tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85551072558542481872024-03-13T10:45:20.443-05:00Amadis of GaulThis book drove Don Quixote mad. What will it do to you?Sue Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725709764785276859noreply@blogger.comBlogger381125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555107255854248187.post-91174858525676383982018-12-07T11:28:00.001-06:002018-12-07T11:28:59.273-06:00The complete text is now available in paperback and Kindle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Amadis of Gaul</i> is now available as a four-volume set at Amazon:<br /><br />Book I <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Amadis-Gaul-Garci-Rodr%C3%ADguez-Montalvo/dp/1466475714/" target="_blank">paperback</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Amadis-Gaul-Garci-Rodr%C3%ADguez-Montalvo-ebook/dp/B007028H7O/" target="_blank">Kindle</a><br />Book II <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Amadis-Gaul-Garci-Rodr%C3%ADguez-Montalvo/dp/1975802381/" target="_blank">paperback</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Amadis-Gaul-Garci-Rodr%C3%ADguez-Montalvo-ebook/dp/B075KRL9F6/" target="_blank">Kindle</a><br />Book III <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Amadis-Gaul-Garci-Rodr%C3%ADguez-Montalvo/dp/1983602566/" target="_blank">paperback</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Amadis-Gaul-Garci-Rodr%C3%ADguez-Montalvo-ebook/dp/B079CLMS6V/" target="_blank">Kindle</a><br />Book IV <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Amadis-Gaul-Garci-Rodr%C3%ADguez-Montalvo/dp/1731451156/" target="_blank">paperback</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Amadis-Gaul-Garci-Rodr%C3%ADguez-Montalvo-ebook/dp/B07JDF4RWR/" target="_blank">Kindle</a><br /><br />The novel was originally written as four “books,” each the size of a modern novel. The volumes include notes to chapters, introductory material, information about the Middle Ages, lists of characters, and references.<br /><br />This blog will remain available if you wish to read the novel for free, and you’re welcome to do so. <i>Amadis of Gaul</i> is one of the pillars of European fiction. It opens a window not only to a wondrous imaginary world but to the real medieval world that produced it.<br /><br />Invite your friends to journey back in time with you and enjoy this transcendent, delightful adventure.<br /><br />– Sue Burke, translator<br />Sue Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725709764785276859noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555107255854248187.post-81511984751528159092017-05-09T06:00:00.000-05:002017-05-09T06:00:30.254-05:00Chapter 133 [part 3 of 3]<span style="color: #cc0000;">[What Urganda told them about the future; and thus this great story comes to an end.] </span><br />
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<i>[Acabanse los quatro libros del esforzado y muy virtuoso cavallero Amadis de Gaula hijo del rey Perion y de la reyna Elisea: en los quales se hallan muy por estenso las grandes aventuras y terribles batallas en que sus tiempos por el se acabaron y vencieron: y por otros muchos cavalleros assi en su linaje como amigos suyos. El qual se emprimido en la muy noble y muy leal ciudad de Sevilla: por Jacobo Cromberger Alleman y Juan Cromberger. Acabose en el año del nacimiento de nuestro salvador Jesuchristo de Mil y quinientos y veynte y seys años. A veynte dias del mes de Abril. ✠ ]</i><br />
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Then Urganda left Oriana and returned to the knights, who were gathered together to plan the voyage each one would have to make, and she told them:<br />
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“My good lords, ye shall well remember how I departed from this island, when ye were together, and I told you the time would come when the young noble Esplandian would receive knighthood for a reason that was hidden to you, and then all of you would be called here again. This has been fulfilled, and your presence is testimony to that. Now I have come as I promised not only for that ceremony but to save you from the adversities and great labors that this search which ye are all prepared to make would place you in without achieving any results of the kind that ye desire.<br />
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“If all those who have been born into this world and all those yet to be born, were they alive and all attempted with complete diligence to find King Lisuarte, they could not possibly succeed due to the place where he has been taken. For that reason, my lords, do not let such folly and little discretion enter your hearts, since ye have been forewarned by me, and do not wish to know what the will of the most powerful Lord keeps all from learning, and to leave it to he to whom by His special grace it is permitted.<br />
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“And because delay can cause great harm, to accomplish what is necessary, come as ye are with the handsome young Esplandian, Talanque, Maneli the Moderate, the King of Dacia, and Ambor, son of Angriote d’Estravaus, to be my guests tonight and part of tomorrow inside that great ship which seems to be a dragon.”<br />
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When those lords heard what Urganda told them, they all fell silent and no one knew how to respond. Things she had said in the past had come true, so they well believed that this would, too. For that reason, without debate, they agreed to comply with what she had ordered, considering it to be best. They immediately mounted their horses and she her palfrey, taking with them Esplandian and the other young noblemen, and they went to the port, where Urganda said that they could go with her in the skiffs to enter the Great Dragon, and so it was done.<br />
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When they had arrived and entered that great ship, Urganda went with them into a grand and fine hall where tables had been set for them to eat. She entered a chapel at the end of the hall with the young men, which was adorned with gold and valuable stones, and there she ate with them while damsels played sweet tunes on musical instruments. After they had dined, Urganda left the young men in the chapel and came out into the great hall where the lords were, and asked them to go to the chapel and provide company to the novice knights.<br />
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After a while, Urganda returned with a coat of mail in her hands, and behind her came her niece Solisa with a helmet, and Solisa’s sister Julianda with a shield. And this armor was not like those of other novice knights, who usually began their knighthood wearing white. This was blacker and darker than anything else could be. Urganda went to Esplandian and told him:<br />
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“Young nobleman, more fortunate than any other of thy time, wear this armor in accordance with the sorrow and sadness in thy mighty and brave heart thou hast for thy grandfather the King. For just as in the past those who took the order of chivalry established and considered good that new joy be marked by new white armor, I hold it proper to give sad black armor in grief, because at their sight thou shalt recall and give remedy to their forlorn color.”<br />
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Then she put the chain mail on him, which was strong and well made. Solisa put the helmet on his head, and Julianda put the shield on its strap around his neck. Then Urganda looked at Amadis and said:<br />
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“For good reason these knights could ask why this armor lacks a sword. But ye will not, my good lord, for ye know where ye found it and how long it has been waiting, placed there by she who in her time had no equal in the magical arts, but who met a disastrous and sorrowful end none other than by the treacherous love she had for the man whom she loved more than she loved herself. With that enchanted sword he will have the power to undo and dissolve all other enchantments when the hilt is held by his mighty hand, and he shall do such things so that those deeds that until now have shone bright shall be diminished and placed into obscurity.”<br />
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When Esplandian was dressed in his armor, as ye hear, four damsels entered the chapel, each bearing suits of armor as bright and shining as the moon, worked and decorated with many precious stones and with black crosses. Each one of them armed one of those young noblemen, and with Esplandian in the middle of them, they knelt before the altar of the Virgin Mary and kept vigil over their weapons. As was the custom at the time, they all had their head and hands bare.<br />
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Esplandian among them was so handsome that his face shone like the rays of the sun, and those who were with him were astonished to see him. He knelt and with great devotion and humility asked Mary to intervene with Her glorious Son to help him and direct him in such a way that in His service he could fulfill everything required by the great honor he was undertaking, and that by the grace of His infinite goodness, he rather than anyone else would restore King Lisuarte to his honor and realm, if he were alive.<br />
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So he spent all the night saying only those prayers and many other orisons, believing that neither strength nor courage, no matter how great they were, would be more useful than what might be granted there.<br />
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Thus the night passed, as ye have heard, with all men and women there holding vigil with those novice knights. When morning came, on top of the Great Dragon appeared a very ugly and feeble dwarf with a large trumpet in his hand, and he played it so loudly that its sound was heard in most of the island, thus everyone was alerted and came out on the walls and in the towers of the castle, and many other people came to the rocks and heights from which they could watch. And the ladies and damsels who were in the great tower in the garden quickly climbed up to the top where they could see what could have made such a mighty sound.<br />
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When Urganda saw them ready, she had the lords there climb up to where the dwarf was, and then she took the four novice knights and Esplandian with her and came up behind them, and after her came six damsels dressed in black with six golden trumpets. When they had all climbed up, Urganda said to the giant Balan:<br />
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“My friend Balan, as nature wished to distance thee from all those of thy lineage by making thee so different from their customs, bringing thee to know reason and virtue, which until now none of thy ancestors could find, it can be said that this came to thee as a gift or grace. So, for the affection and love that I recognize in thee for Amadis, I wish thee to be granted another distinction among these outstanding knights, a distinction that no one else shall achieve now or in the future, which is that by thy hand this young man shall be made a knight. His great feats shall be testimony to the truth of my words and shall make permanent the glory that thou shalt attain in conferring knighthood to he who shall be so prestigious and superior over all other fine knights.”<br />
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The giant, when he heard this, looked at Amadis without responding, as if he felt hesitant to comply with what that lady had said. Amadis, when he saw this, immediately realized that his consent was needed, and he said with great humility:<br />
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“My good lord, do as Urganda says, for we must all obey her orders without contradiction.”<br />
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Then the giant took Esplandian’s hand and said:<br />
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“Handsome youth, dost thou wish to be a knight?”<br />
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“I do,” he said.<br />
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Then he kissed him and put on his right spur and said:<br />
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“May the powerful Lord who put so much of His form and grace in thee, more than has ever been seen in anyone else, make thee such a good knight that very rightly I may from now on keep a fourth vow, which I make now: that I shall never perform this ceremony for anyone else.”<br />
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When that was done, Urganda said:<br />
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“Amadis, my lord, if by chance ye think of instructions that ye wish to give this novice knight, speak now, for soon he shall depart from your presence.”<br />
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Amadis, who knew the ways of Urganda and that she would not make that admonishment without good reason, said:<br />
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“Esplandian, my son, when I was passing through the islands of Romania and arrived in Greece, I received from that great Emperor many honors and gifts, and after I left his presence I received many more, as these lords have seen, to meet my and their needs. For that reason I am obliged to serve him all my life, and among the great honors that I achieved there was one that I must consider more highly than the rest.<br />
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“It is that the very beautiful Leonorina, the Emperor’s daughter, the most gracious and beautiful damsel that could be found in the entire world, and Queen Menoresa and other ladies and damsels of great estate all took me with them in their chambers with such delight and joy and care for me as if I were the son of the emperor of the world, knowing nothing more about me than that I was a poor knight. When I departed, they asked from me a boon: that if I could, I would see them again, and if I could not, I would send a knight from my lineage who could serve them.<br />
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“I promised to do so, and because I am not in a position to fulfill my word, I commend thee to do so. If God in His mercy allows thee to accomplish what we all wish, bear this in mind and release my promise from where it is being held prisoner by such a high lady. And so that they may believe that thou art he who comes in my place, take this beautiful ring, which she took from her hand to put on mine.”<br />
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Then he gave the ring that the Princess had given him with a precious stone that matched the one in a fine crown, as the third part of this story recounts. Esplandian knelt before him and kissed his hands, saying that what he had been ordered to do, he would carry out if God considered it good. But this he would not fulfill as quickly as they both thought. Instead, the knight passed through many perils out of his love for this beautiful Princess, only knowing what he had heard tell of her, as shall be recounted to you further on.<br />
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When this was done, Urganda said to Esplandian:<br />
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“Handsome son, make these young men your knights, for very soon they shall repay you for the honor that they receive from your hand.”<br />
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Esplandian did as she commanded in such a way that on that morning all five received the order of knighthood. Then the six damsels ye have heard about played such a sweet song on their trumpets, so delightful to hear, that all those lords, including the five novice knights, fell asleep, senseless to everything. And the Great Dragon blew such thick black smoke from its nostrils that no one who was watching could see anything other than darkness.<br />
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But a short time later, not knowing by what way or means, all those lords found themselves in the garden beneath the trees where Urganda had encountered them when she arrived. When the smoke had dispersed, the Great Dragon was no longer to be seen, nor did they know what had happened to Esplandian and the other novice knights, which frightened them all.<br />
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When those lords understood what had happened, they looked at each other, and it seemed everything had happened in a dream. But Amadis found beside his right hand a manuscript which said:<br />
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“Ye Kings and knights who are here, return to your lands, bring joy to your souls and rest to your spirits. Leave esteem at arms, fame, and honor to those who have begun to climb high on the wheel of inconstant fate. Be content with what ye have achieved so far, for fate, more with you than with any others of your time, has been pleased to hold still and firm its perilous wheel.<br />
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“Thou, Amadis of Gaul, who from the day that thy father King Perion made thee a knight at the request of thy lady Oriana, defeated many knights and strong and brave giants, placing thy person in great danger at every moment until today, filling with fear the brute and fearsome vermin terrified at the courage of thy mighty heart, from here on give repose to thy fatigued limbs, for thy favorable fortune has turned the wheel from thee to Esplandian, leaving all others beneath him, granting him a place at the top.<br />
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“Begin now to taste the bitter elixir that kingdoms and realms attract and that shall soon arrive, for just as with only thy person and arms and horse, living the life of a poor knight who gave aid to many who greatly needed thy help, now with great estates, which promise false rest, thou shalt become he who shall need great help, aid, and protection. And thou, who until now only concerned thyself with gaining fame, believing with that to repay the debt to which thou wert obligated, shalt find thy thoughts and concerns now spread among so many and so varied matters that many times thou shalt wish to be returned to that earlier life with only your dwarf to command.<br />
