particular mistress. 



Con. Ma foy ! the other day methought your mistress shrewdly 

 shook your back. 



Dau. So perhaps did yours. 



Con. Mine was not bridled. 



Dau. ! then belike she was old. and gentle, and you rode 

 like a Kerne of Ireland, your French hose off and in your straight 

 trossers. 



Con. You have good judgment in horsemanship. 



Dau. Be warned by me, then, that they who ride so, and ride 

 not warily, fall into foul bogs. I had rather have my horse to 

 my mistress. 



Thus we see the expressions, titles, and terms, used by 

 Sh;ikespeare nearly 300 years ago are still in vogue to day, 

 and in many instances cannot be improved upon. Anyway, 

 his love for, and kindness to the horse is a great example 

 and lesson lor the present generation; and not only for the 



