99 - Concerning what happened to Prince João with a bear and a boar while he was out hunting

Summary

King Fernando was very eager to hunt both large and small game whenever he knew good hunting was to be had, deriving great pleasure and enjoyment from it. As he was assured that the lands of Beira and along the banks of the River Coa had good hunting for bears and a great abundance of boars, he made himself ready with all his household and that of the queen and many large game huntsmen with running hounds and alaunts and made their way to that region. There, a great number of animals were killed, and one day it so happened that Prince João encountered a huge bear. He got so near it in order to strike at close range that the bear reared up on its hind legs, raising its front legs to snatch him from the saddle. When the prince saw this, he hoisted himself up so high above the saddle that he was right over the pommel. Reaching out his paws to seize him, the bear wrenched off the cantle of the tavarenha saddle which they then used, along with a great quiver hanging by the horse's hindquarters. Despite all this, the prince did not leave the bear and thus, without cantle and on an injured horse, he twisted round to strike it and did not desist until others arrived and helped him to take it with javelins.

Another time it happened that he put up a very large boar, following its scent with great difficulty, over a long distance, day and night, until it was tired out. After he had cornered it, he ordered his page, who was carrying his javelin, to hurry and call up those on horseback, the huntsmen and the beaters, and to bring him his two alaunts. He loved these dogs so much that they slept in his bed at night on either side of him. One was called Bravor, which his brother the Master of Avis had given him, and the other was called Rabez, sent to him by Fernán Pérez de Andrade, the uncle of Ruy Freire of Galicia.

By the time the company was all assembled, it was very late because they had come from far away.