Arthurian Romances (10 page)

‘That is true,' said my lord Gawain. ‘My lady, I am quite certain that you are absolutely right: his hauberk is bloodied and has been much beaten and battered. It is clear that he has been in combat; we may be sure that the battle was fierce. We shall soon hear him say something that will cause us either joy or anger: either Erec is sending him to you as your prisoner here, to be at your mercy, or else he is coming out of audacity, rashly to brag
among us that he has vanquished or killed Erec. I believe he brings no other news.'

The queen said: ‘I believe so.'

‘That may well be,' affirmed one and all.

Then Yder came through the door, bearing the news to them; they all came down from the galleries and went to meet him. Yder came to the mounting block below, where he dismounted. And Gawain took the maiden and helped her down from her horse. The dwarf dismounted on the other side. More than a hundred knights were there; when all three had dismounted, they took them before the king.

As soon as Yder saw the queen, he fell immediately at her feet. He greeted her first of all, then the king and his knights, and said: ‘My lady, I am sent here to be your prisoner by a noble man, a brave and worthy knight: he whom my dwarf yesterday struck on the face with his whip. He has vanquished and beaten me in armed combat. My lady, I bring you the dwarf and my maiden to be at your mercy and do whatever you wish.'

The queen kept silent no longer; she asked him for news of Erec. ‘Now tell me, sir,' she said, ‘do you know when Erec will return?'

‘My lady, tomorrow, and he will bring a maiden with him; I have never known such a beautiful one.'

When he had relayed his message, the prudent and wise queen courteously said to him: ‘Friend, since you have surrendered yourself as my prisoner, your sentence will be very light; I have no wish that evil should befall you. But now, as God may help you, tell me your name.'

And he said to her: ‘My lady, my name is Yder, son of Nut.' It was recognized that he spoke the truth.

Then the queen rose, went before the king, and said: ‘My lord, have you heard? Now it has been to your benefit to wait for Erec, the valiant knight. I gave you very good counsel yesterday when I advised you to wait for him; that is why it is beneficial to accept counsel.'

The king replied: ‘This is no fable; these words are full of truth. The man who believes in counsel is no fool; we did well yesterday to take your advice. But if you bear any love for me, proclaim this knight free from obligation as your prisoner, on condition that he remain in my house as a member of my household and my court; and if he does not do so, may it be to his detriment.'

As soon as the king had spoken, the queen freed the knight straight away in the proper manner, on condition that he always remain at court. He hardly needed to be begged to do so: he accepted the condition; thenceforth
he was a member of the court and of the household. He had scarcely been there at all when squires came running, ready to remove his armour.

Now we must speak again of Erec, who was still on the field where he had fought the battle. I don't believe there was such joy on the isle of Saint Sanson where Tristan defeated the savage Morholt as there was around Erec. He was greatly praised and honoured by short and tall, by thin and fat; everyone esteemed his knightly prowess. There wasn't a knight there who did not say: ‘God, what a vassal! He has no equal under the heavens.'

Afterwards he returned to his lodgings. They continued to praise him greatly and talk about him, and the count himself embraced him, rejoicing above all others and saying: ‘Sir, should it please you, you ought rightfully to take your lodging in my house, since you are the son of King Lac; should you accept my hospitality, you would do me great honour, for I would treat you as my lord. Good sir, by your leave, I beg you to stay with me.'

Erec replied: ‘May it not offend you, but tonight, I shall not abandon my host, who showed me such great honour when he gave me his daughter. And what then do you say of this, sir? Isn't this gift exquisite and priceless?'

‘Yes, good sir,' said the count; ‘this gift is indeed magnificent and good. The maiden is very beautiful and wise, and she is of very high lineage: her mother, you should know, is my sister. Truly my heart is very glad because you have deigned to take my niece. Again I beg you to come lodge with me this night.'

Erec replied: ‘Leave me in peace; there is no way I would do so.'

The count saw that it was useless to insist, and said: ‘Sir, as you wish! Now we may let the matter drop, but I and all my knights will be with you this night for amusement and company.' When Erec heard this, he thanked him.

