Arthurian Romances (65 page)

She rejoiced and said: ‘God help me! Now I see the knight I've hunted so long; I've followed and tracked him well. But if I hunt him and return empty-handed, what good will it be to catch up with him? Little or nothing, to be sure. Yet if he does not return with me, then all my efforts will have been wasted.'

As she spoke these words, she hurried on so fast her palfrey was in a lather. When she caught up with the knight, she hailed him, and he replied at once: ‘May God be with you, fair one, and keep you from cares and woe.'

‘And you, too, sir, for I hope that you will be able to help me!' Then she came up beside him and said: ‘My lord, long have I sought you. Word of your great prowess has kept me on a very weary search through many lands yet I've continued my search, thank God, until finally I have caught up with you. And if I have suffered any hardship it doesn't matter to me, nor do I complain or remember it; all my limbs are lightened, for the pain was lifted from me as soon as I encountered you. I do not have need of you: someone who is better than I, a nobler and worthier woman, sends me to you. And if you disappoint her hopes, then your reputation has betrayed her: for no one else will help her. With your aid the maiden, who has been disinherited by her sister, expects to win her suit completely. She doesn't want anyone else to intervene; she cannot be convinced that anyone else could help her. You can truly rest assured that if you triumph in this cause you will have redeemed the landless girl's inheritance and added to your own glory. She herself was seeking you to defend her inheritance, because of the good she expected from you; and she would have let no one come in her place had she not been detained by an illness that forced her to bed. Now tell me, if you please, whether you dare to come or will remain idle here.'

‘No,' he said, ‘no one gains a reputation by idleness, and I'll not fail to act but will gladly follow you, my sweet friend, wherever you please. And if she on whose behalf you seek my help has great need of me, don't despair: I'll do everything in my power for her. Now may God grant me the courage and grace that will enable me, with His good help, to defend her rights.'

So the two of them rode along talking until they approached the town of
Dire Adventure.
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They did not wish to pass it by because the day was growing late. They drew near to this town, and the people who saw them coming all said to the knight: ‘Beware, sir, beware! You were directed to this place of lodging to cause you shame and suffering; an abbot would swear this to you.'

‘Ah!' he said, ‘foolish, vulgar people, full of every wickedness and lacking every good quality, why have you accosted me like this?'

‘Why? You'll know it well enough if you ride on just a little further! But you'll never know anything until you have stayed in this high fortress.'

Immediately my lord Yvain headed towards the keep, while all the people cried out in loud voices: ‘Hey! Hey! Wretch, where are you going? If ever in your life you've encountered anyone who's shamed and vilified you, in there where you're headed they'll do much worse by you than you could ever tell!'

‘Dishonourable and unkind people,' said my lord Yvain as he heard them, ‘meddlesome and foolish people, why do you assail me? Why attack me? What do you ask of me? What do you want of me that you growl so after me?'

‘Friend, do not get angry,' said a lady somewhat advanced in years, who was very courteous and sensible, ‘for indeed they mean no harm by what they say and are only warning you not to go to take lodging up there, if you would but heed their words. They dare not tell you why, but they warn and rebuff you because they want to scare you away. Custom ordains that they do this to everyone who approaches, to keep them from entering there. And the custom in this town is such that we dare not offer lodging in our homes, under any circumstances, to any gentleman who comes from outside. Now it is up to you alone: no one is standing in your way. If you wish, you can ride up there, but I would advise you to turn around.'

‘My lady,' said he, ‘I believe it would be to my honour and benefit to accept your advice; but if I did, I don't know where else I could find lodging for this night.'

‘Upon my word,' said she, ‘I'll say no more, for this is none of my business. Go wherever you wish. However, I would be very happy to see you come back out without having suffered too great shame within. But this could never happen!'

‘My lady,' he replied, ‘may God bless you for your words of warning! But my innocent heart draws me there, and I shall do what my heart desires.'