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“Take thy new life now with more concern for governance than for battle. Leave arms to he whom victories are granted by the high Judge, who has no one above Him to revoke His sentence, for thy great feats at arms so famous throughout the world shall become dead before thine eyes, and many who know no better shall say that the son killed the father. But I do not speak of that natural death to which we are all obliged, rather of that which erases the glory won by passing through many great dangers and greater anguish. If anything remains, it cannot be called glory or fame but their shadow.”<br />
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When that manuscript had been read, they spoke at length among themselves about what they should or could do, and their opinions were varied, although in effect they were limited. But Amadis told them:<br />
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“My good lords, although it is forbidden to give credence to enchanters and those wise in such arts, the things that we have witnessed and experienced in the past from this lady should give us true hope in what is to come, for while above all else the Lord has the power to know and make possible all things, some of what with difficulty we could not otherwise see may be permitted to be made manifest to Urganda and shared before it happens, as has so far been proven in many ways.<br />
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“And for that reason, my good lords, I consider it proper for us to carry out what she has advised and ordered. Return to the realms ye have recently won. My brother, King Sir Galaor, and my uncle, Sir Galvanes, should take Brandoivas with them and go to see Queen Brisena so she may learn from them with what will we meant to carry out her orders and why we have chosen not to act. And from her they may learn what more she would be pleased to have us do.<br />
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“I shall remain here with my cousin Agrajes until we hear news, and if our help and aid is needed, we shall learn of it faster if we are together, and wherever duties take anyone, let others know if they should come.”<br />
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To all those lords and knights, what Amadis said seemed like a good plan, so they put it to work. King Bruneo and Sir Cuadragante, Lord of Sansuena, returned to their realms, taking their very beautiful wives Melicia and Grasinda with them. King Galaor and Sir Galvanes, with Brandoivas, went to London, where Queen Brisena was. Amadis, Agrajes, and Grasandor remained at Firm Island, and with them was the mighty giant Balan, lord of the Isle of the Vermilion Tower, whose will was not to leave Amadis until they learned some news about King Lisuarte, and to undertake whatever venture and labor that they might wish to give him.<br />
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With thanks to God.<br />
<b><br />Thus ends the four books of the courageous and very virtuous knight Amadis of Gaul, </b>son of King Perion and Queen Elisena, in which are found detailed the great adventures and terrible battles which in his time he carried out and won: and those of many other knights both of his lineage and of his friends. Which was printed in the very noble and loyal city of Seville: by Jacobo Cromberger of Germany and Juan Cromberger. Concluded in the year of the birth of our savior Jesus Christ at one thousand and five hundred and twenty and six years. At twenty days in the month of April.<br />
+Sue Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725709764785276859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555107255854248187.post-67027743763612586242017-05-04T06:00:00.000-05:002017-05-04T06:00:28.920-05:00Thus ends this great story<span style="color: #cc0000;">What a long, wonderful trip it’s been. Thank you for taking it with me. </span><br />
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<i>Your translator, Sue Burke, at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convento_de_San_Marcos" target="_blank">Convento de San Marcos</a> in León, Spain, originally the headquarters of the knights of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Santiago" target="_blank">Order of Santiago</a>. Photo by Jerry Finn.</i><br />
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Back in January 2009, I began posting this translation of a book that left a deep mark on European literature. Next week, I’ll post the end of the final chapter.<br />
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It’s a cliffhanger, I’m afraid. The sequel to <i>Amadis of Gaul</i> is <i>The Exploits of Esplandian</i>, the story of Amadis’ son, and it’s often called the fifth book of the series because <i>Amadis of Gaul</i> is actually made up of four books. Alas, I won’t be translating the book about Esplandian, which would take almost four more years. Other projects await me.<br />
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However, I have published the first book of <i>Amadis</i> in paper and ebook formats through Amazon, and I’ll do the same for the remaining three. This blog will still be available for everyone to enjoy, and I’m happy that so many people are reading it. If I can help you, the reader, in any other way, please ask.<br />
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Regarding the Chapter 133 cliffhanger, I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but Esplandian promptly collects his magic sword from the island of the Peak of the Enchanting Damsel, then travels to the Forbidden Mountain to rescue his grandfather, King Lisuarte, who was kidnapped by the sister of Arcalaus the Sorcerer. After that, Esplandian goes on a series of adventures, especially to protect the city of Constantinople from the Persians. And he eventually marries Princess Leonorina. Their sons, grandsons, great-grandsons etc. also become great knights.<br />
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In all, 13 books were published in Spain between 1508 and 1551 to carry on the tales of the family of Amadis. Others were written in Italy, Germany, France, and Portugal over the coming century. In addition, in Spain alone, 65 more novels of chivalry about other knights were published, including <i>Don Quixote de la Mancha</i> by Miguel de Cervantes in 1605. And we must not forget the many earlier tales of chivalry, such as the King Arthur cycle, that came to us from the Middle Ages.<br />
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This book, <i>Amadis of Gaul,</i> serves as a foundation and nexus for a genre of literature that remains alive and well in our own time as “sword and sorcery.” I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have. Courage, adventure, love, and knights in shining armor: our world has changed, but we have not. We all still love a good story.<br />
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Thank you again for being an essential part of this adventure.<br />
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+Sue Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725709764785276859noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555107255854248187.post-79410713240894307162017-05-02T06:00:00.000-05:002017-05-02T06:00:30.963-05:00Chapter 133 [part 2 of 3]<span style="color: #cc0000;">[How lords and kings came to Firm Island to help search for King Lisuarte.] </span><br />
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<i>[The coat of arms of Henry VII in 1504, including the red dragon of Cadwaladr, who was the last King of the Britons. From the <a href="http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/utk/wales/tudors.htm" target="_blank">National Archives</a>.]</i><br />
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When the letter had been sent, Queen Brisena promptly took to the road with those knights for London because that city was the capital of the entire kingdom, and if some uprising were to happen, it would more likely be there than anywhere else. But that was not so. Instead, as the news spread everywhere, people were so upset that both the great and lowly, men and women, left their towns and, as if they were bereft of their senses, wandered shouting through the countryside, weeping and calling for their lord the King in such numbers that all the forests and mountains were filled, and many ladies and damsels with their hair in tangles wailed for he in whom they had always found protection and help.<br />
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Oh, how fortunate should kings consider themselves if their vassals with such love and great suffering felt their loss and hardship, and even more fortunate if their subjects would and should to do this because their kings meant as much to them as did this noble King! But sadly, times today are much unlike those of the past, given the little love and less true feelings that people hold for their kings. And this shall cause the world’s climate to be more frail, for if the greatest part of virtue is lost, it cannot bear the fruit it should, as if it were exhausted soil, and neither deep plowing nor the best seeds can prevent thistles and thorns and other useless weeds from growing in it.<br />
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Then let us pray to the powerful Lord to remedy it, and if He is not pleased to listen to us and finds us unworthy, may He hear those who are still to be forged and have not yet appeared in this existence, and let them be born with such charity and love as had been kindled in better times in the past, and let kings be without ire and passions, and treat and sustain them with a just and merciful hand.<br />
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Returning then to our purpose, the story tells that this news flew quickly to all places that had business with Great Britain by those who spent most of their time sailing the sea, so soon it was known in the lands where were found Sir Cuadragante, Lord of Sansuena; and Sir Bruneo, King of Arabia; and the other lords who were their friends. They considered how much it would weigh on Amadis to rectify any losses to the King or the kingdom if uprisings were to occur, and they agreed that since the conquests had been completed and everything was under control, to go together to Firm Island to meet with Amadis and do whatever he might order.<br />
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With that agreement, Sir Bruneo left his kingdom to his brother Branfil and Sir Cuadragante his to his nephew Landin, and taking all the soldiers they could and leaving behind what was necessary to protect those lands, they boarded ships and set out to sea, among them the giant Balan, who was well loved and esteemed by all.<br />
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They traveled so fast with such a favorable wind that twelve days after they had left, they arrived at the port of Firm Island. When Balan saw the great dragon that Urganda had left there, as this story has recounted, he was very amazed by such a extraordinary thing and would have been much more astonished if those with him had not told him the reason for it. At the time that those lords docked, Amadis was with his lady Oriana, and he did not wish to leave her side. When Brandoivas had arrived on behalf of Queen Brisena with the letter, as ye have heard, and Oriana learned what had happened to her father, her pain and sadness were so overwhelming that soon she was in danger of losing her life.<br />
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When he was told about the arrival of the fleet in which those lords came, he asked Grasandor to receive them and tell them why he could not come. Grasandor did so, and he arrived on horseback at the port to find that the lords had disembarked: Sir Galaor, King of Sobradisa; Sir Bruneo, King of Arabia; Sir Cuadragante, Lord of Sansuena; and the giant Balan, Sir Galvanes, Angriote d’Estrauvaus, Gavarte of the Fearful Valley, Agrajes, Palomir, and so many other knights of great skill at arms that it would be vexing to recount.<br />
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Grasandor told them of Amadis’ situation, and asked them to take lodging and rest that night, and the next day he would come out to take charge of the situation, since everyone knew what had happened. They all agreed and did so, and immediately they went to the castle to take lodging in its rooms. And Agrajes and his uncle Sir Galvanes brought Balan with them to do him all the honors they could.<br />
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When the night was over and they had heard Mass, they all went to the garden where Amadis was. When he learned they were there, he left his lady a bit more calmed with his cousin Mabilia and sister Melicia and Grasinda, and came out of the tower to meet them. When he saw them all together, now kings and great lords who had survived so many confrontations and dangers as they had with such good health, although his face was sad for what had happened with King Lisuarte, his heart felt great joy, more than if all of that had been won for him alone, and he went to embrace them and all of them to embrace him. But he to whom he showed the greatest love was the giant Balan, whom he embraced many times, honoring him with great courtesy.<br />
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Since they were all together, King Galaor, who felt the loss of King Lisuarte as if it were his father King Perion, said that without any delay they ought to agree about what to do regarding King Lisuarte, because he, if Amadis permitted him, wished to begin to search immediately without rest or repose day and night until he lost his life or saved the King if he were still alive.<br />
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Amadis told him:<br />
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“My good lord brother, it would be a great injustice if that King who was so good, so honorable, and so helpful to good men, were those good men not to rescue him in his extreme need. In addition to the great kinship I have with him and which obliges us all to do as ye say, merely his virtue and great nobility deserve to be served and aided in his adversity by all those who have virtue and good understanding.”<br />
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Then they called Brandoivas to come before them and tell them what had been done in the search for the King, and to instruct them in how the Queen would be best served and made most content. He told them everything he had witnessed and how such a great number of people who at the time when the King was lost came out to search for him, that they ought to believe that if in that forest or even in all his kingdom he were being held prisoner, there was nowhere he could have been hidden. Instead the Queen and everyone else could only believe that he had been taken across the sea or had been drowned in the sea, for the search had been so rapid that there would not have been time to bury him.<br />
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It seemed to him that since the entire kingdom had felt such sentiments and remained at the Queen’s service with true love and good will, expecting nothing to the contrary, that they with the great fleet they had there ought to depart to many places where, given that fortune had always been favorable with other things they had undertaken, it would not wish to change its ways in this one in which they were putting so much urgency and affection.<br />
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To all those lords, the counsel that Brandoivas gave them seemed good, and they agreed to do so. They asked Amadis to take care to direct them to the parts of the sea and lands they should search so that nothing would be overlooked, and to quickly take them before Oriana, for by her hands they wished to swear and promise to never cease the search until they could bring news about her father the King, alive or dead, and with that they hoped to bring consolation to her sadness.<br />
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As they were all about to enter the tower, a man came who told them:<br />
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“My lords, a lady has left the Great Dragon, and she must be Urganda the Unrecognized, for no one else could be so powerful to come in and out of it.”<br />
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When Amadis heard this, he said:<br />
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“If it is her, she is very welcome, and we should be more pleased to see her than anyone else at such a time as this.”<br />
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Then they sent for their horses to receive her, but they did not do that fast enough. Urganda had already disembarked on her palfrey, led by two dwarves holding the reins, and arrived at the gate to the garden. When those lords saw her, they came to her, with King Galaor leading them, and he took her from the palfrey in his arms and placed her on the ground. They all greeted her and honored her with great courtesy, and she told them:<br />
<br />
“Ye may well believe, my good lords, that to find you here together does not seem surprising to me, since when I departed from you I told you that for a matter unknown to you this would happen. But let us not speak of that now, and before I say anything more to you, I wish to see and console Oriana, because I feel her anguish and pain more than I feel my own.”<br />
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Then they all went with her to Oriana’s chamber. When Oriana saw them come through the door, she began to weep bitterly, and she said:<br />
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“Oh my lady and good friend! Knowing all the things that are to come, how ye could not prevent such a great misfortune from overcoming that King who loves you so? Now I know that because ye have failed him, everyone else shall also fail.”<br />
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And covering her face with her hands, she fell onto the estrado. Urganda came to her and, kneeling, took her by the hands and said:<br />
<br />
“My beloved lady and child, do not complain nor be so afflicted, for the empires and great estates with which ye are adorned and provided always bring with them such tribulations, otherwise no one could possess them. If it were otherwise, we to whom the powerful Lord has given little could rightly complain. He has made us all of the same stuff and with such a nature that we are obliged to the same vices and passions and in the end are equal at death; but he has made us so different regarding worldly goods, some asa lords and others as vassals under such subjection and humility that rightly or wrongly we suffer imprisonment, death, banishment, and other innumerable punishments according to the will and wishes of those who have the power over others.<br />
