1 64 THE HORSE IN HISTORY 



Saracen, held secret consultations with Fronta- 

 letto, and the horse could understand its master's 

 every word. 



Rinaldo's horse, Bajardo, made famous in 

 Ariosto's celebrated book, was a bright bay and 

 very fast, and at one time it had belonged to 

 Amadis of Gaul. When Malagigi, the wizard, 

 found it in the cave guarded by "a dragon of 

 great size," he at once, at considerable personal 

 risk, attacked the dragon, which in the end he 

 succeeded in slaying. 



According to the legend, Bajardo is still alive, 

 but under no circumstances can man approach it, 

 nor will any man ever do so. Though Bajardo 

 figures in several stories, it occurs first in " Orlando 

 Furioso." 



The original of Rinaldo was the son of the 

 fourth Marquis d'Este, and Malagigi was Rin- 

 aldo's cousin. The habit of drawing fictitious 

 characters to resemble closely living persons, or 

 well-known persons of a previous period, was 

 very prevalent among the writers of the sixteenth 

 century, and therefore it often is difficult to dis- 

 associate the real from the fictitious character. 



This may be said too of the horses that we 

 come upon in some of the better-known of the 

 old-world romances. 



Indeed in several stories that could be named, 

 the famous chargers of notable princes can be 

 recognised under several assumed names. 



