FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   731   732   733   734   735   736   737   738   739   740   741   742   743   744   745   746   747   748   749   750   751   752   753   754   >>  
t up the rear, was a monstrous sort of a thing; for his lower parts were like a goat's, his thighs hairy, and his horns bolt upright; a crimson fiery phiz, and a beard that was none of the shortest. He was a bold, stout, daring, desperate fellow, very apt to take pepper in the nose for yea and nay. In his left hand he held a pipe, and a crooked stick in his right. His forces consisted also wholly of satyrs, aegipanes, agripanes, sylvans, fauns, lemures, lares, elves, and hobgoblins, and their number was seventy-eight thousand one hundred and fourteen. The signal or word common to all the army was Evohe. Chapter 5.XL. How the battle in which the good Bacchus overthrew the Indians was represented in mosaic work. In the next place we saw the representation of the good Bacchus's engagement with the Indians. Silenus, who led the van, was sweating, puffing, and blowing, belabouring his ass most grievously. The ass dreadfully opened its wide jaws, drove away the flies that plagued it, winced, flounced, went back, and bestirred itself in a most terrible manner, as if some damned gad-bee had stung it at the breech. The satyrs, captains, sergeants, and corporals of companies, sounding the orgies with cornets, in a furious manner went round the army, skipping, capering, bounding, jerking, farting, flying out at heels, kicking and prancing like mad, encouraging their companions to fight bravely; and all the delineated army cried out Evohe! First, the Maenades charged the Indians with dreadful shouts, and a horrid din of their brazen drums and bucklers; the air rung again all around, as the mosaic work well expressed it. And pray for the future don't so much admire Apelles, Aristides the Theban, and others who drew claps of thunder, lightnings, winds, words, manners, and spirits. We then saw the Indian army, who had at last taken the field to prevent the devastation of the rest of their country. In the front were the elephants, with castles well garrisoned on their backs. But the army and themselves were put into disorder; the dreadful cries of the Bacchae having filled them with consternation, and those huge animals turned tail and trampled on the men of their party. There you might have seen gaffer Silenus on his ass, putting on as hard as he could, striking athwart and alongst, and laying about him lustily with his staff after the old fashion of fencing. His ass was prancing and making after the eleph
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   731   732   733   734   735   736   737   738   739   740   741   742   743   744   745   746   747   748   749   750   751   752   753   754   >>  



Top keywords:

Indians

 

satyrs

 

Silenus

 

dreadful

 

mosaic

 

Bacchus

 
prancing
 
manner
 

expressed

 

Theban


Apelles

 
admire
 

Aristides

 

future

 
brazen
 

encouraging

 

companions

 
delineated
 

bravely

 

kicking


capering

 

jerking

 

farting

 
flying
 

skipping

 
bucklers
 

bounding

 

charged

 

Maenades

 

shouts


horrid

 

Indian

 

gaffer

 

animals

 

turned

 

trampled

 

putting

 

fashion

 

fencing

 

making


lustily
 

striking

 

athwart

 

alongst

 

laying

 

consternation

 

furious

 

devastation

 

prevent

 

lightnings