e
marrow of bears and lions, that I taught you to subdue dragons, and,
like Hercules, strangle serpents in your youthful grasp, only to make
you, by all my cares, a feeble Adonis? My nightly watchings of the
stars, of the yet warm fibres of animals, the lots I have cast, the
points of nativity that I have calculated, have they all falsely
indicated that you were born for greatness? Who could have believed
that you would become the slave of a base enchantress? O Rogero, learn
to know this Alcina, learn to understand her arts and to countervail
them. Take this ring, place it on your finger, return to her presence,
and see for yourself what are her real charms."

At these words, Rogero, confused, abashed, cast his eyes upon the
ground, and knew not what to answer. Melissa seized the moment, slipped
the ring on his finger, and the paladin was himself again. What a
thunderclap to him! Overcome by shame, he dared not to encounter the
looks of his instructor. When at last he raised his eyes he beheld not
that venerable form, but the priestess Melissa, who in virtue of the
ring now appeared in her true person. She told him of the motives which
had led her to come to his rescue, of the griefs and regrets of
Bradamante, and of her unwearied search for him. "That charming
Amazon," she said, "sends you this ring, which is a sovereign antidote
to all enchantments. She would have sent you her heart in my hands, if
it would have had greater power to serve you."

It was needless for Melissa to say more. Rogero's love for Alcina,
being but the work of enchantment, vanished as soon as the enchantment
was withdrawn, and he now hated her with an equal intensity, seeing no
longer anything in her but her vices, and feeling only resentment for
the shame that she had put upon him.

His surprise when he again beheld Alcina was no less than his
indignation. Fortified by his ring from her enchantments, he saw her as
she was, a monster of ugliness. All her charms were artificial, and,
truly viewed, were rather deformities. She was, in fact, older than
Hecuba or the Sibyl of Cumae; but an art, which it is to be regretted
our times have lost, enabled her to appear charming, and to clothe
herself in all the attractions of youth. Rogero now saw all this, but,
governed by the counsels of Melissa, he concealed his surprise, assumed
under some pretext his armor, long neglected, and bound to his side
Belisarda, his trusty sword, taking also the buckler