Arthurian Romances (37 page)

When the season came that people took their sparrow-hawk to hunt the lark and thrush
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or their hound to stalk quail or partridge it happened that a knight of Thrace, a young and pleasant man renowned for his chivalry – his name was Bertrand – went seeking game one day close beside this tower. His sparrow-hawk flew away after missing a lark. Now Bertrand considers that he will be unlucky if he loses his hawk. He was delighted to see it fly down and alight in the orchard below the tower, for now he thought he would not lose it. Immediately he began climbing the wall, and when he had managed to get over it he saw Fenice and Cligés sleeping together naked in their bower.

‘My God,' he said, ‘what has happened to me? What is this wonder I see? Is this not Cligés? I swear it is! And is this not the empress with him? It cannot be, yet she looks like her. No two persons ever looked so much alike: she has the same nose, the same mouth, the same forehead as my lady the empress. Never did Nature make two creatures that so resembled each other! I see nothing in her I might not see in my lady. Were she alive, I would truly affirm that this is she.'

At that moment a pear dislodged and fell beside Fenice's ear. She started
and awoke and, seeing Bertrand, cried aloud: ‘My love! My love! We're doomed! Bertrand is here. If he evades you, all is lost: he'll say he's seen us.'

With that Bertrand realized that this was the empress beyond any doubt. He had to escape, for Cligés had brought his sword into the orchard and had laid it down beside the bed. Cligés leapt to his feet at once and seized the sword; Bertrand turned and ran, clambering up the wall as fast as he could. He was nearly over when Cligés caught up and struck him a blow with his raised sword that severed his leg beneath the knee as if it had been a stalk of fennel. In spite of this Bertrand escaped, injured and crippled. And when his men on the other side of the wall saw his state, they were beside themselves with sorrow and rage; they picked him up and asked him repeatedly who had done this to him.

‘Don't ask me any questions,' he said, ‘just put me on my horse! The emperor will be the first to hear of this affair. The man who did this to me has good cause to be frightened, as surely he is, for he is in mortal danger.'

Then they sat him upon his palfrey and led him through the town, grieving loudly as they went and followed by more than twenty thousand people until they reached the court, where everybody came running up, every one of them hurrying to see. Already Bertrand had made his complaint in front of the emperor for all to hear, but they considered him a liar for saying he had seen the empress lying naked. The city was in an uproar: on hearing this news some considered it madness, while others advised and urged the emperor to go to the tower himself. There was great tumult and confusion among the people who were following him but they found nothing in the tower; for Fenice and Cligés had left taking Thessala with them, who comforted and reassured them by saying that if by chance they saw people coming after them to stop them they should not be afraid at all because they would be unable to get any closer to them, to do them harm or injury, than the range of a strong crossbow.

Meanwhile the emperor, in the tower, had John found and brought forward. He had him bound and tied, saying that he would have him hanged or burned and his ashes scattered to the winds. He was to receive his just deserts for having brought dishonour to the crown, but his reward for having hidden the emperor's wife and nephew together in the tower would not be pleasant.

‘Upon my word,' answered John, ‘what you say is true. And I shall not lie, but will go still further and state the truth, and if I have done any wrong it is right that I be seized. But this is my excuse: a servant must not refuse to do anything his lawful master bids. And everyone knows for certain that I am his, as is the tower.'

‘No, John, it is yours.'

‘Mine, my lord? Truly, yet it is his first. And I do not even belong to myself nor have anything that I can call mine, except what he bestows upon me. And if you wish to say that my lord has wronged you in any way, I am ready to take up his defence without his even commanding me. But since I know I must die, I am emboldened to tell you everything and speak my mind, just as I have thought and worked it out. So let the truth be told, because if I die for my master's sake, I will not die dishonourably. For the promise and oath you swore to your brother is well known: that after your death Cligés, who is now fleeing into exile, would become emperor. And, God willing, he still shall be! You are open to reproach, for you should not have taken a wife; but yet you took one and thereby wronged Cligés, who has never wronged you. And if you destroy me and falsely put me to death because of him, then if he lives he will avenge my death. Now do the best you can for if I die you too will die!'

The emperor sweated from fury at the words and the insult he had heard John speak.

‘John,' he replied, ‘you shall be spared and held in prison until your master is found, who has proven false to me though I loved him dearly and never intended to cheat him. If you know what has become of him, I order you to tell me.'

‘I tell you, sir? How could I commit such treachery? I would not betray my master if I knew his whereabouts even if you were to draw the life from my body. But, as God is my witness, I could not say any more than you about where they have gone. Yet your jealousy is groundless. I am not so afraid of your wrath that I'll not tell you, for all to hear, how you've been deceived, even if, as I expect, no one believes me. On your wedding night you were tricked and deceived by a potion you drank. You have had no pleasure from your wife since that time except in dreams, while you were asleep; the potion made you dream at night, and the dream gave you as much pleasure as if you were awake and she was holding you in her arms. That is all the satisfaction you have had, for her heart was so set on Cligés that she feigned death for his sake, and he so trusted in me that he told me everything and kept her in my house, of which he is rightly lord. You ought not to blame me; I would have deserved to be burned or hanged had I betrayed my lord and refused to do his bidding.'