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“And if those who are thus subjugated and oppressed feel any consolation for their despair, it is nothing other than to see the whims of fortune that bring such perilous falls. As all this is ordained and permitted by his Royal Majesty, so are all other things in the world that surrounds us, and no power given discretion nor wisdom can of itself move a single point of it. And so my very beloved lady, by compensating the bad with the good and the sad with the happy ye shall give great rest to your fatigue.<br />
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“And regarding what ye say to me about your father the King, it is true that it was made manifest to me earlier, as with veiled words I said before I departed from here. But it was not in my power to prevent what had been ordained, but what is granted to me in this visit shall be put to work: which is, with the help of the great Lord, to bring the remedy to this great sadness that has come over you.”<br />
+Sue Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725709764785276859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555107255854248187.post-5222451851010421412017-04-25T06:00:00.000-05:002017-04-25T06:00:00.302-05:00Chapter 133 [part 1 of 3]<span style="color: #cc0000;">How, after King Lisuarte returned to his lands from Firm Island, he was taken prisoner by enchantment, and what happened regarding that. </span><br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NKc1Feni0tA/WPogGK-AP5I/AAAAAAAABi4/x_8OFz4hiCQvd7glijNC8vbciHYtYI8-QCLcB/s1600/Chapter133a_King_John_hunting_-_Statutes_of_England_%252814th_C%2529%252C_f.116_-_BL_Cotton_MS_Claudius_D_II.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NKc1Feni0tA/WPogGK-AP5I/AAAAAAAABi4/x_8OFz4hiCQvd7glijNC8vbciHYtYI8-QCLcB/s320/Chapter133a_King_John_hunting_-_Statutes_of_England_%252814th_C%2529%252C_f.116_-_BL_Cotton_MS_Claudius_D_II.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<i>[King John hunting a deer with hounds. A miniature from the <a href="http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/illmanus/cottmanucoll/l/011cotclad00002u00045v00.html" target="_blank">Law Codes of Henry I</a> from 1321, held as part of the <a href="http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelprestype/manuscripts/cottonmss/cottonmss.html" target="_blank">Cotton Manuscripts</a> at the British Library.]</i><br />
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The story tells that after King Lisuarte departed from Firm Island with his wife, Queen Brisena, leaving behind their newlywed daughters and the other ladies who were married at the same time, as ye have heard, he went directly to his town of Fenusa because it was a seaport and surrounded by forests that held a great deal of wild game, a very healthy and happy place where he often went to relax. And when he was there, in order to give some rest and repose to his spirit for its recent labors, he soon began to give himself over to hunting and other sports that provided him with the greatest pleasure, and so he passed a long period of time.<br />
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But when this began to tire him, as with all things of the world when a man follows them for too long, he turned his thoughts to the past and how great knights had once filled his court, and the great adventures these knights had, and how they brought him such great honor and fame that he was renowned and praised to the heavens throughout the world. And although at his age he should have sought repose and relaxation, his will had been infused and habituated to a different kind of life for so very long that it could not be content. <br />
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Due to the thoughts of the sweetness of past glory and the bitterness of not having nor being able to acquire it in the present, his mind was so grieved that at times he seemed to have lost his good judgement and could not take joy or consolation in anything that came to him. And what most aggravated his spirit was remembering how his honor had been so much diminished due to past battles and events with Amadis, so that now everyone said that more out of necessity than virtue he had ended that conflict.<br />
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So with these thoughts, melancholy fell over him in such a way that this man, who had been so powerful, graced, humane, and feared by all, became sad, pensive, and withdrawn without wishing to see anyone at all, as happens to most of those who pass their time in good fortune without suffering setbacks or obstacles to trouble them. Their strength weakens, and they cannot withstand nor know how to resist the hard and cruel blows of adverse fortune.<br />
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The King customarily heard Mass each morning, and with only his good and valued sword on his belt, would traverse the forest on horseback with a crossbowman for a long time, brooding, and at times shooting with the crossbow, and that seemed to give him rest. Then one day it happened that when he was some distance from the town in the thick forest, he saw a damsel coming toward him on a palfrey as fast as it could gallop through the brush, shouting for God to help her. Seeing her, he rode toward her and said:<br />
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“Damsel, what has happened to you?”<br />
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“Oh, my lord,” she said, “by God and by mercy help my sister, whom I left behind with an evil man who wishes to rape her!”<br />
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The King felt sorry for her and said:<br />
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“Damsel, guide me, and I shall follow you.”<br />
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Then they turned down the same road she had come from, as fast as she could spur her palfrey. They rode until, through the thick brush, the King saw an unarmed man holding a damsel by her hair and pulling on it to drag her down, and she was screaming. The King arrived on horseback shouting for him to release the damsel. When the man saw him coming near, he let her go and fled into the thick brush. The King followed on horseback, but he could not go far because of the branches. When he realized that, he dismounted as fast as he could with the desire to capture him and give him the punishment such an insult deserved, for he thought the man could be from his realm.<br />
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He ran behind him, shouting at him, and when they had passed through the underbrush, he found a wide clearing where he saw that a tent had been pitched, which the man he was chasing had entered. The King came to the tent door and saw a lady, and the man who had fled behind her, as if he thought she would protect him. The King said:<br />
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“Lady, is this man in your company?”<br />
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“Why do ye ask?” she said.<br />
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“Because I wish you to give him to me so I may do justice, because if not for me, there where I found him he would have raped a damsel.”<br />
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The lady said:<br />
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“Knight, enter and I shall hear what ye say. And if it is as ye say, I shall give him to you, for ever since I was a damsel I have held my honor in great esteem, and I would not allow any other damsel to be dishonored.”<br />
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The King quickly went to where the lady was, and at the first step he took inside the tent, he fell to the ground as insensible as if he were dead. Then the damsels arrived whom he had followed, and with the lady and the man who was there, they picked up the King, who was unconscious. Two other men came from the trees and took down the tent. They all went to the seashore, which was close by and where they had a ship so well hidden beneath tree branches that it could hardly be seen. They put him on board and set sail. This was done quickly and secretively in a place where no one could see them or know what was happening.<br />
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The King’s crossbowman, who was on foot, had not been able to follow the King because he had left too fast to rescue the damsel, and when he reached the horse, he was amazed to find it alone. He entered the brush as fast as he could searching everywhere, but he found nothing. Soon he found the clearing where the tent had been, and from there he returned to the horse, mounted it, and rode for a long time from one end of the forest to the other and along the seashore.<br />
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And because he had found nothing, he decided to return to the town, and when he neared it and people there saw him, they thought the King had sent him for something, but he said nothing and rode until he had arrived where the Queen was. He dismounted and hurried into the palace. When he saw her, he told her everything he had seen regarding the King and how he had searched diligently without finding him.<br />
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When the Queen heard this, she was very upset and said:<br />
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“Oh, Holy Mary! What will become of my lord the King if I have lost him to some misfortune!”<br />
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Then she had her nephew King Arban and Cendil of Ganota called and told them the news. They remained cheerful, giving her hope that there was nothing to fear, for there was no danger to the King because he could have quickly become lost in the forest in his haste to avenge the damsel. And since he knew that area, where he had often gone to hunt, he would not take long to return. If he had left the horse, it was only because the trees were so thick that it was not useful.<br />
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But fearing the truth more than they showed, they quickly went to arm themselves and mount their horses, and they had all the townspeople come with them, and as fast as they could they entered the forest bringing the crossbowman to guide them, and the townspeople, who were many, spread out everywhere. But neither they nor those knights, despite all their efforts in their search, learned anything about what had happened to the King.<br />
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The Queen spent the entire day waiting with great disturbance and alteration to her spirit for some news, but no one dared to return with the little results they had found. Instead, everyone in that town and all those in the region, when they learned what was happening, never ceased to search with great diligence.<br />
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When night came, the Queen decided to send messengers and letters as fast as she could to as many places as she could. She spent the night sleepless. At dawn, Sir Grumedan and Giontes arrived, and when the Queen saw them, she asked them if they knew anything about their lord the King. Sir Grumedan said:<br />
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“We know nothing more than what they told Giontes and me in the lodge where we were hunting, that many people were searching for him. Thinking we could learn some news here, we decided not to go anywhere else. But since we have learned nothing here, we must immediately join the search.”<br />
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“Sir Grumedan,” the Queen said, “I cannot find rest nor repose nor aid, nor can I think of what this may mean. And if I were to stay here, I would die of anguish, and so I have decided to go with you, because if good news were to come there, I will learn it faster there than here, and if it does not, I shall not cease to undertake the labor that I rightly must until I die.”<br />
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Then she ordered them to bring her a palfrey. With Sir Grumedan, Sir Giontes, and a lady who was the wife of Brandoivas, they went to the forest as fast as they could and rode in it for three days, always lodging in a town, where, if it were not for Sir Grumedan, she would not have eaten at all, but with his great effort he made her eat a little. Every night she sleep dressed beneath trees, for although they found some homes, she did not wish to enter them, saying that her great anguish would not let her.<br />
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At the end of that time, it happened that among the many people they met in the forest they found King Arban of North Wales, very sad and fatigued, and his horse so weak and tired it could not carry him. When the Queen saw him, she said:<br />
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“Good nephew, what news do you bring of my lord the King?”<br />
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Tears came to his eyes and he said:<br />
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“My lady, nothing more than what I knew when I left your presence. And believe, my lady, that so many of us are searching and we have looked with so much urgency and labor that it would be impossible not to find him if he were on this side of the sea. But I think that if he has suffered some trickery, he would not have been kept in his kingdom. And truly, my lady, I was always worried by his strange behavior, so withdrawn into himself and so careless about his safety, because princes and great lords who govern and control many people cannot use their position so justly and clemently that they will not be feared, and where there is fear but not love, then hatred soon arrives.<br />
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“For this reason, they must be very careful about their safety, so that smaller men do not dare to do anything against their grandeur, for otherwise, often they would not have thought about such things. May God be pleased in His mercy to put me where I may see him and say this and many other things, and I have hope that God will do so. And ye, my lady, should have that hope, too.”<br />
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When the Queen heard this, she lost her senses and fainted dead away, falling from her palfrey. Sir Grumedan jumped off his horse as fast as he could and took her in his arms. He held her for a long time, for she seemed more dead than alive to him. When she regained consciousness, she said with great pain and an abundance of tears:<br />
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“Treacherous and terrifying fortune, hope of the miserable, cruel enemy of the prosperous, perturbation of worldly things, what could I praise of thee? If in the past thou madest me lady of many realms, obeyed and attended by many people, and above all joined by marriage to such a powerful and virtuous King, in a single moment by taking him thou hast carried off and robbed me of everything, and if in losing him thou leavest me worldly goods, that gives me no hope to recover rest nor pleasure, but instead to cause me much greater pain and bitterness, because if I valued them and gave them consideration, it was only because of he who ruled and protected them.<br />
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“Truly, with much greater cause I could thank thee if thou wert to leave me as one of these simple women without fame or pomp because I would forget my petty and minor troubles and shed my tears for the harsh cruelty done to others. But why shall I complain about thee? Thy trickery and mighty reversals, bringing down those who thou hadst raised up, are so plain to all that they should complain not about thee but about themselves for having trusted thee.”<br />
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So the noble Queen sat on the ground and mourned, and her foster father, Sir Grumedan, on his knees, holding her hands, consoled her with very sweet words, as he in whom all virtue and discretion dwelled, with the pity and love he had shown when she was in a crib. But consolation was not needed since she fainted so many times that she was without sense and almost dead, which caused great pain to those who saw her.<br />
And when after a time her spirit had recovered some strength, she said to Sir Grumedan:<br />
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“Oh my faithful and true friend, I beg thee that just as in my first days thy hands gave reason for my growth, now in my final days may thy same hands receive my death.”<br />
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Sir Grumedan, seeing that a reply would not be needed due to her condition, was quiet and said nothing. Instead, he decided it would be good to take her to a town where she might get some help. So he did, and he and the knights who where there put her on her palfrey, and Sir Grumedan rode behind the saddle holding her in his arms, and they took her to the houses of some huntsmen who guarded the forest for the King. They immediately sent for beds and other comforts so she might rest. But she never wished to be anywhere other than in the poorest bed that they found there. She spent several days without knowing where to go nor what to do with herself.<br />
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When Sir Grumedan saw her more reposed, he said:<br />
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“Noble and powerful Queen, where has your great discretion fled at the time when ye need it the most, when so unadvisedly ye seek and ask for death, forgetting that with it all worldly things shall perish? What aid would it be for your so beloved husband if your spirit left your flesh? By chance with that would ye buy his health and remedy for his ailments? Instead, truly, it is entirely contrary to what wise people ought to do, for valor and discretion was established and provided for such challenges by the most high Lord, and more with great courage and diligence than with excessive tears ought the fates of friends to be aided. If I were to offer you a way to help him, I would have ye know how I have considered the matter.<br />
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“Ye well know, my lady, that besides the knights and many vassals that live in your realms who with great affection and love, follow, and comply with your orders, from the blood of your royal house hangs almost all Christendom today, both in its strength and in its great empires and domains rising above all else like the heavens over the earth. Then, who would doubt that these people, knowing of this great troubling venture, would not like yourself wish to bring remedy to it? And if your husband the King is in these lands, we who are his people will supply that remedy, and if by chance he is across the sea, what land is so desert nor what people so brave that they could refuse to offer aid for him?<br />
