ASTOLFO’S

JOURNEY TO THE MOON

When the hippogriff loosened itself from the tree to which Ruggiero had tied it in the beautiful spot to which he descended with Angelica,[1] it soared away, like the faithful creature it was, to the house of its own master, Atlantes the magician.  But not long did it remain there—­no, nor the house itself, nor the magician; for the Paladin Astolfo came with a mighty horn given him by a greater magician, the sound of which overthrew all such abodes, and put to flight whoever heard it; and so the house of Atlantes vanished, and the enchanter fled; and the Paladin took possession of the griffin-horse, and rode away with it on farther adventures.

One of these was the deliverance of Senapus, king of Ethiopia, from the visitation of the dreadful harpies of old, who came infesting his table as they did those of AEneas and Phineus.  Astolfo drove them with his horse towards the sources of the river Nile, in the Mountains of the Moon, and pursued them with the hippogriff till they entered a great cavern, which, by the dreadful cries and lamentings that issued from the depths within it, the Paladin discovered to be the entrance from earth to Hell.

The daring Englishman, whose curiosity was excited, resolved to penetrate to the regions of darkness.  “What have I to fear?” thought he; “the horn will assist me, if I want it.  I’ll drive the triple-mouthed dog out of the way, and put Pluto and Satan to flight."[2]

Astolfo tied the hippogriff to a tree, and pushed forward in spite of a smoke that grew thicker and thicker, offending his eyes and nostrils.  It became, however, so exceedingly heavy and noisome, that he found it would be impossible to complete his enterprise.  Still he pushed forward as far as he could, especially as he began to discern in the darkness something that appeared to stir with an involuntary motion.  It looked like a dead body which has hung up many days in the rain and sun, and is waved unsteadily by the wind.  It turned out to be a condemned spirit in this first threshold of Hell, sentenced there, with thousands of others, for having been cruel and false in love.  Her name was Lydia, and she had been princess of the country so called.[3] Anaxarete was among them, who, for her hard-heartedness, became a stone; and Daphne, who now discovered how she had erred in making Apollo “run so much;” and multitudes of other women; but a far greater number of men—­men being worthier of punishment in offences of love, because women are proner to believe.  Theseus and Jason were among them; and Amnon, the abuser of Tamar; and he that disturbed the old kingdom of Latinus.[4]