Then Erec came back to his host's dwelling, with the count beside him; ladies and knights were there. The vavasour greatly rejoiced at this. As soon as Erec arrived, more than twenty men-at-arms came running quickly to remove his armour. Whoever was in that house was party to very great joy. Erec went to sit down first; then they all sat down around him, on beds, stools, and benches. The count sat near Erec, with the beautiful maiden between them; she was so joyful because of her lord that no maiden was ever happier.

Erec called to the vavasour, saying good and generous words to him, and he began to speak thus: ‘Good friend, good host, good sir, you have greatly honoured me, and you shall be well rewarded for it: tomorrow I shall take
your daughter with me to the king's court. There I wish to take her for my wife, and, if you will wait a short while, I shall send for you soon. I will have you escorted to my land, which is my father's and later will be mine; it is very far from here. There I will give you two very fine, resplendent, and beautiful castles. You will be lord of Roadan, which was built in the time of Adam, and of another castle nearby which is not the slightest bit less valuable. People call it Montrevel; my father has no better castle. Before three days have passed I will have sent you much gold and silver and vair and miniver and expensive silken cloth to clothe you and your wife, who is my dear sweet lady. Tomorrow, right at daybreak, I shall take your daughter to court, dressed and adorned as she is now: I want my lady the queen to clothe her in one of her very own dresses of scarlet-dyed silk.'

There was in that place a very prudent, sensible, and worthy maiden, seated on a bench beside the maiden in the white dress – and she was her first cousin and the count's own niece. When she heard that Erec wanted to take her cousin to the queen's court dressed so very poorly, she spoke about it to the count. ‘Sir,' said she, ‘it will be a great shame for you, more than for anyone else, if this lord takes your niece along with him so poorly clothed.'

And the count replied: ‘I beg you, my sweet niece, give her the one you consider the best from among your own dresses.'

Erec heard this request, and said: ‘Sir, do not speak of that. Let me tell you one thing: I would not for any reason wish her to have any other dress until the queen has given her one.'

When the damsel heard this, she answered him and said: ‘Well then, good sir, since you wish to take my cousin with you in only the white dress and shift, I want to give her another gift, since you absolutely do not want her to have any dress of mine. I have three very fine palfreys: no king or count ever had a better one. One is sorrel, one dapple-grey, and one has white stockings. In all truth, from among a hundred there would be found none better than the grey: the birds that fly through the air go no more quickly than that palfrey. No one ever saw it bolt or rear; a child can ride it. It is just right for a maiden, for it is neither skittish nor stubborn, nor does it bite, nor strike, nor get violent. Whoever seeks a better one does not know what he wants; whoever rides it does not suffer, but rather goes more easily and gently than if he were on a ship.'

Then Erec said: ‘My sweet friend, if she accepts this gift I shall not raise any objection; rather, it pleases me. I do not wish her to decline it.'

At once the damsel summoned one of her own servants and said to him:
‘Good friend, go, saddle my dapple-grey palfrey and bring it quickly.' And he carried out her order: he saddled and bridled the horse, strove to equip it well, then mounted the shaggy-maned palfrey.

When Erec saw the palfrey brought before them, he was not sparing in his praise, for he saw it was handsome and well-bred; then he ordered a servant to go tie up the palfrey in the stable beside his charger. Thereafter they all separated, having greatly rejoiced that night. The count went to his lodgings; he left Erec at the vavasour's, saying that he would accompany him in the morning when he went on his way. They slept all through that night.

In the morning, when dawn broke, Erec prepared for his departure: he ordered his horses saddled and he awakened his beautiful lady; she dressed and prepared herself. The vavasour and his wife arose; there was not a knight nor lady who did not prepare to accompany the maiden and the knight. Everybody was on horseback, and the count mounted up. Erec rode next to the count, with his beautiful lady beside him. She had not for a moment forgotten the sparrow-hawk: she amused herself with her sparrow-hawk and took no other riches with her. There was great joy as they went along together.

At parting, the generous count wanted to send a part of his retinue with Erec, so that they might honour him by going with him; but he said that he would take no one with him and sought no company other than his lady. Then he said to them: ‘I commend you to God!'

