e fight, the horses of the Tartars took such fright at the
sight of the elephants that they could not be got to face the foe, but
always swerved and turned back; whilst all the time the king and his
forces, and all his elephants, continued to advance upon them.[NOTE 2]

And when the Tartars perceived how the case stood, they were in great
wrath, and wist not what to say or do; for well enough they saw that unless
they could get their horses to advance, all would be lost. But their
Captain acted like a wise leader who had considered everything beforehand.
He immediately gave orders that every man should dismount and tie his horse
to the trees of the forest that stood hard by, and that then they should
take to their bows, a weapon that they know how to handle better than any
troops in the world. They did as he bade them, and plied their bows
stoutly, shooting so many shafts at the advancing elephants that in a short
space they had wounded or slain the greater part of them as well as of the
men they carried. The enemy also shot at the Tartars, but the Tartars had
the better weapons, and were the better archers to boot.

And what shall I tell you? Understand that when the elephants felt the
smart of those arrows that pelted them like rain, they turned tail and
fled, and nothing on earth would have induced them to turn and face the
Tartars. So off they sped with such a noise and uproar that you would have
trowed the world was coming to an end! And then too they plunged into the
wood and rushed this way and that, dashing their castles against the trees,
bursting their harness and smashing and destroying everything that was on
them.

So when the Tartars saw that the elephants had turned tail and could not
be brought to face the fight again, they got to horse at once and charged
the enemy. And then the battle began to rage furiously with sword and
mace. Right fiercely did the two hosts rush together, and deadly were the
blows exchanged. The king's troops were far more in number than the
Tartars, but they were not of such metal, nor so inured to war; otherwise
the Tartars who were so few in number could never have stood against them.
Then might you see swashing blows dealt and taken from sword and mace;
then might you see knights and horses and men-at-arms go down; then might
you see arms and hands and legs and heads hewn off: and besides the dead
that fell, many a wounded man, that never rose again, for the sore press
there wa