date, and, if the priest were a very old man when he died,
his tale would belong to the eleventh century.

With these prefatory remarks, I will give the legend as recorded by
Giraldus.

1. _Elidorus and the Fairies_.

"A short time before our days, a circumstance worthy of note occurred in
these parts, which Elidorus, a priest, most strenuously affirmed had
befallen to himself.

When a youth of twelve years, and learning his letters, since, as Solomon
says, 'The root of learning is bitter, although the fruit is sweet,' in
order to avoid the discipline and frequent stripes inflicted on him by
his preceptor, he ran away and concealed himself under the hollow bank of
the river. After fasting in that situation for two days, two little men
of pigmy stature appeared to him, saying, 'If you will come with us, we
will lead you into a country full of delights and sports.' Assenting and
rising up, he followed his guides through a path, at first subterraneous
and dark, into a most beautiful country, adorned with rivers and meadows,
woods and plains, but obscure, and not illuminated with the full light of
the sun. All the days were cloudy, and the nights extremely dark, on
account of the absence of the moon and stars. The boy was brought before
the King, and introduced to him in the presence of the court; who, having
examined him for a long time, delivered him to his son, who was then a
boy. These men were of the smallest stature, but very well proportioned
in their make; they were all of a fair complexion, with luxuriant hair
falling over their shoulders like that of women. They had horses and
greyhounds adapted to their size. They neither ate flesh nor fish, but
lived on milk diet, made up into messes with saffron. They never took an
oath, for they detested nothing so much as lies. As often as they
returned from our upper hemisphere, they reprobated our ambition,
infidelities, and inconstancies; they had no form of public worship,
being strict lovers and reverers, as it seemed, of truth.

The boy frequently returned to our hemisphere, sometimes by the way he
had first gone, sometimes by another; at first in company with other
persons, and afterwards alone, and made himself known only to his mother,
declaring to her the manners, nature, and state of that people. Being
desired by her to bring a present of gold, with which that region
abounded, he stole, while at play with the king's son, the golden ball
with whi