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“And so, my good lady, setting aside the things that bring more harm than good, taking consolation and counsel again, let us continue in what can benefit and bring health and aid to this affair.”<br />
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When the Queen heard what Sir Grumedan said, she turned from death to life. And knowing that he spoke in complete truth, she set aside her tears and great complaints and decided to send a messenger to Amadis, who was nearest at hand, confident that his good fortune would as at other times bring remedy to this matter. She immediately sent Brandoivas to look for Amadis as fast as he could and to give him her letter, which read:<br />
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Letter from Queen Brisena to Amadis<br />
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“If in times past, fortunate knight, this royal house was protected and defended by your great courage, in this present time, with greater obligation than ever, with great affection and affliction, ye are called. If the great benefits received from you were not rewarded as your great virtue deserved, be content, because the just Judge, powerful in all things, in our defect has wished to pay you by raising up your affairs to the heavens and bringing ours down below the earth. Know ye, my very beloved son and true friend, that just as lightning in the dark night redoubles the vision of the eyes in which it blazes, if it suddenly departs, it leaves them in greater shadows and darkness than before; and so having before my eyes the royal personage of King Lisuarte, my husband and lord, who was light and flame for them and all my senses, being snatched from me in a moment, has left them with bitterness and abundant tears, and they soon may expect death. And because the matter is so painful that neither my strength nor my judgment can write of them, I leave that to the discretion of my messenger. I bring this letter to an end, as well as my sad life if the remedy for it is not seen soon.”<br />
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When the letter was finished, she ordered Brandoivas to tell Amadis more extensively the unfortunate news, and he immediately departed with the will that a very faithful servant like him ought to have.<br />
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<br />Sue Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725709764785276859noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555107255854248187.post-932134163344413042017-04-20T06:00:00.000-05:002017-04-20T06:00:43.156-05:00Summary, Chapters 115 to 132<span style="color: #cc0000;">Wars are won, weddings are celebrated, and the story continues. </span><br />
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<i>A <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vintage_boat_trip_(5537215028)_(2).jpg" target="_blank">carrack</a>, a three- or four-masted ocean-going sailing ship that was developed in the 14th and 15th centuries in Europe. Christopher Columbus’ ship the Santa María was a <a href="http://www.medievalages.net/2013/09/medieval-ships-and-explorations/" target="_blank">carrack</a>.</i><br />
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<b>Summary to Chapter 115</b><br />
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Amadis has provoked a war with King Lisuarte. The King sent his daughter, Oriana, off in a fleet of ships to marry the Emperor of Rome, and Amadis and his friends attack the fleet, defeated it, and take Oriana to safety at Firm Island, which belongs to Amadis. Few people know that Oriana and Amadis are secretly in love. In fact, they even have a son named Esplandian, who has been raised since infancy by a holy hermit named Nasciano.<br />
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For the war, King Lisuarte has received aid and troops from the Emperor of Rome, among other allies. Amadis is supported by his old friends and by new friends he made during his years of travel as a knight errant. They have sent troops and supplies, and his army is led by his father, King Perion.<br />
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Meanwhile, Arcalaus the Sorcerer, who is a sworn enemy of Amadis, has raised his own army, allying with King Arabigo of Arabia. They plan to wait until the other two armies have exhausted themselves fighting, and then will swoop down and conquer them both.<br />
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After some hard battles, in which Amadis kills the Emperor of Rome, both sides have suffered great losses, but Lisuarte’s side is so weakened that he knows he will be defeated if another battle is held. At this time, the hermit Nasciano comes to make peace. With permission from Oriana, he tells Lisuarte that she and Amadis are married and that the boy Esplandian is his grandson. Nasciano then speaks to Amadis and Perion, and they all agree to peace.<br />
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<b>Chapter 115</b><br />
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The armies of King Perion and King Lisuarte withdraw. Lisuarte has known for some time that Arcalaus and King Arabigo are present with an army, but he does not know where. As Arcalaus is about to attack Lisuarte’s troop, Esplandian and a friend are riding to Lisuarte to deliver a message. They see Arcalaus’s troops charging down a mountainside toward the remains of Lisuarte’s army, which is retreating as fast as possible to take refuge in a town.<br />
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Esplandian rides to the other camp and informs Perion and Amadis, and Amadis gathers up some troops and gallops off to rescue King Lisuarte, followed by Perion and the rest of the army.<br />
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<b>Chapter 116</b><br />
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King Lisuarte and his men fight bravely, suffer bad casualties, and barely make it inside the walled town. They hold off their besiegers for the rest of the day. But they are few, and the town’s wall is in poor shape. They cannot resist for long.<br />
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<b>Chapter 117</b><br />
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Amadis and his men ride all night, arrive at dawn, and attack. By then the troops of Arabigo and Arcalaus have entered the city. Lisuarte and his men are fighting to the death, when Amadis’s troops, cheering “Gaul! Gaul!” sweep in and are victorious. Arcalaus and King Arabigo are captured. King Lisuarte and Amadis greet each other with an embrace. King Perion arrives, and with Nasciano’s help, a lasting and joyful peace is negotiated.<br />
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<b>Chapter 118</b><br />
<br />
Everyone is told that Amadis and Oriana were secretly wed, and Amadis pledges to be a loyal and loving son-in-law to King Lisuarte. Esplandian is surprised and pleased to learn that Lisuarte and Perion are his grandfathers and Amadis is his father.<br />
<br />
<b>Chapter 119</b><br />
<br />
King Lisuarte goes back to Great Britain to bring his wife and younger daughter to Firm Island for the wedding between Amadis and Oriana. The younger daughter will marry the new Emperor of Rome.<br />
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<b>Chapter 120</b><br />
<br />
King Perion and his troops return to Firm Island, where formal weddings are planned between Amadis and Oriana, and between other fine ladies and brave knights and royalty.<br />
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<b>Chapter 121</b><br />
<br />
Sir Bruneo of Bonamar, Angriote d’Estravaus, and Branfil sail to Gaul. There they pick up Amadis’ mother and brother to return with them to Firm Island for the wedding. While at sea, they encounter a ship carrying the Queen of Dacia, whose son-in-law has taken her kingdom by treachery. The three knights go off to right that wrong while the others continue to Firm Island.<br />
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<b>Chapter 122</b><br />
<br />
Sir Bruneo of Bonamar, Angriote d’Estravaus, and Branfil, with the Queen of Dacia, travel to her kingdom, and by their courage and superior military tactics, manage to retake it for the Queen and her two sons.<br />
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<b>Chapter 123</b><br />
<br />
King Lisuarte and his family arrive at Firm Island, to great joy and festivities. Then to everyone’s surprise, Urganda the Unrecognized, a sorceress who has helped Amadis often in the past, arrives in a huge smoking dragon as a ship.<br />
<br />
<b>Chapter 124</b><br />
<br />
Amadis arranges weddings between worthy knights and fine ladies.<br />
<br />
<b>Chapter 125</b><br />
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On the morning before the wedding day, Oriana and some other ladies take the tests of the Enchanted Arch of Loyal Lovers and the Forbidden Chamber, which no one can enter. Only Oriana passes them both, breaking the spell, and the wedding feast is held in the beautiful Forbidden Chamber.<br />
<br />
<b>Chapter 126</b><br />
<br />
Urganda the Unrecognized delivers a prophecy that Esplandian will be outstanding when he becomes a knight, then she sails off, but she leaves the dragon to serve Esplandian when the time comes. Kings, Queens, knights, ladies, and other nobles return home. Others make plans to take the kingdoms of Arabiga and Sansuena, whose leaders have been killed or captured in the most recent war. <br />
<br />
<b>Chapter 128</b><br />
<br />
Now at peace at Firm Island, Amadis is out hunting one day when he is approached by Darioleta, a lady who serves his father and who has arrived in a boat. An evil giant has killed her son and taken her family prisoner. Amadis rushes off with her to rescue them. The giant is named Balan, and because Amadis had killed his father some time ago in a war, Balan wants to kill Amadis. Without revealing who he is, Amadis challenges the giant, and in a difficult fight, Amadis defeats Balan but does not kill him. The giant’s troops attack, and Amadis takes shelter among some rocks.<br />
<br />
<b>Chapter 129</b><br />
<br />
When the giant recovers consciousness in his castle, he reminds everyone that he had promised that the knight would be safe, regardless of the outcome of the fight. He has Amadis brought to the castle, surrenders, and promises to make amends to Darioleta. He is shocked to learn that his opponent is Amadis, and to keep his word, Balan offers him his friendship.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, back at Firm Island, a friend of Amadis, a knight named Grasandor, goes in search of Amadis. He has a complicated adventure during his travels, and finally finds Amadis.<br />
<br />
<b>Chapter 130</b><br />
<br />
Amadis and Grasandor set sail for Firm Island and on the way visit an island called the Peak of the Enchanting Damsel. The damsel is long gone, but she left behind an enchanted treasure, and Amadis wants to see if he can break the enchantment. On the island’s mountaintop, they realize the treasure is meant for Esplandian, but as they are leaving, they encounter Gandalin, Amadis’s former squire, now a knight. He is pursuing a knight who stole a damsel and who might be hiding on the island. They find him and the damsel, and Amadis manages to reconcile everyone.<br />
<br />
When they return to Firm Island, Amadis is met by a lady who gets him to pledge to help her release her husband, who is imprisoned. Then he learns that her husband is Arcalaus. Against his will, he lets Arcalaus go, who promises to be his mortal enemy again, although eventually the sorcerer’s virtuous wife convinces him to live in peace.<br />
<br />
Balan, meanwhile, now that he is a friend to Amadis and his family and friends, goes to help Sir (now King) Galaor and other kings and knights in their fight to conquer the kingdom of Arabigo.<br />
<br />
<b>Chapter 131</b><br />
<br />
Balan is welcomed by Galaor and all the others, and Balan pledges his help.<br />
<br />
<b>Chapter 132</b><br />
<br />
Balan persuades his old friend, King Arabigo, to surrender his kingdom. Then Balan and other knights go on to conquer the Kingdom of Sansuena, and the story returns to what has been happening to King Lisuarte.<br />
+Sue Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725709764785276859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555107255854248187.post-89739293015563064012017-04-18T06:00:00.000-05:002017-04-18T06:00:14.700-05:00Chapter 132<span style="color: #cc0000;">Which tells of Agrajes’ reply to the giant Balan. </span><br />
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<i>[The <a href="http://www.avilaturismo.com/en/what-to-know" target="_blank">city walls</a> of <a href="http://www.avila.com/avila_guide" target="_blank">Ávila</a>, Spain. Photo by <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%C3%81vila._Murallas_2.JPG" target="_blank">Elena F D</a>.]</i><br />
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Agrajes answered him and said:<br />
<br />
“My good lord Balan, I wish to respond to what ye said about your enmity with my lord and cousin Amadis, now that these lords and I have rendered thanks for what ye have promised, and if my answer does not conform to your will, accept it as a knight, for although I may not be your equal in matters of arms, perhaps by being older and having used them longer, I know more than you about how to use them.<br />
<br />
“And I say that knights who with just cause enter into confrontations and in them do their duty without failing in anything that reason requires of them, thereby fulfilling what they swore to do, are to be much praised because they lack nothing in their will and deed. But those who seek to go beyond the limits of reason and into fantasy will be judged as more arrogant and delusional than strong and courageous by those who have achieved honor.<br />
<br />
“It is well-known to all, and, my lord, it cannot be unknown to you, the manner of death of your father, for had fate consented to his daring to take King Lisuarte as he did, he would have been famous and praised to the heavens, and the dishonor and disdain for those who served and aided that King would have been placed in the abysm. And so ye should not have been surprised that Amadis, envious of the glory that your father hoped to reach, wished it for himself, as all good men should and ought to do.<br />
<br />
“Thus a death such as this, considering that each man sought to do what he ought and with it to achieve great praise, should not be the cause for vengeance by anyone, for a great deal of honor is put forth to pardon deeds done faithfully.<br />
<br />
“So, my lord, regarding your father, and regarding what happened with you and Amadis, no just cause for complaint can be found, since ye and he fully complied with everything knights ought to do. And if any blame can be made, it is to fate, which was pleased to favor him with more help and preference than to you.<br />
<br />
“Finally, my dear friend, consider it good that while your honor has remained complete and faultless, ye have won the friendship of that noble knight and all these lords and brave knights that ye see here and many others that ye could see if ye found yourself to be in need of them.”<br />
<br />
When the giant Balan heard this, he said:<br />
<br />
“My lord Agrajes, although no admonishment was necessary for the satisfaction of my will, I thank you deeply for what ye have said to me because, although in this case it could have been excused, that is no reason for future cases to be given such an excuse. And ceasing to speak more of this as a forgotten thing of the past, it would be good if we were to reach agreement in how to bring an end to this confrontation with the courage and care that men must have who leave the safety of their homes to conquer distant lands.”<br />
<br />
Sir Galvanes said:<br />
<br />
“My good lord, these knights should go to their lodgings, for it is time to sup, and ye should rest tonight. Tomorrow, when your tents have been put up and your men settled, then with your advice the order shall be given for what should be done.”<br />
<br />
And so all those lords went to their camps, and Sir Galvanes and King Galaor remained with the giant, and that night he supped pleasantly with them in the great and fine tent ye have heard of. And when supper was over, the King went to his tents and they remained and slept in fine beds.<br />
<br />
When morning came, the giant told Sir Galvanes that he wished to mount and circle the city to see how it was laid out and where it would be best to fight. Sir Galvanes made this known to King Galaor, and the both went with him. Because of the city’s large population, it had many great towers and fortified walls. It was the capital of all that great realm including the Islands of Landas, and the main residence of the kings as they ruled in succession and strove to make it grow in population and to fortify it as much as they could. Thus it was exceptionally grand and strong.<br />
<br />
When they had examined it, Balan said to them:<br />
<br />
“My lords, how do ye think we can undertake such a great thing as this?”<br />
<br />
Sir Galaor said:<br />
<br />
“There is nothing greater nor stronger in the world than a man’s heart, and if those inside are courageous, I greatly doubt that we could take the city by force. But since whenever there are many men there always comes great discord, especially when fortune goes against them, and weakness comes quickly to those in discord, I have no doubt that just as other impregnable places are lost for this reason, this city shall be lost.”<br />
<br />
As they were speaking of these and other things, all three went together to the encampments of Sir Cuadragante and Sir Bruneo and their other companions, where they were considering where they could best launch an attack. When they had neared Agrajes’ tents, the good and courageous Enil came to them and said:<br />
<br />
“My lord Balan, Agrajes asks you to see King Arabigo, whom I hold prisoner in my tent and who wishes to speak with you, for when he was told about your arrival, he sent with great affection and love to ask Agrajes to give him permission and to beg you to see him.”<br />
<br />
The giant told him:<br />
<br />
“Good knight, I am very happy to do so, and it may be that this visit will obtain better results than great confrontations from which more is expected.”<br />
