Arthurian Romances (58 page)

‘What?' she said. ‘When will my lord Yvain come?'

‘He is already here.'

‘He is here? Then have him come at once, secretly and privately while there is no one here with me. See to it that no one else comes, for I would hate to see a fourth person.'

The damsel departed at once. She returned to her guest, but did not betray on her face the joy that her heart felt; instead, she said that her lady
knew that she had been keeping him there, adding: ‘By God, my lord Yvain, there's no use hiding any more since word of you has spread so far that my lady knows you are here. She's reproached me harshly and has quarrelled sharply with me over it, but she's given me her word that I can bring you into her presence without fear of hurting or endangering you. And she will not harm you in any way, I believe, except that – and I mustn't lie to you about this, for I would be betraying you – she wants to have you in her prison, and she wants you imprisoned in such a way that not even your heart would be free.'

‘Indeed,' he said, ‘I am in complete agreement. This would not hurt me at all, for I very much want to be in her prison.'

‘And you shall be, I swear by this right hand that I hold you with. Come forth now, but remember my advice and behave so humbly in her presence that she will not imprison you harshly. Yet you needn't trouble yourself about this: I don't believe you'll find such imprisonment too unpleasant.'

Thus the damsel led him along, troubling him, then reassuring him, and speaking in veiled words of the prison in which he was to be put – for no lover is without imprisonment. So she is right to call him a prisoner, for anyone who loves is a prisoner.

The damsel led my lord Yvain by the hand to where he will be much cherished; yet he feared he would be unwelcome, and it is no wonder that he was afraid. They found the lady seated upon a large red cushion. I assure you that my lord Yvain was very frightened as he entered the room where they found the lady. She spoke not a word to him; this caused him to be more terrified, and he was frozen with fear because he was sure he had been betrayed. He stood a long while there until the damsel spoke up and said: ‘Five hundred curses be on the soul of anyone who brings into a fair lady's room a knight who won't approach her and hasn't tongue or words or sense enough to introduce himself!'

With that she pulled him by the arm, saying: ‘Come over here, sir knight, and don't be frightened that my lady will bite you! Now ask her for peace and reconciliation, and I too will beg her to pardon you the death of Esclados the Red, who was her husband.'

My lord Yvain immediately clasped his hands, fell to his knees, and spoke as a true lover: ‘My lady, in truth I'll not seek your mercy, but will instead thank you for whatever you may choose to do with me, for nothing could displease me.'

‘Nothing, sir? And if I should kill you?'

‘My lady, great thanks be to you; you will never hear me say otherwise.'

‘Never before,' she said, ‘have I heard such a thing: you freely place yourself so completely in my power without the slightest instruction from me?'

‘My lady, it is no lie to state that there is no power so potent as the one that commands me to consent to your will in everything. I am not afraid of doing anything that it may please you to command of me, and if I could make amends for the slaughter, in which I did no wrong, then I would make it good without question.'

‘What?' she said. ‘Now tell me, if you want to be absolved of all punishment, how you killed my husband and yet did me no wrong?'

‘My lady, if you please,' he said, ‘when your husband attacked me was I wrong to defend myself? If someone who tries to kill or capture another is himself killed by the other in self-defence, tell me: does that man commit any wrong?'

‘Not at all, if one judges rightly; and I think it would not be to my credit if I were to have you killed. Now I would gladly know what gives you the conviction to consent to my wishes without question. I absolve you of all wrongs and misdeeds; but sit down now and tell me what has overpowered you.'

‘My lady,' he said, ‘the power comes from my heart, which commits itself to you; my heart has given me this desire.'

‘And what controls your heart, good sir?'

‘My eyes, my lady.'

‘And what controls your eyes?'

‘The great beauty I see in you.'

‘And what wrong has beauty done?'

‘My lady, such that it makes me love.'

‘Love, then whom?'

‘You, my dear lady.'

‘Me?'

‘Indeed yes.'

‘In what way?'

