It was an inspiration of the master's. He had resolved to risk his bull
to save human life. At the same moment the fat, round, rosy face of our
landlord appeared through the skylight of the stable, crying to the crowd
not to be alarmed, for that he would open the inner door which abuts into
the old synagogue, and let out the crowd by the Jews' street, which was
done in two or three minutes, to the immense relief and comfort of the
public.
But now listen to the end of my story.
Scarcely had the bear caught sight of the bull when he made an ugly rush
upon this new adversary with so terrible a shock that the chain burst.
The bull retired, facing his foe, to a corner of the court near the
pigeon-cote, and there, head well down between his short legs and horns
presented, he awaited the shock of war.
The bear made several feints, slipping along by the wall from right
to left; but the bull, with his forehead almost touching the ground,
followed the enemy's movements with marvellous coolness.
In five minutes the galleries had been cleared; the noise of the crowd
taking refuge down the Jews' street was becoming more remote, and this
manoeuvring of the two huge brutes seemed as if they were meditating
a drawn battle, when suddenly the bull, losing patience, threw himself
upon the bear with the whole momentum of his monstrous bulk.
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