<br />
So they all went to Enil’s tent. King Galaor and Sir Galvanes left to join Sir Bruneo, and the giant dismounted and entered the room where King Arabigo was, which was decorated with fine carpets and drapery, and he was dressed nobly, for Agrajes had ordered him to be served as a king. But he wore such strong and heavy shackles that he could not take a single step. When the giant saw him, he knelt before him and wished to kiss his hands, but the King pulled him close and embraced him, weeping, and said:<br />
<br />
“My friend Balan, how do I seem to thee? Am I that great king whom thy father and thou often visited, finding me in court accompanied by high princes and knights and my other royal friends, as thou often didst, expecting to conquer and reign over a large part of the world? Truly, I rather think thou wouldst consider me a lowly man, a prisoner, captive, dishonored, placed under the power of my enemies, as thou well seest. And what brings the greatest pain to my sad heart is that those from whom I hoped for the greatest aid, such as thee and other mighty giants whom I considered friends, instead I see coming to put an end and finish to my total destruction.”<br />
<br />
Having said that, he could no longer speak due to the many tears that overcame him. Balan told him:<br />
<br />
“Manifest it is to me, for my eyes had seen it so, that it was true what thou, good King Arabigo, have said about seeing thee well accompanied and honored with much preparation and expectation to conquer great realms. And if now I see thee so changed and altered, do not doubt that my spirit has also felt a great alteration, because although my estate is much different in greatness compared to thine, I do not fail to feel the cruel and heavy blows of fortune, for thou already knowest, good King, how the very courageous Amadis of Gaul killed my father Madanfabul.<br />
<br />
“And when I most hoped vengeance to come for that death, my adverse and contrary fortune wished that by this same Amadis I was defeated and subjugated by force of arms, he having the liberty to give me death or life. And because the great degree of anguish and sadness that subjugates thee does not put thee in a situation to listen to such a long account about it as I could tell thee, be it enough to know that by being defeated by he whom I so much wished to defeat and kill with my own hands if I could have, I have come here where with such legitimate cause that I could match or exceed thy tears with those my presence could cause thee to spill, for no less than thou would I need consolation.<br />
<br />
“But knowing the great and varied turns the world takes, and how discretion is given to follow reason, I undertook to befriend the man who was my greatest mortal enemy, for I could not do otherwise since I had just cause and left no obligations undone by weakness. And if thou, noble King, takest my counsel, thou shalt do so because I know very well it would be good for thee, and I, as he whom in rigor and discord must be thine enemy, could be in concord thy loyal friend.”<br />
<br />
He, when he heard this, said:<br />
<br />
“What concord could I make over losing my kingdom?”<br />
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“To content thyself,” the giant said, “with the best thou couldst obtain.”<br />
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“Would it not be better,” he said, “to die than to see myself diminished and dishonored?”<br />
<br />
“Because death takes away all hope,” Balan said, “and often with life and the passage of time desires are satisfied and great losses are remedied, it is a much greater advantage to procure life than to desire death among those who can make from their losses greater advantage than dishonor.”<br />
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“Balan, my friend,” the King said, “I wish to be guided by thy counsel, and I place everything that thou seest to do about it in thy hands. And I ask thee that although outside thou provest to be my enemy in my absence, when thou comest to my presence in this prison thou seest and advisest me as a friend.”<br />
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“So I shall do,” the giant said, “without fail.”<br />
<br />
Then he bid him farewell, took Enil, and went to Sir Bruneo of Bonamar’s tent, where he found King Galaor, Agrajes, Sir Galvanes, and many other knights of great estate, who received him and welcomed him with much pleasure. He told them that because he had talked with King Arabigo about things they ought to know of, they should decide if it was necessary to have some other men there. Agrajes told him it would be good to call for Sir Cuadragante, Sir Brian of Monjaste, and Angriote d’Estrauvas, and so they came with other knights of great renown.<br />
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Then, the giant told them everything that had happened with King Arabigo, leaving nothing out. Although Balan pledged to remain and help those men through life and death, he thought that if King Arabigo would be content with one of the most distant of the Islands of Landas and would deliver the rest without any more loss of men, such an agreement and ceasing of hostilities would be good, especially since the Kingdom of Sansuena was still to be won, where its troops and fortresses would prove difficult.<br />
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The lords thanked the giant sincerely for what he had said, and they considered him very sensible, for they would not have thought nor believed a man of his lineage would have such discretion. And that was reasonable to think, because previously giants’ great and oversized arrogance had left no place where discretion and reason could find a home. But the difference between Balan and other giants was that his mother Madasima was so very noble, as this story has told, and having only this one son from her husband Madanfabul, she worked very hard, although against the will of her husband, who was vile and arrogant, to raise him under the discipline of a great and wise man she brought from Greece. With that upbringing and with the one provided by his mother, who was very noble in all things, he became so gentle and discreet that few men could have been more reasonable than him, nor have had such veracity.<br />
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Those lords reached an agreement among themselves, and they decided that if what that giant had said could be put into effect, it would be an advantage and much relief to them, although King Arabigo would retain a portion of that kingdom. They told Balan that knowing the love and goodwill he had come there with and discussing their situation, rather by him than by anyone else they would conform their wills to make a treaty with the King.<br />
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Here it should be noted that if in great divisions there are no people of goodwill who seek to find a remedy, the result is a recrudescence of deaths, prisoners, theft, and other things of infinite evil.<br />
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When the giant heard this, he spoke with King Arabigo, and while the recounting of the agreements and discussions must be omitted both for their length and to avoid straying from the purpose of the story, it was agreed that King Arabigo would relinquish that great city and the surrounding territory within his realm, and of the three Landas Islands, he would take for himself the most distant and northerly, which was called Liconia, and he would be its King. The other islands would be relinquished with the rest, and Sir Bruneo would become the King of Arabia.<br />
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This was carried out and approved by King Arabigo’s nephew, who was defending the kingdom, as ye have heard, and by all the city’s other leaders, relinquishing everything as had been agreed. King Arabigo was freed, who, with great fatigue and anguish in his heart, left by sea to the island of Liconia, and Sir Bruneo was proclaimed King of Arabigo with great pleasure and rejoicing, both by his own supporters and by his opponents, who when they came to know of his excellence and great courage, expected to receive many honors and protection from him.<br />
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When this was done, as the story has recounted, for a brief time they remained there to rest and relax with King Bruneo, organize their battalions, and do all the other things that would be necessary for their journey. Then they left on their way to the town of Califan, which was the closest to their camp.<br />
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But the people of Sansuena, when they learned the city of Arabia had been taken and King Arabigo had reached an agreement with those troops, feared what it meant, and they united a great many troops, both knights and footmen, because that kingdom was great and the forces in it numerous and well-armed and experienced at war, which arrogant and scandalous kings always have for their use in frequent confrontations. When they saw so many men united, their hearts grew with great arrogance and daring. They organized their battalions led by captains who were the leading men of the kingdom, and they left to meet their enemies before they could reach the town of Califan.<br />
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The two sides met each other and there was a very brave and cruel battle, and many men on both sides were harmed. During it occurred amazing feats of arms, and many knights and other men were killed. But what those outstanding knights and the brave and valiant giant did there could not in any way be fully recounted, and both by their great deeds and by the courage of their brave hearts the men of Sansuena were defeated and destroyed in such a way that most of them were killed or wounded in the field, and the others so beaten that even in places like fortresses they did not dare to defend themselves. And so Sir Cuadragante and all the other lords and men, although many were dead or injured, remained and controlled the battlefield without encountering any defenders or resistance.<br />
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If this story does not tell you more extensively the great acts of knighthood and the brave and mighty deeds that occurred in all those conquests and battles, the reason for it is because this story is about Amadis, and if the great deeds are not by him, there is no cause to tell about those of others except almost in summary. By any other means not only would the writing, being long and prolix, make its readers angry and annoyed, but the readers could not rightly follow what happened to both sides. So with greater reason it must fulfill its main purpose, which is the courageous and valiant knight Amadis, rather than dwelling on others who regarding the story should only be mentioned.<br />
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For this reason, nothing more will be said, except that when this great and dangerous battle had been won, soon the great realm of Sansuena was subjugated, so the places where the weakest wills had no hope for any aid, and the strongest were obtained by great combat, and all were required to take Sir Cuadragante as their lord.<br />
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But now we shall leave them very content and satisfied by their victories, and we must tell you the story about King Lisuarte, who has not been mentioned for a long while.<br />
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+Sue Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725709764785276859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555107255854248187.post-27579190536686909792017-04-11T06:00:00.000-05:002017-04-11T06:00:19.229-05:00Chapter 131<span style="color: #cc0000;">How Agrajes, Sir Cuadragante, and Sir Bruneo of Bonamar, with many other knights, came to see the giant Balan, and what happened. </span><br />
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<i>[From the </i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meliodas" target="_blank">Roman du Roy Meliadus de Leonnoys</a><i>, produced in Naples, Italy, in about 1352. King Meliadus was the father of Tristan in the Arthurian legend. At the <a href="http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Add_MS_12228" target="_blank">British Library.</a>]</i><br />
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When they learned the giant had arrived, Agrajes, Sir Cuadragante, and Sir Bruneo of Bonamar took Angriote d’Estravaus, Sir Gavarte of the Fearful Valley, Palomir, Sir Brian of Monjaste, and many other knights of high esteem who were there to help win those realms, as ye have heard, and they all went to the encampment of King Galaor and Sir Galvanes, where the giant was lodging. They found him in Sir Galvanes’ tent, which was as fine and well-worked as any emperor or king could have had, and which he had acquired from his wife Madasima, who had inherited it from her father Famongomadan.<br />
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Each year, Famongomadan had ordered the tent be erected in a field in front of the Castle of the Boiling Lake, and he had his son Basagante sit on a fine platform with all his relatives, who were numerous and who obeyed Famongomadan like a lord for his great might and wealth. His vassals and many other people whom he had subjugated by force of arms kissed his hand as King of Great Britain. With that thought he had sent word to King Lisuarte to ask for Oriana to wed his son Basagante, and because he would not give her, Famongomadan had initiated a very cruel war at the time that Amadis killed them both when he rescued Leonoreta, Oriana’s sister, and the ten knights who were being held prisoner with her, as the second book of this story has recounted at length.<br />
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When these knights arrived, the giant was disarmed and wearing a cape of yellow silk finely decorated with golden roses. And as he was large and handsome and in the flower of maturity, he seemed attractive to everyone, and even more so after they had spoken, because they knew the coarse character of giants, who by nature were very disagreeable and arrogant and not given to obey reason, and they had not expected that any giant could be as completely different as Balan was. They appreciated him much more for this than for his great valor, although many of them knew the great feats at arms he had done, because great courage without good manners and discretion is often abhorrent.<br />
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As they were all together in that great tent, the giant looked at them and they seemed so outstanding that he could not believe that anywhere else there could have been so many and such fine knights. And when he saw that they had become quiet, he said:<br />
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“If ye are surprised that I have come here to your aid unexpectedly, since ye had very little hope or prospect for it, so am I. Truly, I would not by any means have believed that I would find a reason to cease to be your mortal enemy and opponent until my death. But as the execution of plans is in the hand of God rather than in the hand of those who wish to carry them out with rigor, among the many mighty and difficult battles that happened to my honor I was overcome during one that constrained my intentions at the start and in the end changed my own will to hold in honor what for all the days of my life I had considered dishonor to the point of requiring vengeance.<br />
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“When the thing I had most desired in this world was fulfilled, then my time of great ire and rigor and severity was ended and satisfied not by the way I had expected but by the way my most contrary fate was pleased to take. As ye know, I am the son of the valiant and courageous knight Madanfabul, lord of the Island of the Vermilion Tower, whom Amadis of Gaul, when he was called Beltenebros, killed in the battle fought between King Lisuarte and King Cildadan.<br />
<br />
“And as I am the son of such an honorable father and was utterly obligated to avenge his death, never could I forget the deep desire of the way to carry this out: to take the life of the man who took it from my father. And when I had the least hope of that, fortune, along with the bravery of that knight, brought him to my grasp, arriving alone in my realm with no one to aid him, and by him and his great fortitude I was defeated and treated with the greatest courtesy by the man in whom fortitude and courtesy are fulfilled more than anyone alive.<br />
<br />
“As a result, the great and mortal enmity I had felt became even greater friendship and true love, which has given me cause to come, as ye see, knowing that there might be a need for troops in this army, and believing that the honor and advantage for you will in its greater part come to him.”<br />
<br />
Then he told them from the beginning everything that had happened to him with Amadis, and the battle they fought, and all the rest that occurred, leaving nothing out, as this story has recounted to you. And finally he told them that until that war was over, he would not leave their company, and when it was ended, he wished to go immediately to Firm Island, as he had promised Amadis.<br />
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All those lords took great pleasure in hearing what he said because, although Gandalin had told them how Amadis had fought with the giant and defeated him, they did not know the reason for it until he had recounted it. And they were very pleased by his arrival, both for the worth of his personage and for the numerous and very good men of war he had brought with him, which they needed, given those they had lost in previous confrontations. They gave him great thanks for the good will with which they had been offered out of love for Amadis.<br />
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+Sue Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725709764785276859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555107255854248187.post-899778995630903072017-04-04T06:00:00.000-05:002017-04-04T06:00:10.164-05:00Chapter 130 [part 5 of 5]<span style="color: #cc0000;">[What Balan did as soon as he could leave his bed.] </span><br />
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<i>[Knights with a lance and a crossbow, page 361r from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Manesse" target="_blank">Codex Manesse</a>, made in Germany in 1304. At the <a href="http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/cpg848" target="_blank">Universitätisbliothek Heidelberger</a>.]</i><br />
