great dragoun, that is a hundred fadme in length as men seyne, for I have not seen hire, and thei of the isles callen hire Ladie of the Land." It is probable then, that the story of Espertius was conveyed to the author of Tirante by some obscure, but prevalent tradition; and, through the medium of this work, a similar fiction has been adopted in innumerable tales of wonder and many romantic poems. In the 25th and 26th cantos of the second book of the Orlando Innamorato, the paladin Brandimarte, after surmounting many obstacles, penetrates into the recesses of an enchanted palace. Here he finds a fair damsel seated upon a tomb, who announces to him, that in order to achieve her deliverance, he must raise the lid of the sepulchre, and kiss whatever being should issue forth. The knight, having pledged his faith, proceeds to open the tomb, out of which a monstrous snake raises itself with a tremendous hiss. Brandimarte with much reluctance fulfils the conditions of the adventure, and the monster is instantly changed into a beautiful fairy, who loads her deliverer with benefits (Scott's Minstrelsy, vol. II. p. 84). In the ballad of Kempion, the prince of that name effects a similar transformation by a similar effort. There is a like story in the 6th tale of the Contes Amou

reux de Jean Flore, written towards the end of the fifteenth century.

The second provincial romance to which I formerly alluded, is that of

PARTENOPEX DE BLOIS,

which was written in the Catalonian dialect in the 13th century, and printed at Tarragona in 1488. The Castilian translation appeared at Alcala, 1513, 4to, and afterwards in 1547. M. Le Grand, however, has endeavoured to establish that this work was originally French, and informs us that his own modern version, appended to his Contes et Fabliaux, is made from a manuscript poem in the li brary of St Germain des Pres, which he conjectures to be of the 12th century.

The princess Amelor succeeded her father Julien in the Greek empire. Though well qualified to govern, from her natural talents, and the advantages derived from a knowledge of magic, her subjects insisted on her selecting a husband, but left

Libro del esforzado Cavallero Conde Partinuples que fue Emperador de Constantinopla.

her two years for the choice. She accordingly despatched emissaries to all the courts of Europe, with instructions to enable these messengers to make a judicious election.

At this time there lived in France a young man, called Partenopex de Blois, who was nephew to the king of Paris. One day, while hunting with his uncle in the forest of Ardennes, he is separated from his party while pursuing a wild boar, and night falling, he loses his way in the woods. On the following day, after long wandering, he comes to the sea-shore, and perceives a splendid vessel moored near the land, which he enters to see if any person was on board, but he finds no one. Now this pinnace happened to be enchanted, and, disdaining the vulgar operations of a pilot, as soon as Partenopex had embarked, it spontaneously steered a right course, and after a prosperous voyage, arrived in the bay of a delightful country. Vessels of this sort are common in romance. There is one in the beautiful fabliau of Gugemar. In the 7th canto of the Rinaldo we have an enchanted bark, which was solely directed by the force of magic, and invariably conducted the knights who entered it to some splendid adventure. There is also a self-navigated gondelay in Spenser's Faery Queen, b. ii. c. 6 :—

Eftsoones her shallow ship away did slide,
More swift than swallow sheres the liquid skye,
Withouten oare or pilot it to guide,

Or winged canvas with the wind to fly;

For it was taught the way which she would have,
And both from rocks and flats itself could wisely save.

The finest of these barks is that which conducts the Christian knights, in their search of Rinaldo, to the residence of Armida. This fiction, however, was not the invention of the middle ages, but is of classical origin; vessels of this nature being described by Alcinous to Ulysses, in the 8th book of the Odyssey:

So shalt thou instant reach the realms assigned
In wondrous ships self-moved, inspired with mind;
No helm secures their course, no pilot guides,
Like man, intelligent, they plough the tides,
Conscious of every coast, and every bay,
That lies beneath the sun's all-seeing ray;
Though clouds and darkness veil the encumber'd sky,
Fearless through darkness and through clouds they fly.

Partenopex having disembarked from his magical conveyance, approached and entered a castle of marvellous extent and beauty, which stood near the harbour. In the saloon, which was lighted by diamonds, he finds prepared an exquisite repast,

but no one appears. Attendance could be the better dispensed with, as the dainties placed themselves of their own accord on his lips. After he had taken advantage of their hospitality, a lighted torch shewed him the way to his bed-chamber, where he was undressed by invisible hands. The notion of such a palace, like many other incidents in this romance, must have been suggested by the story of Cupid and Psyche in Apuleius. A similar fiction has been adopted by the earliest romantic poet of Italy. In the second canto of the Morgante Maggiore, that giant comes with his master Orlando to a splendid and mysterious castle, in which the apartments are richly furnished, and the tables spread with every sort of wines and provisions. After the guests have partaken of a sumptuous repast, they retire to rest on rich couches prepared for their repose, no one having appeared. in the course of the entertainment.

When Partenopex had gone to bed, and the light had been extinguished, a lady entered the apartment, who, after some tedious expostulation on the freedom he had used in usurping the usual place of her repose, evinced a strong determina, tion not to be put out of her way. In the course of the night his companion acquaints him that she is Melior of Constantinople, who, it will be remem