Immediately he headed for the gate, with his lion and the maiden. The
porter called him aside and said: ‘Come quickly, come, for you have arrived at a place where you will be held fast; and cursed be your arrival.'

Thus the porter called to him and urged him to hasten and come up, but in a very rude way. And my lord Yvain, without reply, passed in front of him and discovered a large hall, lofty and new. Before it was a meadow enclosed with huge, round, pointed staves; and by peering between the staves he could make out up to three hundred maidens doing various kinds of needlework. Each one sewed as best she could with threads of gold and silk; but they were so poor that many among them wore their hair loose and went ungirded. Their dresses were worn through at the breasts and elbows, and their shifts were filthy at the collar, their necks were gaunt and their faces pale from the hunger and the deprivation they had known. He observed them, and as they caught sight of him they lowered their heads and wept; and for a long while they remained there without doing anything, because they felt so miserable that they could not raise their eyes from the ground.

After my lord Yvain had watched them for a while, he turned around and headed straight for the gate; but the porter sprang up before him and shouted: ‘It is no use, you can't escape now, good master. You'd like to be outside again now, but, by my head, you can't do it: before you escape you'll have suffered so much shame that you couldn't suffer more. It wasn't at all clever of you to enter here, for there's no question of leaving.'

‘Nor do I want to, good brother!' he said. ‘But tell me, on the soul of your father: the damsels that I saw in this meadow, who were weaving cloths of silk and orphrey, where do they come from? Their needlework pleases me, but I was very distressed to see that their faces and bodies are so thin and pale and sad. I'm sure that they would be quite beautiful and attractive, if they had what they desired.'

‘I will never tell you,' he said; ‘find someone else to answer that question.'

‘So I shall, since there's no better way.'

Then he searched until he found the door to the meadow in which the damsels were working. He arrived in front of them and greeted them all, and he saw teardrops trickling down from their eyes as they wept.

He said to them: ‘May it please God to lift from your hearts this sadness, whose origin I do not know, and turn it into joy.'

‘May God, whom you've invoked, hear your prayer!' one maiden answered him. ‘Who we are and from what land will not be hidden from you; I believe this is what you wish to ask.'

‘I've come for no other reason,' he said.

‘Sir, it happened long ago that the king of the Isle of Maidens went seeking new ventures through courts and countries. Like a true fool, he continued until he fell into this peril. He came here in an evil hour, for we who are held captive here now must bear shame and suffering without ever having deserved it. And rest assured that you yourself can expect great shame here if they refuse your ransom. At any rate, it happened that my lord came to this town, inhabited by two sons of the Devil (and don't think this is made up, for they were born of a woman and a demon!). And these two were about to do battle with the king, which was a most wretched thing, for he was not yet eighteen. They could easily have run him through like a tender lamb, so the terrified king saved himself as best he could: he swore that he would send here each year, as long as he lived, thirty maidens from his land; he was released for this payment. And it was decreed by oath that this tribute was to last as long as the two demons prevailed, unless some knight could vanquish them in battle, and then he would no longer have to pay this tribute and we would be free from shame, grief, and misery. Never again will anything please us. But I'm babbling on like a child when I speak of freedom, for we can never escape this place; we shall weave silk cloth all our days, yet never be better dressed than now.

‘We shall remain poor and naked for ever and shall always be hungry and thirsty; no matter how hard we try, we'll never have anything better to eat. Our bread supply is very meagre: little in the morning and less at night, for by the work of our hands we'll never have more to live on than fourpence in the pound; and with this we cannot buy sufficient food and clothing. For though our labour is worth twenty shillings a week, we have barely enough to live on. And you can be sure that there's not one of us whose work doesn't bring in twenty shillings or more, and that's enough to make a duke wealthy! Yet here we are in poverty, while he for whom we labour grows rich from our work. We stay awake much of the night and all day long to earn his profit, for he has threatened us with torture if we rest; therefore we dare not rest. But what more should I tell you? We are so ashamed and ill-treated that I cannot tell you the fifth of it. And we are racked with sorrow whenever we see young knights and gentlemen die in combat with the two demons. They pay most dearly for their lodgings, as you must do tomorrow: for alone and unaided you must, whether you wish to or not, do battle and lose your reputation against these two incarnate devils.'