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But now the story shall cease to speak of Amadis and Grasandor and shall recount what was done by the giant Balan of the Island of the Vermilion Tower. The story says that two weeks after Amadis and Grasandor left the Island of the Vermilion Tower, where they had left the giant Balan injured, he arose from his bed and ordered many precious jewels be given to Darioleta and her husband and daughter, and a very fine ship in which they could leave. And he sent with them his son Bravor as he had promised Amadis.<br />
<br />
Immediately after they had left, he had a great fleet prepared with his ships, of which he had many, and other ships he had taken from those who had traveled there, and he had them loaded with weapons and men and all the provisions they would hold, and he went out to sea with very favorable weather.<br />
<br />
He traveled so fast without any difficulty that ten days later he arrived at the port of a small village called Licrea in the realm of King Arabigo. There he learned about the lords who had the great city of Arabia very well besieged, especially after Sir Galaor, King of Sobradisa, arrived with Sir Galvanes. He immediately had all his men disembark with their horses and arms, and the crossbowmen and archers, and all the other equipment for an encampment. He left the fleet with enough guards to keep it safe and went directly to the place where he knew that King Sir Galaor and Sir Galvanes were.<br />
<br />
When they learned he was coming from the giant’s messengers, they and a great many companions mounted and went out to receive him. The giant arrived with his very good company of men and himself, wearing fine armor riding a handsome large horse, and few could have looked as good and handsome as he appeared in his grandeur.<br />
<br />
They already knew what had happened between him and Amadis, for Gandalin had told them. Sir Galaor placed Sir Galvanes ahead, although he was not equal in rank, because he was much older and because of the great lineage from which he came and for his fine personality: Amadis and his brothers and Agrajes had always treated him with great courtesy for those things. The giant did not know him for he had never seen him, although he knew a great deal about everything he had done because Madasima, Galvanes’ wife, was a niece of Balan’s mother, who was also named Madasima, as ye have been told.<br />
<br />
And when he arrived, the giant said:<br />
<br />
“My good lord, are ye Sir Galaor?”<br />
<br />
“No,” he said, “I am Sir Galvanes, who greatly esteems you.”<br />
<br />
Then the giant embraced him and said:<br />
<br />
“My lord Sir Galvanes, given how we are of the same family, we should not have let so much time pass without meeting, but I had an enemy with whom ye had a great friendship, which gave cause to that delay. But now this has been ended by the hand of he who in discretion and courage has no equal.”<br />
<br />
King Galaor arrived laughing and with good will embraced him and said:<br />
<br />
“My good friend and lord, I am he for whom ye ask.”<br />
<br />
Balan looked at him and said:<br />
<br />
“Truly your appearance is a good witness to that, for ye resemble he who has given me cause to wish to know you.”<br />
<br />
The giant said that because Amadis and Galaor greatly resembled each other in so many ways that they were often mistaken for each other, except that Sir Galaor was a little taller and Amadis a bit broader.<br />
<br />
This done, they rode with King Galaor between them and went to their encampment, and Sir Galvanes brought Balan to his tent while his lodging was being prepared, where both of them were served as they should and ought to be.<br />
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+Sue Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725709764785276859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555107255854248187.post-47327604610985764892017-03-28T06:00:00.000-05:002017-03-28T06:00:09.189-05:00Chapter 130 [part 4 of 5]<span style="color: #cc0000;">[How Amadis was deceived by a lady, and what he sorrowfully had to do.] </span><br />
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<i>[Door in the prison at <a href="http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/go/Istanbul/Sights/WesternDistricts/yedikule.html" target="_blank">Yedikule Fortress</a>, built in 1458 in Istanbul, Turkey. Photo by Sue Burke.]</i><br />
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The story says that after Amadis and Grasandor left Gandalin at the foot of the Peak of the Enchanting Damsel, they sailed through the sea without trouble or delay. They arrived at the great port of Firm Island one morning, and they mounted their horses armed as they had come. Before they rode up to the castle, they entered to pray in the monastery at the foot of the hill, which Amadis had ordered built when he left for Poor Peak, as he had promised before the image of the Virgin Mary that had been in the hermitage at that time.<br />
<br />
When they reached its gate, they found there a lady dressed in black, with two squires and their palfreys nearby. They greeted her, and she greeted them. And while Amadis and Grasandor were kneeling before the altar, the lady learned from people in the monastery that he was Amadis, and she waited for him at the door of the church. When she saw him coming, she came to him weeping, knelt on the ground, and said:<br />
<br />
“My lord Amadis, are ye not the knight who aids those who have tribulations and misfortune, especially ladies and damsels? Truly, if it were not so, ye would not have fame in all parts of the world and be spoken of with such praise. For I, as one of the saddest and most unfortunate of women, ask mercy and pity from you.”<br />
<br />
Then she grasped the hem of his coat of mail with both hands so firmly that he could not take a single step. Amadis tried to make her stand, but he could not, and he said:<br />
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“My dear lady, tell me who ye are and what ye wish my help for, and given your great sorrow, although I were to fail all other ladies, for you alone I would place my person in all danger and peril that might come my way.”<br />
<br />
The lady told him:<br />
<br />
“Who I am ye shall not know until I am certain that ye shall answer my plea, but what I seek is that being married to a knight whom I dearly love, his great misfortune and mine have brought him to be imprisoned by the greatest enemy he has in the world, and he cannot leave it nor be returned to me except by yourself. And believe that my knees shall not be raised from this ground nor my hands taken from this mail, unless ye were to make me do so with great disrespect and discourtesy, until ye grant me that which I seek.”<br />
<br />
When Amadis saw her thus and heard what she said, he did not know how to respond, for he was afraid of giving his word for something that later would cause him great shame, but seeing her weep so fiercely and hold so tightly to his chain mail with her knees on the ground, he was moved to such great pity that he forgot to get assurance that his aid would be for a just cause, and he said:<br />
<br />
“Lady, tell me who ye are, and I promise to take your husband from where he is being held prisoner and give him to you if I can carry it out.”<br />
<br />
Then the lady grabbed his hands and by force kissed them, and she said to Grasandor:<br />
<br />
“My lord knight, see what Amadis has promised me.” And then she said, “Know, my lord Amadis, that I am the wife of Arcalaus the Sorcerer, whom ye hold prisoner. I ask you to give him to me and to put him someplace where I need not fear to lose him again, for ye are the greatest enemy he has, and if I can, I shall change him from your mortal enemy into your friend.”<br />
<br />
When Amadis heard this, he was very upset to see himself deceived by that lady with such trickery, and if he could have found an honorable means to refuse to comply, he would have taken it gladly, fearing more the danger and harm that this evil knight could bring to many people who did not deserve it, than what Arcalaus could bring to him. But seeing the great cause the lady had and by no means could she be blamed, being obliged to save her husband, and above all wishing that his word and truth in no way be considered doubtful, he decided to do what she asked and told her:<br />
<br />
“Lady, ye have asked me for a lot, and ye may be certain that it is a greater challenge for me to bend my will to consent to what ye ask, than to embolden my heart to take your husband by force of arms from wherever he might have been and whatever risk it involved. And I can well say that from the moment in which I became a knight, I have never offered service and aid to a lady or damsel as much against my will as this.”<br />
<br />
Then he and Grasandor mounted their horses, and Amadis told the lady to follow them, and they rode up to the castle.<br />
<br />
When Oriana and Mabilia knew they had arrived, the great pleasure and joy they felt could not be told. And immediately they and all the ladies who were there came out to receive them at the entrance to the garden where they dwelled. The acts and courtesies with which Amadis and his lady received each other will be excused from recounting because, although until now as lovers they were worth mentioning, being married, they should be forgotten, although they continued to occur with true love.<br />
<br />
Olinda the Prudent and Grasinda embraced Amadis and Grasandor, and together they all went to their chambers, which they had in the great tower that ye have heard of, for in that garden they had enjoyed great pleasure as those who loved each other with their whole hearts.<br />
<br />
Amadis ordered that the lady be given lodging and everything she needed. And the next morning they all heard Mass with Grasinda in her chambers, and when it had been said, Arcalaus’s wife asked Amadis to fulfill his promise. He told her he considered that good. Then they all went together to the fortress where Arcalaus was held in an iron cage. After Amadis had spoken with him in the town of Lubaina when they captured him, he had never wished to see him again, nor had those ladies seen him, for they had never left their garden except for when they came out to receive King Lisuarte and to attend their own weddings.<br />
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And when they arrived, they found him dressed in a short tunic lined in fine fur from animals hunted on the island, which Sir Gandales, Amadis’ foster father, had him given for winter. He was reading a book that Gandales had sent that offered very good examples and teachings of how to handle adversities of fortune. He had a very long gray beard, and he was of large build with an ugly face that always looked enraged, and when he saw them coming, it became even more so. The ladies were very frightened to see him, especially Oriana, who remembered when he had taken her by force and Amadis had released her from the hands of Arcalaus and four other knights, as the first book of this story has told.<br />
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When they arrived, he ceased reading and stood up, and he saw his wife but said nothing. Amadis told him:<br />
<br />
“Arcalaus, dost thou know this lady?”<br />
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“Yes, I know her,” he said.<br />
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“Art thou pleased she has come?”<br />
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“If it is for my good,” he said, “thou mayest judge. But if it bears no more fruit than it seems, it is to the contrary. I have made myself determined to suffer all ill that may come to me, and I have subjugated my heart, so unless what I see may give me hope for some rest, it will cause me greater pain.”<br />
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Amadis told him:<br />
<br />
“If with her arrival thou art freed from this prison, ought thou to thank me for it and acknowledge it from now on?”<br />
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“If by thine own will thou sent for her to do what thou sayest,” he said, “I shall always appreciate it greatly. But if she has come without thy pleasure or knowledge and if thou hast promised her something, I cannot give thee thanks because good works that owe more to necessity than charity are not worthy of much merit. And for that I urge thee to tell me, if thou wilt, what moved her and thee to come see me with these ladies.”<br />
<br />
Amadis told him:<br />
<br />
“I shall tell thee the truth about everything that has happened, and I ask thee to speak in the same manner in response.”<br />
<br />
Then he told him how his wife had by trickery asked him for a boon, and how she had asked him to release him, and all the rest of how he responded, and he did not leave anything out.<br />
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Arcalaus told him:<br />
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“However it may affect my situation, I shall tell thee the complete truth of how I feel, since thou wishest to know. In Lubaina I asked for pity and mercy from thee, and if thou wouldst have restored me to my free will, thou mayest truly believe that for my entire life I would have been obliged to thee and thou wouldst have always found in my deeds true friendship. But thou art now doing what thou does not desire but cannot avoid, and with enmity thou doest me this good deed, so I accept it and hold it in the degree it deserves, for thou wouldst consider me unworthy and of a weak heart if I gave thee thanks for what I must wish thee ill.”<br />
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“I have taken great pleasure in what thou hast said,” Amadis said, “and thou speakest the truth, for by taking thee from here thou owest me nothing, because, truly, I was determined to hold thee here for a long time, thinking this was the most appropriate way to give thee the punishment thou deservest rather than for you to do harm to many who did not deserve it. But by the promise that I gave to thy lady, I shall order thee released from this prison and set free.<br />
<br />
“I ask one thing of thee, that although in thy heart and deeds thou dost not forgive me and shalt always treat me as the enemy that in the past thou hast always considered me, that thou forgivest all the others that never did thy harm. And do this for the Lord who, when thou wert with the least hope for liberation and I to give it to thee, thought it good to remedy thy ills, which he does with His boundless mercy for those wicked men after he has tested them, because with such lashes and fatigues He puts and end to the works that are contrary to His service.<br />
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“When they understand that, He does them good for what remains of their lives in this world and blessings and pleasure in the world to come. And if they do the contrary, He does the contrary and executes justice with the punishment they deserve and gives them no hope nor remedy to their souls after they leave their unfortunate bodies.”<br />
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Arcalaus told him:<br />
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“In what regards thee, it is clear that in no way could I wish thee well nor cease to do what ill I could to thee. Regarding the others thou speakest of, I do not know what I shall do because my habits are so established, and with all the wrong I have done, I have little hope that the Lord of whom thou speakest will give me any of His grace without merit on my part. Yet without His grace my disposition could not withstand nor weigh such a thing so hard and foreign to its desires.<br />
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“And if that were not so, I would not do it by thy counsel so that thou wouldst not win the glory that thou hast won from all others. If I have received any mercy from God, it is none other than to give thee no mercy nor a place in my heart, for when I with such humility asked thee to release me, He instead wished that it would come at thy sorrow and much against thy will, so there is nothing left that I might bear for thee.”<br />
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The ladies were very frightened to hear what Arcalaus had said to him, and they begged Amadis not to release him, because he would do greater wrong before God by causing that vile man to go free so he could freely execute his evil desires than by keeping him prisoner and going against his promise.<br />
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Amadis told them:<br />
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“My ladies, often it happens that people are corrected and reformed by great adversities, holding in their souls the mighty and firm hope and mercy of God, but others who lack that hope and mercy cause their own desperation, whereby they are condemned without remedy. And this could happen to Arcalaus if I held him here any longer, knowing that there is no way within him to be corrected and reformed by this means. I shall keep my word and promise, and I shall leave this to the Lord, Who in a moment may bring him to His holy service as He has done for many worse sinners.”<br />
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With that they ended their discussion, and on Amadis’ orders the lady was placed in the iron cage with her husband so that she could keep him company that night, and he and the ladies returned to the garden tower. The next morning he ordered Isanjo, the island’s governor, be called, and asked him to take Arcalaus and his wife from prison and give them a horse and arms, and to order Insajo’s sons with ten knights to escort him safely to wherever he would be content and his wife satisfied that what she had asked had been done. It was carried out and Isanjo’s sons went with him to his castle called Valderin, and left him there.<br />
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And as they were about to leave, he told them:<br />
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“Knights, tell Amadis that wild beasts and brute animals may be put in jails, but not knights such as myself. He should protect himself well from me, for I soon hope to avenge myself on him, even though he may have the help of that vile whore Urganda the Unrecognized.”<br />
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They told him.<br />
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“May ye soon return down this road to where ye came from.”<br />
