Canto X

And thus they came into the land of Poles,
Then into one the Indian controls.
For France and India are adjacent lands, —
The dangerous road between them though commands

The greatest courage, as you'll see from this:
The centre of the land but hilly is.
But then the hills grow step by step, — so high
That at the borders they reach to the sky.

Of course, the army here perspired much,
The men took off their cloaks, neckties and such.
By the eternal! Was'nt the burning sun
Away from them but just an hour's run?

They did not eat aught else but chunks of air,
It was quite hard, each man bit off his share:
How they obtained their drink was really fun:
They wrung a cloudlet and the trick was done.

They finally had reached the mountains' top.
It was so hot, that they were forced to stop
To march in day time, so they walked at night,
This too was dangerous, their horses might

— They feared, — e'en stumble o'er the shining stars.
— Stars in a rider's way, his progress bars; —
John mused: "Whene'er a star shoots from the sky,
" — 'T is said — it means a human life must die.

"Thy fortune 'tis, mean step-mother below
"That I, which is your life's star do not know.
"For if I did, you'd torture her no more,
I would kick your star out of heaven's door."

Then the descent began and soon the land
Would into fields of wide lowland expand,
The heat abates with each step they advance,
And ceases when they enter into France.