‘To the fullest extent: so that my heart does not stray from you, and I never find it elsewhere; so that I cannot think of anything else; so that I give myself entirely to you; so that I love you more than myself; so that, should it please you, I would gladly live or die for you.'

‘And would you dare to undertake to defend my spring for me?'

‘Indeed, yes, my lady, against all men.'

‘Know then that we are reconciled.'

And so they were swiftly reconciled. And the lady, who had consulted
earlier with her barons, said: ‘From here we shall proceed to this hall where my people are present, who advised and counselled me in view of the need, and authorized me to take a husband, which I will do, given the necessity. Here and now I give myself to you, for I should not refuse to marry a man who is both a good knight and a king's son.'

Now the damsel has accomplished all that she had set out to do. My lord Yvain was not upset, I can certainly tell you, as the lady took him with her into the hall, which was filled with knights and men-at-arms. My lord Yvain was so fair that they all gazed on him in wonder. Then everybody rose as the two of them entered, and they greeted my lord Yvain and bowed before him, surmising: ‘He is the one my lady will take; cursed be anyone who opposes her, for he seems exceptionally noble. Indeed, the Empress of Rome would find in him a worthy spouse. Would that he were already pledged to her and she to him with bare hand, so that she could wed him today or tomorrow.' They all spoke excitedly together in this way.

At the head of the hall was a bench on which the lady went to sit, where everyone could see her; and my lord Yvain acted as though he wished to sit at her feet, until she raised him up. Then she summoned her seneschal to make his speech loudly enough so that all might hear it, and the seneschal, who was neither disobedient nor slow of speech, began. ‘My lords,' he said, ‘war is upon us: not a day passes without the king making ready as fast as he can to come and lay waste to our lands. Before these two weeks are over everything will be laid waste unless a good champion can be found to defend it. When my lady married, not even six full years ago, she did so on your advice. Her husband is now dead, which grieves her. Now he who was lord over all this land and who did very well by it has a mere six feet of earth. It's a great pity he lived such a short while. A woman does not know how to bear a shield nor strike with a lance; she can help and improve herself greatly by taking a good husband. Our lady was never in greater need; all of you must urge her to take a husband before the custom is ended, which has been observed in this town for more than sixty years.'

On hearing these words they all agreed that it seemed a proper thing to do. They all fell at her feet, urging her to do what she already desired; and she let herself be begged to fulfil her wish until, as if it were against her will, she agreed to what she would have done even if they had all opposed her.

‘My lords,' she said, ‘since it pleases you, this knight who is seated here beside me has ardently implored me and asked for my hand; he wishes to devote himself to my honour and my service, and I thank him for it as you should likewise thank him. Indeed I did not know him previously, but I
have heard much said in his praise. You should know that he is high nobility: he is the son of King Urien. In addition to being of high lineage, he is such a valiant knight and is so imbued with courtesy and good sense that no one should discredit him before me. I believe that you have all heard of my lord Yvain: it is he who has asked for my hand. On the day appointed for my marriage I shall have a nobler knight than I deserve.'

‘If you act wisely,' they all said, ‘today will not pass without the marriage taking place; for it is a complete fool who delays a single hour before doing what is to his advantage.'

They implored her so much that she agreed to do what she would have done anyway, for Love commanded her to do that for which she asked their advice and counsel. But she received him with greater honour by having the consent of her people, and their urgings were not unwelcome; rather, they moved and stirred her heart to complete its desires. The running horse quickens its pace when it is spurred. In the presence of all her barons the lady gave herself to my lord Yvain. By the hand of one of her chaplains he took Laudine, the lady of Landuc and daughter of Duke Laudunet, of whom they sing a lay.
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That very day, without delay, he became engaged and they were wed. There were many mitres and croziers there, for the lady had summoned her bishops and her abbots. There were many people of the highest nobility, and there was much happiness and pleasure, more than I could relate to you even were I to contemplate it for a long while; I prefer to keep silent rather than describe it poorly.