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And with that they returned home.<br />
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Ye may believe here that this lady, Arcalaus’s wife, was very pious and fearful of God, and all her husband’s deaths and cruelties caused great sorrow and pain to her heart, and she sought forgiveness for them as best she could, and by her merits she achieved the grace to take her husband from a place where no one else in the world could have done. So a good lady and devoted wife must be highly appreciated and esteemed for often by her our Lord permits that her estate, husband, and children are protected from great danger.<br />
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As ye hear, Amadis and Grasandor were at Firm Island with great pleasure in their hearts, where soon Darioleta arrived with her husband, daughter, and her husband Bravor, which greatly increased their joy.<br />
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<br />Sue Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725709764785276859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555107255854248187.post-18361264257219595462017-03-21T06:00:00.000-05:002017-03-21T06:00:13.847-05:00Chapter 130 [part 3 of 5]<span style="color: #cc0000;">[Of Gandalin’s quest, and how Amadis resolved it to everyone’s contentment.] </span><br />
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<i>[The ruins of the thermal baths of Cluny, at the <a href="http://www.musee-moyenage.fr/lieu/les-thermes-antiques.html" target="_blank">National Museum of the Middle Ages</a>, in Paris, France. Photo by <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thermes_de_Cluny_2.jpg" target="_blank">Eviatar Bach</a>.]<br /> </i><br />
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Then Amadis and Grasandor went out into the part of that plain that seemed to them to have been the most densely populated, and they found some very large wells next to fountains, some baths in ruins, some small and very well made shrines with images of metal or stone, along with many other ancient things.<br />
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And as they were doing that, as ye hear, they saw a knight approaching in all-white armor, with his sword in hand, who must have come up the same way as they had, since there was only one way. As he approached them, he greeted them and they greeted him, and the knight told them:<br />
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“Knights, are ye from Firm Island?”<br />
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“Yes,” they said. “Why do ye ask?”<br />
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“Because down at the foot of this peak I found some men in a ship who told me that up here were two knights from Firm Island, but I could not learn their names. And because I am also from Firm Island, I do not wish to have an encounter with anyone from there except in peace. I come in search of a vile knight and have been told that he is taking shelter here with a damsel he has abducted.”<br />
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Amadis, when he heard this, said:<br />
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“Knight, as a courtesy, I ask you to say your name or to take off your helmet.”<br />
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“If ye,” he said, “give me assurance by your faith that ye are from Firm Island, I shall tell you, but otherwise there is no need to ask me.”<br />
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“I tell you,” Grasandor said, “on our faith that we are from where they say we are.”<br />
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Then the knight took the helmet from his head and said:<br />
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“Now ye can see if what I have said is true.”<br />
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Seeing him thus, they recognized him as Gandalin. Amadis came to him with his arms open and said:<br />
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“Oh, my good friend and brother! What great good fate it is for me to find you!”<br />
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Gandalin was very surprised because he still had not recognized him, and Grasandor said:<br />
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“Gandalin, Amadis is embracing you.”<br />
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When he heard that, he knelt and took his hands and kissed them again and again, but Amadis raised him up and embraced him again as someone he loved with all his heart. Then Amadis and Grasandor took off their helmets and asked him what adventure had brought him there. He told them:<br />
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“My good lords, I could ask you the same thing, given where I saw you last and the distant and disagreeable place where I find you now, but I wish to answer what you asked. Know that when I was with Agrajes and the other knights with him in the conquests ye know of, after winning a great battle in which many men perished that we had with a nephew of King Arabigo, when we drove them into a the great city of Arabia, one day a lady dressed all in black from the Kingdom of Norway entered Agrajes’ tent. She threw herself at his feet imploring him to try to help her in her great tribulation.<br />
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“Agrajes had her rise and sit next to him, and asked her to tell him about her plight, and if he could justly remedy it, he would do so. The lady said:<br />
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“ ‘My lord Agrajes, I am from the Kingdom of Norway, where your wife Olinda is from. Being born there and a vassal of her father the King, I come to you for the familial love ye have for those lords to ask you for the help of a good knight who can return to me a damsel, my daughter, who by force was taken from me by an evil knight, the lord of the great Seaside Tower, because she would not become his wife. He is not of the same level of lineage or blood as my daughter, and instead is of little rank and has only managed to become lord of that tower, with which he subjugates many of the people who live there. My husband was first cousin of Sir Grumedan, Queen Brisena’s foster father. Not for anything I have done has that knight been willing to return my daughter to me. And he says that except by force of arms, in no other way can I expect to see her in my company.’<br />
<br />
“Agrajes told her:<br />
<br />
“ ‘My lady, why does your lord the King not do you justice?’<br />
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“ ‘My lord,’ she said, ‘the King is now very old and ill, so he cannot govern himself nor anyone else.’<br />
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“ ‘Then,’ Agrajes said, ‘is that knight very far from here?’<br />
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“ ‘No,’ she said, ‘for he can be reached in a day and night with good weather by sea.’<br />
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“When I heard this, I urged Agrajes to give me permission to go with the lady, and if God gave me victory, I would return immediately with that knight. Agrajes gave me permission and ordered me not to become involved in any other adventure but this one. I promised to do so. Then I took my arms and horse and with the lady boarded the ship that had brought her there, and we traveled for all that remained of that day, and the night. The next day at noon we went ashore and the lady came with me to guide me to the place of the knight’s tower.<br />
<br />
“When we arrived, I called at the gate, and a man responded from a window, asking what I wanted. I told him to tell the knight of that tower to immediately return a damsel he had taken from the lady I brought with me, or to say why he could and should keep her. If he did not do so, it would be certain that no one could leave the tower who would not be killed or captured. The man answered me:<br />
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“ ‘We here would give little regard for what thou couldst do, but wait and thou shalt soon have what thou askest for.’<br />
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“Then I backed up a ways from the tower and an enormous knight came out in bright yellow arms on a large horse, and he said:<br />
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“ ‘Threatening knight, with what few brains thou hast, what is it that thou seekest?’<br />
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“I told him:<br />
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“ ‘I shall not threaten nor challenge thee until I know thy reason for taking by force a damsel, daughter of this lady, who tells me that thou hast abducted her.’<br />
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“ ‘Even if the lady is telling the truth,’ he said, ‘what can thou doest about it?’<br />
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“ ‘Take satisfaction for it from thee,’ I said, ‘if it is the will of God.’<br />
<br />
“The knight said:<br />
<br />
“ ‘Then I wish to give thee her by the point of this lance.’<br />
<br />
“And he immediately came at me without hesitation, and I at him. Our battle lasted for a large part of the day, but in the end, since I sought truth and he defended the opposite, God wished to give me victory, so I had him lying at my feet so I could cut off his head. And he asked for the mercy of not killing him, and he would do everything I wished. I ordered him to give the damsel to her mother and to swear he would never again take any woman against her will, and he agreed.<br />
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“That being done, I let him go, and he asked permission to enter the tower, for he himself would bring out the damsel. I trusted him and let him go, and shortly after he entered the tower he left by another door that faced the sea, and, still armed, he got into a boat with the damsel and told me:<br />
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“ ‘Knight, do not be surprised that I did not keep my word. The great power of love makes me do so, for without this damsel I could not live another hour. And since I cannot subjugate nor control myself, I beg thee not to blame me for what thou seest in me. And so that thou shalt lose hope of ever seeing her again, as shall her mother, ye can see that I am going out to sea to someplace where for a long time no one shall hear about me or her.’<br />
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“And as he said this, with an oar he held in his hands, he pushed off from the shore as fast as he could and went out into the sea, with the damsel weeping painfully. When I saw this, I felt great pain and sorrow and wished more for death than life, because before me the lady was tearing her veils and dress in the greatest mourning in the world, which was very painful to see. She said she had received more harm from me than from any other knight because when her daughter was in that tower, she always had hope of recovering her, but now she had none because she had watched her go off to someplace where her eyes would never see her, which was my fault.<br />
<br />
Although I knew how to defeat that knight, I did not have sufficient discretion to give her the justice she had hoped for. Not only would she not thank me for what I had done, she would denounce me to everyone. I consoled her as best I could and I told her:<br />
<br />
“ ‘Lady, I feel very guilty since I did not know how to carry out the purpose ye brought me here for. I should have realized that a knight so treacherous as to take your daughter by force would have little virtue in all other things. But since that is what happened, I promise you that I will never rest nor take repose until by sea or by land I find him and bring ye the damsel or die in the quest. I only ask, since ye shall stay in your land, to help me by giving me the ship in which we came and one of your men to come with me.’<br />
<br />
“The lady, somewhat consoled by this, said I should take the ship and ordered one of her men to come with me and to note carefully what I had promised and what I would be doing about it. With that I bid her farewell and returned down the road on which I had come. When I reached the ship, night had fallen, so I had to wait until morning, and when it came, I went in the direction I had seen the knight take the damsel.<br />
<br />
“I traveled all day without learning any news about him, and so I have traveled another five days to everywhere that fate took me. This morning I found some men who were fishing, and they told me they had seen an armed knight come in a boat, and they were headed toward the island that was called the Peak of the Enchanting Damsel. When I learned that news, I ordered the man who guided me to take me here, and when I came to the foot of the peak, I found your company and an empty ship a distance away, and I asked for news about the knight and the damsel. They told me they had not seen them, only that empty boat that was there.<br />
<br />
“For that reason I climbed up here, and I am sure that the treacherous knight has taken shelter here. And I also want to test an adventure that the fishermen told me about concerning an enchanted chamber on this peak, to see if I can pass it. And if not, I could tell about it to those who do not know about it.”<br />
<br />
Grasandor told him, laughing:<br />
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“My good friend Gandalin, try to make right the matter involving the knight and the damsel, and let what ye say about the adventure be for another time, for it is not so easy to accomplish.”<br />
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Then they told him everything that had happened to them, with which Gandalin was very amazed. Amadis told him:<br />
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“We have walked through a great portion of this plain and these buildings, but we have not seen anyone. But he may be here, and we shall search through everything to satisfy thy will.”<br />
<br />
Then the three began to search through all the ruined buildings, and in a short while in a bath they found the knight with the damsel, and when he saw them, he immediately came out holding her by the hand, and said:<br />
<br />
“My lord knights, whom are ye seeking?”<br />
<br />
“My deceitful lord,” Gandalin said, “thy treachery and lies can no longer offer thee a means to avoid paying for the trick thou didst to me and the labor I undertook to find you.”<br />
<br />
The knight immediately recognized by his white armor that he was the knight who had defeated him, and he said:<br />
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“Knight, I have already told thee that the great love I feel for this damsel does not let me control what I do. And if thou or any of these knights know what true love is, ye shall not blame me for what I do. Thou mayst do what thou wilt, but except by death I shall not be separated from this damsel.”<br />
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When Amadis heard him say this, he understood in his heart due to the great love he always had for his lady that this knight was without guilt for he did not have the power to control himself no matter how he tried, and he said:<br />
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“Knight, although what ye say excuses somewhat your weighty blame, it does not mean this other knight can cease to seek what rightly is due to this damsel’s mother, and if he does not act, he would be justly blamed by honorable men.”<br />
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The knight told him:<br />
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“My good lord, I understand that, and if it pleases him, I will place myself in his power so that he may take me to the lady ye speak of at whose challenge he fought with me, so that she may do her will. And he should help me because the daughter is content with me, so her mother ought to also be content to give me her as my wife.”<br />
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Amadis asked the damsel if the knight spoke the truth. She answered that he did, that although until then she had been taken from him against all her will, when she saw the great love he had for her and what he had done to have her, she had given her heart to him to love and hold, and to take him for her husband.<br />
<br />
Amadis said to Gandalin:<br />
<br />
“Take them both and put them in the hands of the lady, and as much as ye are able, make her agree to let him marry her, since it pleases the damsel.”<br />
<br />
With that, they all descended the peak, sleeping that night in the hermitage with the metal statue, and there they dined on what the knight and damsel had brought for themselves. The next day they climbed down to where the ships were, and Gandalin said farewell and left with the knight and the damsel. But first Amadis and Grasandor spoke with him and told him to bring his greetings to Agrajes and his friends, and if they needed men, to make it known at Firm Island and they would go themselves or send them immediately.<br />
<br />
So they parted, and when Gandalin arrived at the lady’s home, he put the knight and her daughter in her hands, and since the damsel had, with the knight’s love, changed her intentions as women are accustomed to do, the mother, fortunately being of the same nature as her daughter, changed her own intentions given what Gandalin and some others said who wished to persuade her, so that to the pleasure and contentment of all, they were wed.<br />
<br />
This done, Gandalin returned to Agrajes, who was very pleased by the news of what Amadis had said. Gandalin found that they were all very happy with the good fortune that had come to them with the siege. After their enemies had been surrounded in that city, as ye have heard, there were some great battles in which most of the best knights among those inside were wounded or killed. They were also happy with the arrival of Sir Galaor and Sir Galvanes, who after they left Dragonis as King of Deep Island, without delay they promptly boarded their fleet and came to help them.<br />
<br />
So it happens that those who have been ill, when they arise after great ailments and begin to recover their health, only think about the things they most wish and are eager to do, with it hoping to leave behind all that remains of their ailments, thus Sir Galaor, King of Sobradisa, finding himself free of that great illness in which he often came close to death, thought not in contenting his will nor in mending his health but doing those things that his brave and mighty heart sought. In it was all his delight and great pleasure, as a man who from the day his brother Amadis made him a knight before the Castle of the Causeway in the presence of Urganda the Unrecognized could never remember not wishing to learn everything about the order of knighthood and put it to work, as this story recounts in every part that mentions him.<br />