They had accompanied them a long way. The count kissed Erec and his niece and commended them to God the merciful. The father and the mother also kissed them over and over again; they did not hold back their tears: at parting the mother wept, and the maiden wept, as did the father. Such is love, such is nature, such is the tenderness for one's offspring. They wept because of the tenderness and the sweetness and the friendship that they had for their child; and yet they knew full well that their daughter was going to a place where there would be great honour for them. They were weeping out of love and tenderness, for they were parting from their daughter; they wept for no other reason. They knew full well that in the end they would be honoured as a result. At parting they wept greatly; weeping they commended one another to God. Then they left, delaying there no more.

Erec left his host, for he was extremely impatient to return to the court of the king. He rejoiced at his adventure and was delighted in it, for he had an extremely beautiful lady, wise and courtly and well-bred. He could not
gaze at her enough; the more he looked at her, the more she pleased him. He could not keep from kissing her; eagerly he drew near to her. Looking at her restored and delighted him; he kept looking at her blonde hair, her laughing eyes and unclouded brow, her nose and face and mouth; and from this a great affection touched his heart. He admired everything, down to her hips: her chin and her white throat, her flanks and sides, her arms and hands.

But the damsel, for her part, looked at the knight no less than he looked at her, with favourable eye and loyal heart, in eager emulation. They would not have accepted a ransom to leave off looking at one another. They were very well and evenly matched in courtliness, in beauty, and in great nobility. They were so similar, of one character and of one essence, that no one wanting to speak truly could have chosen the better one or the more beautiful or the wiser. They were very equal in spirit and very well suited to one another. Each of them stole the other's heart; never were two such beautiful figures brought together by law or by marriage.

They rode together until, right at noon, they approached the castle of Cardigan, where they were both expected. In order to catch sight of them, the worthiest barons of the court had gone up to the windows. Queen Guinevere ran there and the king himself came, with Kay and Perceval the Welshman,
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and then my lord Gawain, and Cor, the son of King Arés; Lucan, the wine-steward, was there; and there were many excellent knights. They watched Erec as he approached with his lady, whom he was escorting; they all clearly recognized him, as soon as he came into sight. The queen was overjoyed at this; the whole court was elated in anticipation of his arrival, for he was well loved by all.

As soon as Erec arrived in front of the hall the king came down to meet him, as did the queen; everyone invoked God's protection on him. They welcomed him and his maiden; they praised and made much of her great beauty. And the king himself, who always behaved very properly, took her and set her down from her palfrey. On that occasion he was very joyful and greatly honoured the maiden: he led her by the hand up into the great stone hall.

Then Erec and the queen went up together hand in hand, and he said to her: ‘My lady, I bring you my maiden and my lady-love clad in poor garments; I bring her to you just as she was given to me. She is the daughter of a poor vavasour. Poverty abases many men: her father is noble and courtly, but he has no substantial wealth, and her mother is a very noble lady, for she has a rich count as her brother. Neither beauty nor lineage
would be cause for me to disdain marriage with this maiden. Poverty has made her wear this white dress so often that both sleeves are worn through at the elbows. And yet, if I had been willing, she would have had plenty of fine clothes, for a maiden, her cousin, wanted to give her an ermine dress, with silken fabric, trimmed with vair or miniver. But I was totally opposed to her being dressed in any other clothes until you had seen her. My sweet lady, now consider this; for, as you can see, she has need of a fine and fitting dress.'

And the queen answered him at once: ‘You have acted very properly; it is right that she should have one of mine, and I shall immediately give her an elegant and beautiful, brand-new one.'

The queen promptly led her to her private chamber and at once had brought to her the new tunic and the mantle of rich green cloth with the crossed pattern, which had been tailored for her personally. The man to whom she had given the order brought her the mantle and the tunic, which was lined with white ermine – even in the sleeves. At the wrists and neck there were, clearly visible, more than two hundred marks of beaten gold, and gems of great presence – violet and green, deep blue and grey-brown – were everywhere set upon the gold.