So now my lord Yvain is lord of her land and the dead knight is fully forgotten. The man who killed him is married: he has taken his wife and they sleep together, and the people feel more love and esteem for the living knight than ever they did for the dead. They served him well at the wedding feast, which lasted until the eve of the king's arrival at the marvel of the spring and stone.

King Arthur arrived with all his companions, for everyone in his house-hold was in that troop of horsemen, and not a single knight had stayed behind. And my lord Kay began to speak in this manner: ‘By God, now what has become of my lord Yvain? He didn't come along, though he boasted after eating that he would go to avenge his cousin. It's clear he spoke after the wine! He's fled, I can guess, because he wouldn't dare have come here for anything. Overweening pride was the source of his boasts. A man must be terribly bold to commend himself for something others don't praise him for, especially when he has no proof of his valour, other than false self-flattery. There's a big difference between the braggart and the
brave: the braggart tells tall stories about himself around the fire, thinking all his listeners are fools and that no one really knows him. But the brave man would be very upset if he heard his own valiant deeds being told to another. None the less, I can understand the braggart: he's not wrong to praise himself and boast, since he will find no one else to lie on his behalf. If he doesn't say it, who will? The heralds are silent about them; they publicly proclaim the brave and cast the braggarts to the winds.'

My lord Kay spoke in this manner, but my lord Gawain said: ‘Enough, my lord Kay, enough! Though my lord Yvain is not yet here, you cannot know what difficulty he has encountered. He certainly never lowered himself enough to speak basely of you, so steeped is he in courtesy.'

‘Sir,' replied Kay, ‘I'll say no more. You won't hear me speak another word about this today, since I see it upsets you.'

Then the king, to see the rain storm, poured a full basin of water upon the stone beneath the pine; and at once it began to rain torrentially. It was not very long before my lord Yvain rushed out fully armed into the forest and came riding at a fast gallop upon a tall and powerful horse, strong and hardy and swift. And my lord Kay was resolved to ask for the battle, regardless of what might be the outcome. He always wanted to begin the mêlées and skirmishes, or else he would become very angry. In front of everyone he came to the foot of the king and asked to be accorded the battle.

‘Kay,' said Arthur, ‘since it pleases you and since you have requested it in the presence of everyone, it must not be denied you.'

Kay thanked him and then mounted. If my lord Yvain can humiliate him a little, he'll be delighted and will gladly do it, for he recognized him at once by his armour. He grasped his shield by the loops and Kay took his; they charged one another, spurred their steeds, and lowered the lances that each held tightly gripped. They thrust them forward a little until they held them by the leather-wrapped hilt; and as they rushed together they struck with such mighty effort that both lances shattered and split right up to the handle. My lord Yvain gave Kay such a powerful blow that he somersaulted from his saddle and struck the ground with his helmet. My lord Yvain did not wish to cause him further injury, so he dismounted and claimed his horse.

Some among them were pleased by this, and many were keen to say: ‘Ha! Ha! Look at how you, a man who mocks others, are lying there now! Yet it is only right that you should be pardoned this time, because it's never happened to you before.'

In the meantime my lord Yvain came before the king, leading Kay's horse by the bridle, because he wished to present it to Arthur.

‘Sire,' said my lord Yvain, ‘accept this horse, for I would do wrong to keep anything of yours.'

‘And who are you?' asked the king. ‘It's impossible to recognize you unless I hear your name or see you without your armour.'

When my lord Yvain stated his name, Kay was overcome with shame; he was saddened and speechless, and confounded for having accused him of running away. But the others were very happy and rejoiced in his success. Even the king was overjoyed; but my lord Gawain felt a hundred times more joy than anyone else, for he preferred Yvain's company to that of all the other knights he knew. And the king requested and begged him to tell them, if he did not object, about his exploits; he was most eager to know all about his adventure. He kept urging him to tell them truly, so Yvain told them all about the service and kindnesses the maiden had shown him; he did not omit a single detail and forgot nothing.