adis of Gaul, because he had
a spirit that was equal to every occasion, and was no finikin knight,
nor lachrymose like his brother, while in the matter of valor he was
not a whit behind him. In short, he became so absorbed in his books
that he spent his nights from sunset to sunrise, and his days from
dawn to dark, poring over them; and what with little sleep and much
reading his brains got so dry that he lost his wits. His fancy grew
full of what he used to read about in his books--enchantments,
quarrels, battles, challenges, wounds, wooings, loves, agonies and all
sorts of impossible nonsense; and it so possest his mind that the
whole fabric of invention and fancy he read of was true, that to him
no history in the world had more reality in it. He used to say the Cid
Ruy Diaz was a very good knight, but that he was not to be compared
with the Knight of the Burning Sword, who with one back-stroke cut in
half two fierce and monstrous giants. He thought more of Bernardo del
Carpio because at Roncesvalles he slew Roland in spite of
enchantments, availing himself of the artifice of Hercules when he
strangled Antaeus the son of Terra in his arms. He approved highly of
the giant Morgante, because altho of the giant breed, which is always
arrogant and ill-conditioned, he alone was affable and well bred. But
above all he admired Reinaldos of Montalban; especially when he saw
him sallying forth from his castle and robbing every one he met, and
when beyond the seas he stole that image of Mohammed which, as history
says, was entirely of gold. And to have a bout of kicking at that
traitor of a Ganelon he would have given his housekeeper, and his
niece into the bargain.

In short, his wits were quite gone, he hit upon the strangest notion
that ever madman in this world hit upon: and that was that he fancied
it was right and requisite, as well for the support of his own honor
as for the service of his country, that he should make a knight-errant
of himself, roaming the world over in full armor and on horseback in
quest of adventures, and putting in practise himself all that he had
read of as being the usual practises of knights-errant; righting every
kind of wrong, and exposing himself to peril and danger from which, in
the issue, he was to reap eternal renown and fame. Already the poor
man saw himself crowned, by the might of his arm, Emperor of Trebizond
at least; and so, led away by the intense enjoyment he found in these
pleasan