‘May God, our true spiritual King, protect me,' said my lord Yvain, ‘and
restore you to honour and joy, if it be His will! Now I must go and see what welcome will be shown to me by those within.'

‘Go now, sir. May He who gives and bestows all gifts watch over you!'

Yvain continued until he reached the main hall, without having encountered anyone, good or evil, to speak with them. After passing through the manor, they emerged into an orchard. They never had to inquire or worry about stabling their horses; why should they, since those who thought they would win them stabled them well? But I think they were overconfident, for their owner was still in perfect health. The horses had oats and hay, and fresh litter up to their bellies.

Then my lord Yvain entered the orchard, followed by his retinue. He saw a wealthy man lying there, propped up on his elbow on a silken cloth; and a maiden was reading to him from a romance (I don't know what it was about). And to listen to the romance, a woman too had sat down there. She was the maid's mother, and the gentleman was her father. It gave them pleasure to watch and listen to her, for she was their only child. She was not more than sixteen, but was so beautiful and elegant that the god of Love would have sought to serve her, had he seen her, and would never have let her love anyone but himself alone. To serve her he would have taken on human flesh, abandoned his divinity, and struck his own body with the dart whose wound never heals unless an unfaithful doctor tends it. It is not right for anyone to be healed unless he encounters unfaithfulness, for he who is healed in any other way does not love truly. I could tell you so much about these wounds that it would take all day, if you were pleased to hear it, but there are those who would be quick to say I speak of idle tales, for people no longer fall in love, nor do they love as once they did, nor even want to hear love spoken of.

So listen now to how, with what hospitality and good cheer, my lord Yvain was given lodging. All those who were in the orchard sprang to their feet to greet him, and as soon as they saw him they addressed him with these words: ‘This way, good sir, and may you and all with you be called blessed in every way that God can bring about or decree!'

I do not know whether they were feigning, but they welcomed him jubilantly and acted as if they were very pleased to lodge him comfortably. The daughter of the lord herself served and paid him great respect, as one should to a noble guest: not only did she remove all his armour, but with her own hands she washed his neck and face and forehead. Her father wished him to be paid every due respect, just as she did. She brought forth a pleated shirt and white breeches from her wardrobe; with needle and thread
she laced up his sleeves as she clothed him.
¹⁵
May God grant that this attention and service should not come at too dear a cost. To wear over his shirt she offered him a new surcoat, and over his shoulders she placed an unworn mantle of fur-trimmed scarlet. She was so diligent in serving him that he was embarrassed and troubled, but the maiden was so courteous, so guileless, so well-mannered, that she still did not feel she was doing enough; for she knew well that her mother wanted her guest to lack nothing that she could do to honour him.

That evening he was served so many courses at dinner that there were far too many: just carrying in the many courses tired the serving-men. That night they paid him every honour and put him comfortably to bed; the lion slept at his feet as was its custom. Once he was in his bed, no one went near him again. In the morning, when God, by whose command all is done, had relit His light throughout the world as early as was fitting, my lord Yvain arose at once, and he and the maiden went to a nearby chapel to hear Mass, which was speedily said for them in honour of the Holy Spirit.

After Mass, when my lord Yvain felt it was time to leave and that nothing would prevent it, he heard baleful news: it was not to be as he chose. When he said, ‘Sir, if it please you, I should like your leave to depart,' the lord of the manor replied, ‘Friend, there is a reason I cannot yet give you my leave: in this town a wicked and devilish custom prevails that I am compelled to uphold. Shortly I shall summon here before you two tall and powerful men of mine, against whom, right or wrong, you must take up arms. If you can hold your own against them and defeat and kill them both, my daughter desires you for her spouse, and this town and everything that goes with it awaits you.'