human
Ha! That crossbow again! exclaimed Redward, in good-natured contempt.
gpt
Why, father?
human
Why, forsooth! Thou wert made a sturdy Englishman, with sinews and muscles wherewith to bend an honest longbow--not to have to turn a handle, like a butter-making wench, ere the bolt can be shot. And, moreover, suppose thou wert matched against an archer; before thy weapon were levelled I'll warrant there would be a dozen cloth-yard shafts bristling in thine hide--though one would be enough, I trow!
gpt
But the Genoese?
human
The Genoese, my son, were ever underhanded fighters, preferring to cause a gaping wound with a quarrel rather than a wholesome hole with an arrow. 'Tis said that on more than one occasion the Pope hath forbidden the use of the crossbow, and that the Second Lateran Council, a hundred years ago, did likewise.
gpt
How, then, do we find the crossbow still in use?
human
I cannot tell, Raymond, save it be the natural perversity of men. But here we are at the shore.