ve been considered by his lady-readers, uninteresting
barbarians. He therefore allowed them good spurs and a ready lance; this
meant civilization. On a certain day every knight appears in the vale of
Arcady, with drawn sword, and carrying a portrait of his fair lady; the
painting is to become the prey of the conqueror. The order of merit of
the various beauties is thus determined by blows of the lance. Pyrocles,
who, dressed as a woman, cannot take part in the fighting, has the
mortification of seeing the champion of Philoclea bite the dust and give
up her portrait. He goes immediately and secretly puts on some wretched
armour, lowers his visor, and like a brave hero of romance, runs into
the lists, throws every one to the ground, regains the portrait, and all
the others as well. He is proclaimed conqueror of the tourney, and the
first of knights, while at the same time, Philoclea becomes again the
most beautiful of women.

In this Arcadia of chivalry it must not be thought that only cottages
and huts are to be found; sometimes the heroes sleep soundly in the open
air, but seldom. In this country there are palaces like those of the
rich English lords. The dwelling of the noble Kalander is of this
number. The park is magnificent, and quite in the style of the
Elizabethans, that style which is so minutely described in Bacon's
"Essay on gardens." It did not differ much from the park at Kenilworth,
a place well known to Sidney: "whearin, hard all along the castell wall
iz reared a pleazaunt terres of a ten foot hy and a twelve brode, even
under foot, and fresh of fyne grass: as iz allso the side thearof toward
the gardein, in whiche by sundry equall distauncez, with obelisks,
sphearz and white bearz [bears], all of stone, upon theyr curiouz basez,
by goodly shew wear set; too theez, too fine arbers redolent by sweete
trees and floourz, at ech end one, the garden plot under that, with fayr
alleyz green by grass." There were fountains with marble Tritons, with
Neptune on his throne, and "Thetis on her chariot drawn by her
Dollphins,"[197] with many other gods and goddesses.

Kalander's gardens in Arcady were of the same sort; their adornments
were not very sober, and many eccentricities are presented as beauties;
thus the fashion of the day would have it; Versailles in comparison is
simplicity itself. Kalander and his guest go round the place, and "as
soone as the descending of the staires had delivered them downe, they
came