When the emperor was reminded of the potion that was so delightful to drink, with which Thessala deceived him, for the first time he realized and knew that he had never had pleasure with his wife except in dreams, which
was a false pleasure. Then he swore that if he did not take vengeance for the shame and humiliation caused him by the traitor who had stolen away his wife, he would never again be happy in his life. ‘Quickly!' he said. ‘To Pavia and from there to Germany! Look for him in every castle, town, and city. Whoever brings the two of them back captive will be dearer to me than any man alive. Now do your best and look for them high and low, near and far!'

Then they set off with great commotion and spent all that day searching, but Cligés and Fenice had friends in the party who, had they discovered them, would have rather provided hiding places than bring them back to court. For a full fortnight they pursued them, but not without difficulty; for Thessala, their guide, kept them so secure by her enchantments and magic that they felt no fear or dread of all the emperor's forces. Though they did not stop in any town or city, still they had all and more than they could wish for or request, for Thessala sought out, procured, and brought them all they desired. No longer were they followed or hunted, for everyone had turned back.

But Cligés did not rest: he went to his great-uncle King Arthur, whom he located after some searching, and delivered him his complaint that his uncle the emperor, in order to disinherit him, had disloyally taken a wife he should not have taken, since he had sworn to Cligés's father never to marry in his life. King Arthur said that he would take his fleet to Constantinople. He would fill a thousand ships with knights and three thousand with foot-soldiers, until no citadel, borough, town, or castle, no matter how high or mighty its walls, could withstand their assault. Cligés did not forget to thank the king for the help he offered him. The king sent for and summoned all the high barons of his land, and he had sailing ships and galleys, transports and barques requisitioned and equipped. He had a hundred ships filled and loaded with shields, lances, bucklers, and armour fit for knights. The king's preparations were on such a grand scale that neither Caesar nor Alexander ever equalled them. All England and all Flanders, Normandy, France, and Brittany, and everyone as far as the Spanish passes, were convened and assembled.

They were about to set sail when messengers arrived from Greece, who postponed the embarkation and detained the king and his people. Among the messengers who came was John that most trustworthy of men, who would never have been a witness or messenger of anything untrue or of which he was not certain. These messengers were high lords of Greece seeking Cligés.

They searched for him and made inquiries until they found him at the king's court, where they told him: ‘God save you, sire, on behalf of everyone in your empire! Greece is now yours and Constantinople, by the rights you have to them. Though you do not know it, your uncle died of the grief he suffered because he could not find you. His sorrow was so great that he lost his mind; he stopped eating and drinking and died insane. Dear sire, return with us, for all your barons have sent for you. They are eager to have you back and are calling for you because they wish to make you emperor.'

Many of those assembled were happy to hear this news, but there were many who would gladly have left their homes behind and been happy to sail with the army for Greece. But the expedition was cancelled and the king dismissed his men; the army disbanded and the knights returned home. Meanwhile Cligés hastened to make preparations, for he wished to return to Greece without delay. Once he was ready, he took leave of the king and all his friends and set off, taking Fenice with him.

They did not stop until they reached Greece, where they were given a joyful welcome befitting a new lord. Then they gave Cligés his sweetheart to be his wife, and the two of them were crowned. He had made his sweetheart his wife, but he called her sweetheart and lady; she lost nothing in marrying, since he loved her still as his sweetheart; and she, too, loved him as a lady should love her lover. Each day their love grew stronger. He never doubted her in any way or ever quarrelled with her over anything; she was never kept confined as many empresses since her have been. For since her days every emperor has been fearful of being deceived by his wife when he remembered how Fenice deceived Alis, first with the potion he drank, then later by that other ruse. Therefore every empress, whoever she is and regardless of her riches and nobility, is kept like a prisoner in Constantinople, for the emperor does not trust her when he recalls the story of Fenice. He keeps her confined each day to her chamber, more from fear than because he does not want her skin to darken,
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and allows no male to be with her unless he is a eunuch from childhood, since there is no fear or question that Love's snares will trap such men.

HERE ENDS CHRÉTIEN'S WORK

S
INCE
my lady of Champagne
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wishes me to begin a romance, I shall do so most willingly, like one who is entirely at her service in anything he can undertake in this world. I say this without flattery, though another might begin his story with the desire to flatter her, he might say (and I would agree) that she is the lady who surpasses all women who are alive, just as the zephyr that blows in May or April surpasses the other winds.
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Certainly I am not one intent upon flattering his lady. Will I say, ‘As the polished gem eclipses the pearl and the sard, the countess eclipses queens'? Indeed not; I'll say nothing of the sort, though it is true in spite of me. I will say, however, that her command has more importance in this work than any thought or effort I might put into it.

Chrétien begins his book about the Knight of the Cart; the subject matter and meaning are furnished and given him by the countess, and he strives carefully to add nothing but his effort and careful attention.
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Now he begins his story.

On a certain Ascension Day King Arthur was in the region near Caerleon and held his court at Camelot,
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splendidly and luxuriantly as befitted a king. After the meal the king did not stir from among his companions. There were many barons present in the hall, and the queen was among them, as were, I believe, a great number of beautiful courtly ladies, skilful at conversing in French. And Kay, who had overseen the feast, was eating with those who had served. While Kay was still at table, there appeared before them a knight who had come to court splendidly equipped and fully armed for battle. The knight came forward in his splendid armour to where the king was seated among his barons. Instead of the customary greeting, he declared: