Arthurian Romances (59 page)

Afterwards he begged the king to come with all his knights and take lodging with him, for they would bring him honour and happiness if they would stay with him. The king said that for a full eight days he would gladly share his love, joy, and company; and my lord Yvain thanked him. They did not delay there any longer, but mounted at once and rode straight to the town. My lord Yvain sent his squire, who was carrying a crane-falcon, in advance of the company in order that they should not catch the lady by surprise, and that her people should be given time to bedeck their houses for the king.

When the lady received word that the king was coming she was delighted. Indeed everyone who heard the news was happy and elated by it. And the lady summoned all her subjects and urged them to go to greet him; and they did not argue or complain for everyone wished to do her will. They all set out on great Spanish horses to welcome the King of Britain, and in loud voices they greeted first King Arthur and then all his company.

‘We welcome,' they said, ‘this company, so full of noble men. Blessed be their leader, who brings us such distinguished guests.'

The town resounded with joyous preparations for the king. Silken cloths were brought forth and stretched out for decoration, and tapestries were used for pavement and spread out through the streets in anticipation of the king's arrival. And they did something else: because of the heat of the sun they stretched awnings over the streets. Bells, horns, and trumpets made the town reverberate so that God's thunder could not have been heard.
There where the maidens danced, they played flutes and pipes, snares, tambourines, and drums; while across the way agile gymnasts performed their tricks. All sought to express their delight, and amidst this joy they welcomed their lord exactly as they should.

The lady in turn came forth in imperial dress: a robe of new ermine, with a diadem studded with rubies upon her head. Her face showed no trace of sullenness, but instead was so cheerful and radiant that, to my mind, she was more beautiful than any goddess. All around her the crowd was milling, and everyone kept repeating: ‘Welcome to the king, the lord of all kings and lords in the world.'

It was not possible for the king to answer all their greetings, for he saw the lady approaching to hold his stirrup. But he did not wish to await this, so he hurried to dismount and was off his horse as soon as he saw her. She greeted him and said: ‘Welcome a hundred thousand times to my lord the king, and blessed be my lord Gawain, his nephew.'

‘To your fair self and countenance, beautiful creature,' replied the king, ‘may God grant happiness and good fortune.'

Then King Arthur clasped her around the waist in a courteous and friendly manner, and she received him with open arms. I'll not speak of how she made the others welcome; but never since have I heard tell of a group of people welcomed so happily, shown such honour, or served so well.

I could tell you much about the joy, would the words not be wasted; but I wish only to make brief mention of the meeting that occurred in private between the moon
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and the sun. Do you know of whom I would speak? He who was chief of the knights and who was acclaimed above them all ought surely to be called the sun. I speak of my lord Gawain, for by him knighthood is made illustrious just as the sun in the morning shines down its rays and lights up wherever it touches. And I call her the moon, for there can be only one of her true fidelity and assistance. And yet, I do not say it only because of her great renown, but because she is called Lunete.

The damsel was named Lunete and she was a winsome brunette, very sensible, clever, and attractive. She was soon on friendly terms with my lord Gawain, who esteemed her highly and loved her dearly. And he called her his sweetheart, because she had saved his companion and friend from death, and generously he offered her his service. She described to him the difficulty she had encountered in persuading her lady to take my lord Yvain as her husband, and how she protected him from the hands of those who were seeking him: though he was in their midst they did not see him.

My lord Gawain laughed good-naturedly at what she told him, and said: ‘Young lady, I place myself in your service, such a knight as I am, whether you need me or not. Do not trade me for another unless you think you can do better. I am yours and you will be, from this day forth, my fair damsel.'

‘I thank you, sir,' said she.

And so these two became intimate friends; and the others, too, began to flirt. There were some ninety ladies present, each one beautiful and fair, noble, attractive, prudent, and sensible: gentle ladies and of good lineage. There the knights could pass a pleasant moment embracing and kissing them, conversing with them, gazing upon them, and sitting beside them; they had at least this much pleasure.

Now my lord Yvain fêted the king, who stayed with him; and the lady so honoured him and his knights, one and all, that some fool among them might have thought that the favours and attentions she showed them came from love. But we can consider simple-minded those who believe that when a lady is polite to some poor wretch, and makes him happy and embraces him, she's in love with him; a fool is happy for a little compliment, and is easily cheered up by it.

They devoted the entire week to splendid entertainment: the hunting and hawking by the river were excellent for those who tried their hands at them; and those who wanted to see the land that my lord Yvain had acquired along with the lady he had married could go for a pleasant ride of six leagues, or five, or four to the neighbouring towns.

After the king had stayed as long as he wished, he had preparations made for travel. And all week long his people had implored and begged as persuasively as they could to be allowed to take my lord Yvain with them.

‘What! Would you be one of those men,' said my lord Gawain to Yvain, ‘who are worth less because of their wives? May he who diminishes his worth by marrying be shamed by Holy Mary! He who has a beautiful woman as wife or sweetheart should be the better for her; for it's not right for her to love him if his fame and worth are lost. Indeed, you would suffer afterwards for her love if it caused you to lose your reputation, because a woman will quickly withdraw her love – and she's not wrong to do so – if she finds herself hating a man who has lost face in any way after he has become lord of the realm. A man must be concerned with his reputation before all else! Break the leash and yoke and let us, you and me, go to the tourneys, so no one can call you a jealous husband. Now is not the time to dream your life away but to frequent tournaments, engage in combat, and joust vigorously, whatever it might cost you. He who hesitates achieves
nothing! Indeed, you must come along, for I'll fight under your banner. See to it that our friendship doesn't end because of you, dear companion, for it will never fail on my account. It's remarkable how one can come to luxuriate in a life of constant ease. But pleasures grow sweeter when delayed, and a small pleasure postponed is more delightful than a great one enjoyed today. The joy of love that is deferred is like the green log burning: it gives off more heat and burns longer, since it is slower to get started. One can get used to something which then becomes very difficult to forsake; and when you want to forsake it, you cannot. I don't say this lightly, for if I had as beautiful a lady as you have, my dear friend, by the faith I place in God and the saints, I'd be very reluctant to leave her! I know I'd be infatuated myself. But a man, unable to heed his own advice, can give good counsel to another, much like those preachers who are sinful lechers, but who teach and preach the good that they have no intention of practising themselves!'

My lord Gawain spoke at such length about this matter and so implored him that my lord Yvain agreed to speak with his wife and to accompany him if he could obtain her leave. Whether it was a wise or foolish choice, he would not stop until he had permission to return to Britain. He then conferred in private with his lady, who had no idea he wished her leave.

‘My dearest wife,' he said to her, ‘you who are my heart and soul, my treasure, my joy, and my well-being, grant me one favour for your honour and mine.'

The lady unhesitatingly granted it, for she was unaware of what he intended to ask.

‘Dear husband, you may ask me for whatever favour you please.'

My lord Yvain immediately requested leave to accompany the king and frequent the tourneys, lest he be called a coward.

And she said: ‘I grant you leave until a date I shall fix. But the love I have for you will become hatred, you can be sure of that, if you should overstay the period I shall set for you. Be assured that I'll not break my word; if you break yours, I'll still be true to mine. If you wish to have my love and if you cherish me in the least remember to return promptly, and no later than one year at most, eight days after the feast of Saint John, for today is the octave of that feast. You will be banished from my love if you are not back here with me on that day.'

My lord Yvain wept and sighed so deeply that he could hardly say: ‘My lady, this period is too long. If I could be a dove, then I would be back with you as often as I wished. And I beg God that it please Him not to let me overstay my leave. Yet a man may intend to return promptly and not
know what the future holds. And I don't know what will happen to me, whether illness or imprisonment will detain me; you are too exacting if you do not make exception at least for physical hindrances.'

‘Sir,' she said, ‘I do make this exception. None the less, I truly promise you that, if God keeps you from death, no physical hindrance will impede you as long as you remember me. Now put this ring of mine upon your finger and let me tell you all about the stone: no true and faithful lover, if he wears it, can be imprisoned or lose any blood, nor can any ill befall him; but whoever wears and cherishes it will remember his sweetheart and will become stronger than iron. It will be your shield and hauberk; in truth, I have never before lent or entrusted it to any knight, but out of love I give it to you.'

Now my lord Yvain had his leave; he wept profusely upon taking it. And nothing anyone said to him could make the king delay any longer; rather, he was eager to have all their palfreys brought forward, equipped and bridled. His wish was no sooner expressed than done: the palfreys were led forth and there was nothing to do but to mount. I don't know how much I should tell of my lord Yvain's departure, or of the kisses showered upon him, which were mingled with tears and flavoured with sweetness. And what should I tell you of the king? How the lady escorted him with all her maidens and all her knights as well? It would take too long. Since the lady was weeping, the king urged her to stop and to return to her manor; he urged her so insistently that, in great distress, she turned back, leading her people with her.

My lord Yvain left his lady so reluctantly that his heart stayed behind. The king might take his body with him but there was no way he could have the heart, because it clung so tightly to the heart of her who remained behind that he had no power to take it with him. Once the body is without the heart, it cannot possibly stay alive, and no man had ever before seen a body live on without its heart. Yet now this miracle happened, for Yvain remained alive without his heart, which used to be in his body but which refused to accompany it now. The heart was well kept, and the body lived in hope of rejoining the heart; thus it made for itself a strange sort of heart from Hope, which often plays the traitor and breaks his oath. Yet I don't think the hour will ever come when Hope will betray him; and if he stays a single day beyond the period agreed upon, he will be hard pressed ever again to make a truce or peace with his lady. Yet I believe he will stay beyond it, for my lord Gawain will not let him leave his company; both of them frequented the tournaments wherever there was jousting.

The year passed meanwhile and my lord Yvain did so splendidly all year long that my lord Gawain took great pains to honour him; and he caused him to delay so long that the entire year passed and a good bit of the next, until it reached mid-August when the king was holding court at Chester.

The previous evening they had returned there from a tournament where my lord Yvain had fought and carried off all the glory. The story tells, I believe, that neither of the two companions wanted to take lodgings in the town, but had their tent set up instead outside the town and held court there. They never came to the king's court, but instead the king attended theirs, for with them were most of the finest knights. King Arthur was seated in their midst when Yvain suddenly began to reflect; since the moment he had taken leave of his lady he had not been so distraught as now, for he knew for a fact that he had broken his word to her and stayed beyond the period set. With great difficulty he held back his tears, but shame forced him to repress them.

He was still downcast when they saw a damsel coming straight towards them, approaching rapidly on a dappled black palfrey. She dismounted before their tent without anyone helping her, and without anyone seeing to her horse. And as soon as she caught sight of the king, she let fall her mantle and without it she entered the tent and approached the king. She said that her lady sent greetings to the king and my lord Gawain and all the others except Yvain, that liar, that deceiver, that unfaithful cheat, for he had beguiled and deceived her. She had clearly seen through his guile, for he had pretended to be a true lover, but was a cheat, a seducer, and a thief.

‘This thief has seduced my lady, who had not experienced such evil and could never have believed that he would steal her heart. Those who love truly don't steal hearts; but there are those who call true lovers thieves, while they themselves only pretend to love and in reality know nothing about it. The true lover takes his lady's heart but would never steal it; instead, he protects it so that those thieves who appear to be honourable men cannot steal it. The sort of men who strive to steal the hearts of those they don't really care about are hypocritical thieves and traitors; but the true lover cherishes his lady's heart wherever he goes and returns it to her. But Yvain has dealt my lady a mortal blow, for she thought he would keep her heart and bring it back to her before the year had passed. Yvain, you were most negligent not to remember that you were to return to my lady within one year; she gave you leave until the feast of Saint John, yet you cared so little that you never thought of her again. My lady marked in her room each day and each season, for one who loves truly is troubled and can never
sleep peacefully, but all night long counts and reckons the days as they come and go. This is how true lovers pass the time and seasons. Her complaint is not unreasonable, nor is it premature. I am not mentioning it to publicly humiliate, but am simply stating that the one who married you to my lady has betrayed us. Yvain, my lady no longer cares for you, and through me she orders that you never again approach her and keep her ring no longer. By me, whom you see here before you, she orders you to send it back to her: return it, for return it you must!'