488 MR. A. G. SHIRREFF The mightiest, wisest, wariest brute of all, That straight the deep brain and the stubborn will Were void of every purpose or endeavour Save one, to be a willing slave for ever To him who wove such glamour by his skill. 13. At the crisp dawn of a cold weather day, The hour for active limbs and minds alert,- As the prince issued, debonair and gay, From his pavilion on the forest's skirt, A jungle dweller met him in the way, By whose outlandish speech he understood That a rogue elephant of girth and stature Surpassing far the wonted bounds of nature Was roving near at hand within the wood. 14. Taking his lyre, the prince was ready straight, And hastened forth, the stranger for his guide, By narrow devious paths to penetrate The darkling forest, dense on every side, Till in a little clearing he deseried, Following the woodman's gaze with straining eyes, (A screen of feathery grasses and a curtain Of coiled lianas made the view uncertain) What seemed an elephant of monstrous size, 15. Signalling to his guide to stay, he crept Stealthily forward for an arrow's flight, Then, as he reached the open, his heart leapt In triumph at the wonder of the sight; There stood indeed a monster, such as might Make him who rode it the world's arbiter, Or such as those huge four of poets' fable, Who keep the earth in all its quarters stable, Or shake wide realms with earthquake when they 16. But ever as he gazed his wonder grew Greater and greater, and his triumph less; Never had any living thing he knew Remained so long so strangely motionless. stir.
