Derrien attacked it as soon as he had rescued the
unfortunate Eilorn who, after giving over his slaves, his vassals and
his servants (he had no one left but his wife and son), had thrown
himself headlong from the top of the tower into the river; but the
monster, mortally wounded, and bound by the sash of its conqueror, soon
drowned itself in the sea, at Poulbeunzual,[4] like the crocodile of
Batz island, which obeyed the behest of Saint Pol de Leon and drowned
itself with the stole of the Breton saint wound around it. The gargoyle
of Rouen met a similar fate with the stole of Saint Romain.
How beautiful those terrific old dragons were, with their gaping,
fire-spitting jaws, their scales, their serpent-tails, their bat-wings,
their lion-claws, their equine bodies and fantastic heads! And the knight
who overpowered them was a wonderfully fine specimen of manhood! First,
his horse grew frightened and reared, and his lance broke on the scales
of the monster, whose fiery breath blinded him. Finally he alighted, and
after a day's battle, succeeded in sinking his sword up to the hilt in
the beasts belly. Black blood flowed in streams from the wound, the
audience escorted the knight home in triumph, and he became king and
married a fair maiden.
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