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THE TALES OF AYELSFARN (An Aethereal Menagerie)
 (Second Edition)
 Copyright 1991 by Robert Bryan Reinhardt
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 Includes all original and revised poetry and prose
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The Tales of Ayelsfarn; An Aetherial Managerie I  (1985)
The Tales of Ayelsfarn; An Aetherial Managerie II (1991)
Copyright 1985, 1991 by Robert Bryan Reinhardt
ISBN 0-8059-2988-6
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.c2.  O'Bryan

O'Bryan, continue your flight
To the land of Aethiopians
Where Seph is the King of the night
And Kassi is the Queen of sins.

Lo, a virgin tied to a rock,
Awaiting the approach of ravagement.
I startle at the sight and lower my flock
To ask before the advent of the sea-serpent:

"O virgin, undeserving of those chains,
But rather of such as bind fond lovers together,
Tell me, I beseech you, your name and the name
Of your country, and why you are thus bound."

After hasty hesitation
Finally the fair one retorts;
Giving her name, that of her country,
And her mother's pride of beauty
That has brought her to this fate.

Upon the arrival of her King and Queen,
The lamentations of her father and mother,
There came the monster, sea-shod, upon the scene,
Then I further spake that I might save her:

"There will be time enough for tears,
This hour is all we have for rescue.
My rank as the son of Jove
And my reknown as the slayer of the Gorgon
Might make me acceptable as suitor.
But, I will try to win her by services rendered,
If the god's will only be propitious.
If she be rescued by my valor,
I demand that she be my reward."

Now the monster was within a stone-throwers range
And I bound' youthfully, soaring into the air.
As if an eagle, I pounced from above to avoid its fangs.
I landed upon its neck, and restrained it with its hair.

I then darted upon its back
And plunged my sword deep within it shoulder.
My wings wet with the beast's blood,
I lept upon the nearest sea-shore boulder.

The beast as it floated past,
Received its deathblow from my hand.
Then the hills echoed with the sounds of joy, and alas
I was made heir to all and lord of the land.
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