gard
Of her chast person, and a faithfull mate 75
Of her sad troubles and misfortunes hard:
Still when she slept, he kept both watch and ward,[*]
And when she wakt, he waited diligent,
With humble service to her will prepard:
From her faire eyes he tooke commaundement, 80
And ever by her lookes conceived her intent.

X

Long she thus traveiled through deserts wyde,
By which she thought her wandring knight shold pas,
Yet never shew of living wight espyde;
Till that at length she found the troden gras, 85
In which the tract of peoples footing was,
Under the steepe foot of a mountaine hore;
The same she followes, till at last she has
A damzell spyde[*] slow footing her before,
That on her shoulders sad a pot of water bore. 90

XI

To whom approching she to her gan call,
To weet, if dwelling place were nigh at hand;
But the rude wench her answerd nought at all;
She could not heare, nor speake, nor understand;
Till seeing by her side the Lyon stand, 95
With suddaine feare her pitcher downe she threw,
And fled away: for never in that land
Face of faire Ladie she before did vew,
And that dread Lyons looke her cast in deadly hew.[*]

XII

Full fast she fled, ne never lookt behynd, 100
As if her life upon the wager lay,[*]
And home she came, whereas her mother blynd[*]
Sate in eternall night: nought could she say,
But suddaine catching hold, did her dismay
With quaking hands, and other signes of feare; 105
Who full of ghastly fright and cold affray,
Gan shut the dore. By this arrived there
Dame Una, wearie Dame, and entrance did requere.

XIII

Which when none yeelded, her unruly Page[*]
With his rude claws the wicket open rent, 110
And let her in; where of his cruell rage
Nigh dead with feare, and faint astonishment,
She found them both in darkesome corner pent;
Where that old woman day and night did pray
Upon her beads devoutly penitent; 115
Nine hundred _Pater nosters_[*] every day,
And thrise nine hundred _Aves_ she was wont to say.

XIV

And to augment her painefull pennance more,
Thrise every weeke in ashes she did sit,
And ne