[011]
Having so said, she quitted the house on one side, while her
husband did so on the other; and forthwith, shunning observation as
best she might, she hied her to the wood, and hid her where 'twas
most dense, and there waited on the alert, and glancing, now this
way and now that, to see if any were coming.
[012]
And while thus she
stood, nor ever a thought of a wolf crossed her mind, lo, forth of
a close covert hard by came a wolf of monstrous size and appalling
aspect, and scarce had she time to say, God help me! before he sprang
upon her and griped her by the throat so tightly that she might not
utter a cry, but, passive as any lambkin, was borne off by him, [013]and
had certainly been strangled, had he not encountered some shepherds,
who with shouts compelled him to let her go. The shepherds
recognized the poor hapless woman, and bore her home, where the
physicians by dint of long and careful treatment cured her; howbeit
the whole of her throat and part of her face remained so disfigured
that,
fair as she had been before, she was ever thereafter most foul
and hideous to look upon.
[014]
Wherefore, being ashamed to shew her
face, she did many a time bitterly deplore her perversity, in that, when
it would have cost her nothing, she would nevertheless pay no heed
to the true dream of her husband.
