orsemen, who
had come to see the sport, scrambled on to the high dyke, from whence
they could survey the whole willow wood.

Martin had scarce advanced a hundred paces among the reeds when he heard
the snorting of the bull. For a moment he thought of calling to the
stranger youth, who had taken the other path, but pride restrained him.
Alone he would subdue the beast, and he boldly sought the spot from
whence the snorting proceeded.

There lay the huge beast in the midst of the reeds. He had buried
himself up to the knees in the swamp, and, whether from rage or for
amusement, had trampled down a large area of rushes all round about him.

When he heard the clatter of the approaching hoofs, he raised his head.
One horn, prematurely developed, bent forwards, the other stood up
straight and pointed. His sooty black forehead was covered with prickly
water-burrs, across his snout was the scar of a large and badly healed
wound.

On perceiving the approaching horseman, he immediately raised himself on
his fore feet and uttered a wild prolonged roar. Martin, who wished to
entice the beast on to solid ground, where he could grapple with him
better than in the midst of this unknown morass, and also, by way of
provocation, cracked his long whip loudly. Maddened still more by this
exasperating sound, the wild beast arose from his resting-place and
rushed upon the horseman, who immediately turned his horse and fled out
of the swamp, enticing after him the infuriated bull.

When the wild beast came out into the plain, looked about him, and saw
all the people standing on the dyke, as if guessing what they wanted to
do with him, he suddenly turned tail again, and snorting as he went,
angrily lay down again on the border of the swamp. Martin followed after
him, and again cracked his whip over the beast's head.

The bull roared at him, but did not budge from the spot. On the
contrary, he burrowed with his snout among the reeds, and however much
the young man might crack his whip, he only responded by beating the air
with his tail.

This supreme indifference irritated Martin, and, creeping closer to the
wild bull, he gave it a cut with his whip. The hooked steel wire plaited
round the end of the whip cut out a whole patch on the skin of the
savage beast, but it did not move. Another cut reached its neck,
chipping away the skin with a sharp crackle. The bull only grunted, but
did not stand up, and buried its head among the reeds to