THE KING'S MIRROR 103 



are unheard of. But if I should express surprise at any 

 of those tales that are told in that book, it seems to me 

 not least wonderful that manikins are able to subdue 

 those great winged dragons which infest the mountains 

 and desert places there, as the book tells us, and tame 

 them so completely that men are able to ride them just as 

 they please like horses, fierce and venomous beasts though 

 they are said to be and not inclined to allow men in their 

 neighborhood, still less to be tamed and to do service. 



Father. Both such and many other tales are told in 

 that book which seem so marvelous that many express 

 their doubts about them; but it seems to me that there 

 is no need to compare the wonders that are described 

 there with those that we have in our own country, which 

 would seem as strange to men yonder as those that you 

 have just mentioned seem to us. For it must be possible 

 to tame wild beasts and other animals, though they be 

 fierce and difficult to manage. But it would seem a 

 greater marvel to hear about men who are able to tame 

 trees and boards, so that by fastening boards seven or 

 eight ells long under his feet, a man, who is no fleeter 

 than other men when he is barefooted or shod merely 

 with shoes, is made able to pass the bird on the wing, 

 or the fleetest greyhound that runs in the race, or the 

 reindeer which leaps twice as fast as the hart. For there 

 is a large number of men who run so well on skis that 

 they can strike down nine reindeer with a spear, or even 

 more, in a single run. Now such things must seem incred- 

 ible, unlikely, and marvelous in all those lands where 

 men do not know with what skill and cleverness it is 

 possible to train the board to such great fleetness that 