<br />
He put no consideration into now being a powerful King with the very beautiful Queen Briolanja, and given the feats he had achieved in the past, with good and just cause he could have spent a great deal of time giving rest and repose to his spirit. Instead considering that honor has no end and is so delicate that with very little neglect it can begin to lose its luster, especially for those who fortune has placed at their height, setting all aside, this courageous King wished to take up the labor of helping his cousin Dragonis, as ye have heard, and not being content with carrying out those difficulties and labors, he immediately went as fast as he could to help those other knights, his great friends.<br />
<br />
Oh, how those who were born into this world to follow the deeds of chivalry ought to ponder this, and how they should consider that although they have given good account of their honor for some time, if they were to forget the great obligation they have, not only would their armor become tarnished, so would their fame, and it could not be burnished again for a great deal of time! Just as those who work in any sort of craft with diligence are according to their status placed in honor and are without want, but when they forsake their work with negligence and carelessness, they lose what they had gained and come to misery and poverty, so knights can suffer the same, and by failing to do what they ought, their honor, fame, and virtues are battered and brought down to discredit and misery.<br />
<br />
And this noble King, Sir Galaor, to avoid falling into this error, always following the examples of his father King Perion and his brother, as soon as the matter of Deep Island was finished, as ye have been told, with Sir Galvanes to help him, left to bring about victory elsewhere. And their arrival gave such courage to those on his side and such fear in his opponents that from the day that they came the enemy never again dared to venture outside of the walls, so that in a short space of time Agrajes and his friends hoped to win the entire kingdom.<br />
<br />
But now we shall leave them in their encampments deciding how to attack their enemies, who did not dare to come forth, because we ought to tell you the story of Amadis and Grasandor, who after they left the Peak of the Enchanting Damsel, headed to Firm Island. <br />
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+Sue Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725709764785276859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555107255854248187.post-59666163646301837472017-03-14T06:00:00.000-05:002017-03-14T06:00:02.591-05:00Chapter 130 [part 2 of 5]<span style="color: #cc0000;">[How Amadis and Grasandor reached the Peak of the Enchanting Damsel, and what happened to them there.] </span><br />
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[The ruins of <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Castle_Larissa_05.jpg">Larisa Castle</a> in <a href="https://www.argos.gr/portal/page/portal/ARGOS">Argos</a>, Greece. Photo by <a href="https://www.ploync.de/griechenland/#.WMLbzKLatnI" target="_blank">Ronny Siegel</a>.]<br />
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Now the story says that Amadis and Grasandor left on a Monday morning from the great Island of the Vermilion Tower, where the mighty giant named Balan was lord. And Amadis asked Nalfon, Madasima’s majordomo, to give him one of his men to guide him to the Peak of the Enchanting Damsel. Nalfon said he would be pleased to do so, and if he wished to climb the peak, it was a good time to do so because it was the coldest part of winter. And he said if Amadis were to order Nalfon to come with him, he would gladly do so.<br />
<br />
Amadis thanked him and told him it would not be necessary, and he would let him do as he had already been ordered, for a single guide would suffice.<br />
<br />
“In the name of God,” the majordomo said, “and may He guide you and help you in this and everything else ye undertake, just as He has done until now.”<br />
<br />
Then they bid each other goodbye, and the majordomo went on his way to Anteina, and Amadis and Grasandor sailed out to sea with their guide. They traveled fully five days at sea and did not spot the peak, although the weather was very favorable. On the sixth day in the morning they saw it rising so high that it seemed to touch the clouds. They sailed until they were at its foot, and they found there a ship at the shore with no one in it, which surprised them, but they believed that someone who had climbed the peak had left it there.<br />
<br />
Amadis said to Grasandor:<br />
<br />
“My good lord, I wish to climb up that peak and see what the majordomo told us about, if it is as he said, and I ask you, although ye may be anxious, to wait for me here until tomorrow night when I should be able to come here or make some signal from up there about how I am doing. And if at this time or on the third day I do not return, ye may believe that my situation is not going well, and ye may decide to do what ye most please.”<br />
<br />
Grasandor told him:<br />
<br />
“I am very sorry, my lord, that ye do not consider me someone whose courage is sufficient to withstand whatever confrontation it may face, even death, especially finding myself in your company, for your excess courage could very well supply whatever I lack. Whether this expedition may go well or badly, I wish to be a part of it.”<br />
<br />
Amadis embraced him, laughing, and said:<br />
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“My lord, do not take what I said that way, for ye know very well that I am a witness to the fact that your courage is sufficient. If ye please, then, it shall be done as ye say.”<br />
<br />
Then they ordered that they be given something to eat, and it was done. And when they had eaten enough for such a great climb on foot, for it was impossible by horse, they took all their arms except their lances and they began hiking up the path, which was carved into the rock all the way to the top, but which was very difficult to climb. And so they went for a great portion of the day, at times walking and often resting, for it was very laborious due to the weight of their weapons and armor.<br />
<br />
Halfway up the peak they found a house like a hermitage made of stone, and in it an image like an metal idol with a great crown on its head of the same metal, and it held a great gilt square of that metal at its chest, which it grasped in both hands as if it was embracing it. On it were inscribed some very large and well-made letters in Greek that could easily be read, although they were from the time when the Enchanting Damsel was there, which was more than two hundred years earlier.<br />
<br />
The damsel was from the city of Argos in Greece and the daughter of a man named Finetor, who was wise in all the arts, especially in the ones regarding good and black magic. She turned out to be of such a subtle ingenuity that she embarked on learning those arts and succeeded in such a way that she mastered them much better than her father or anyone else had in those days. And she came to dwell on that peak as has been told. The way she did that, this story shall not recount because it would be too prolix and would stray too far from our purpose.<br />
<br />
When Amadis and Grasandor entered the hermitage, they sat to rest on a stone bench in it, and after a while they stood to look at the image, which seemed very beautiful. They studied it for a long time and saw the words, and Amadis began to read them, for while he was traveling in Greece he learned how both to speak and read Greek, and he was mostly taught by the doctor Elisabad when they were traveling by sea, who also taught him the language of Germany and other lands, which he knew well, for he was wise in all the arts and had traveled to many provinces.<br />
<br />
And the letters said:<br />
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“In the time when the great island shall flourish and shall be ruled by a powerful King, and the island shall rule over many other kings and famous knights throughout the world, there shall be united as one the height of arms and the flower of beauty who in their time shall have no peer. And from them shall come he who will pull the sword with which his order of knighthood shall be fulfilled, and the mighty stone doors shall be opened that enclose within them the great treasure.”<br />
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When Amadis had read them, he said to Grasandor:<br />
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“My lord, did you read those words?”<br />
<br />
“No,” he said, “because I do not know the language in which they are written.”<br />
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Amadis told him everything they said, and they seemed to be an ancient prophesy, and he did not think it would be fulfilled by either of them in that adventure, although he believed that he and his lady Oriana might be the two who would engender the knight who would accomplish it, but he said nothing about that.<br />
<br />
And Grasandor told him:<br />
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“If ye cannot do it, for ye are the son of the best knight in the world who in all his time has held and maintained the greatest height of arms, and of the Queen who from what I have heard was one of the most beautiful in her time, a long while will pass before it is fulfilled. So let us climb the peak and see and test everything there. If it is a strange thing for others to accomplish such a great adventure, it would be much stranger if ye were not to do so. And if that were to happen, I would see what no one has been able to see in your time.”<br />
<br />
Amadis laughed deeply and did not respond, but he realized that what he had said meant little, because neither the skill of his father at arms nor the beauty of his mother came close to equaling that of himself and Oriana. And he said:<br />
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“Let us climb, and if it is possible, we may reach the top before nightfall.”<br />
<br />
Then they left the hermitage and began the laborious climb, for the peak was very tall and steep. It took them so long that before they reached the top, night overtook them, so they had to remain beneath an overhang, where they spent the entire night speaking about past events and mostly about their beloved wives, whom they held in their hearts, and the other ladies who were with them. And Amadis said that if he were not afraid of the anger and rage of his lady, when they climbed down the peak they should go to help Sir Cuadragante, Sir Bruneo, Agrajes, and their other friends.<br />
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Grasandor told him:<br />
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“I would also wish to do so, but not at this time because since ye left Firm Island so precipitously and I in such a hurry came to find you, if we were to spend time there, we would cause great sadness and suffering to your lady, especially since she would not know that I found you. So I would prefer to go to see her before going anywhere that was not necessary. And meanwhile we will hear more news about the knights ye speak of, and we will be able to make a better decision. If they need our help, we can do so going with a greater company of men.”<br />
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“So it shall be done,” Amadis said, “and we should go by Prince Island, and there we should get a ship for one of your squires to take my letter to the giant Balan in which I shall ask him to send a message from his island to where Sir Cuadragante and the others are, so that at Firm Island, where we will be waiting, we will promptly be advised of what they are doing.”<br />
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“That would be very good,” Grasandor said.<br />
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So they remained below the overhang, at times talking and at times sleeping, until day came, when they began to climb up what little remained. When they reached the top, they looked all around and saw a very wide plain with many ruined houses, and in the middle of the plain some very large palaces, most of them collapsed. They immediately went to look at them and came to a very beautiful stone arch with a perfectly made stone statue over it of a damsel. In her right hand she held a quill made of the same stone as if she were about to write, and in her left hand, a placard with Greek letters that said:<br />
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“True wisdom is that which is of more use with the gods than with men, and other wisdom is vanity.”<br />
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Amadis read those letters and told Grasandor what they said, and he added:<br />
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“If wise men knew about the gift they receive from God in granting them so much of His grace that many other men might be ruled, advised, and governed by them, and if they wished to use their wisdom to take care to keep their souls away from that which could hinder their clarity and purity, as the Lord most high shall do in the world to come, how blessed would they be and how fruitful and useful would be their wisdom! But as our wicked inclination and condition generally makes us be to the contrary, we use the wisdom that was given to us for our salvation on things that promise us perishable honors, delights, and worldly advantage, which causes us to lose the other, endless, eternal world, just as this unfortunate damsel did who exhibited in these few words such great adages and doctrines. Although her judgement was gifted and endowed with all the most subtle arts, she knew how to benefit from and understand little of her great wisdom. But let us cease to speak more of this now, for wandering as they did in the past, we would go where they went. Let us instead continue on to see what happens to us.”<br />
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So they passed beneath that arch and entered a great courtyard where there were some fountains for water, and next to them there seemed to be what were once great buildings that were now in ruins, and the houses that were once around them no longer seemed to be homes, instead merely stone walls that storms had not been able to wear away. And between those buildings they found many caves sheltering dragons, and they thought they would not be able to find what they were seeking without some great confrontation. But it was not so, for none of the dragons nor any other thing stopped them.<br />
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So they entered the houses in front of them, holding up their shields with their helmets on their heads and their bare swords in their hands. Having passed through the courtyard, they entered a great hall with an arched roof, and the strength of the mortar and stone had protected it for so many years that they were able to observe much of its fine workmanship. At the end of that hall they saw some stone doors closed so tightly that nothing within could be seen, and where they were joined, a sword was thrust up to its hilt.<br />
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They immediately realized it was the enchanted chamber where the treasure was. They studied the hilt’s decorations carefully, but they could not determine what it was made of, so oddly was it fashioned, especially the pommel and the cross-guard, for what was the hand grip seemed to be of bone as transparent as crystal, and as bright and red as a fine ruby. They also saw on the right hand door seven letters deeply carved as red as fresh blood, and on the other side were other letters much whiter than the stone, and were in Latin, and which said:<br />
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“In vain will labor the knight who tries to draw the sword from here by his own courage or strength if he is not the one who on his chest bears the letters shown on the face of the other door, and which matches those seven letters bright as fire. For that man the sword has been protected by she who through her great wisdom came to know that neither in her time nor for a long time afterwards would come anyone equal.”<br />
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When Amadis saw this, he gazed at the red letters and immediately remembered the ones his son Esplandian had on the left side of his chest, and thought that because he would become the finest knight of all including himself, that adventure awaited him alone. He said to Grasandor:<br />
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“What do you make of those letters?”<br />
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“It seems to me,” he said, “that I fully understand what the white ones say, but I cannot read the red ones.”<br />
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“I also cannot,” Amadis said, “although I believe that I have already seen others like them, and I think ye have seen them, too.”<br />
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Then Grasandor looked at them more closely than before and said:<br />
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“Holy Mary help me! These are the same as the ones your son has, so he is granted this adventure. Now I tell you that ye shall leave here without accomplishing it, and blaming yourself for having created someone who is more worthy than ye are.”<br />
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Amadis told him:<br />
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“My good friend, when we read the letters on the tablet that the image held in the hermitage we visited, I thought about what ye have just said. And because I do not believe myself to be as good as what it says about he who will engender that knight, I did not dare to say that. Now these letters make be believe what you just said.”<br />
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Grasandor said, laughing and with good will:<br />
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“Let us descend from here and return to our companions, for it seems to me that in a certain way we are taking honor and victory from this voyage. Let that young man begin to ascend to where ye shall descend.”<br />
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And so they both left, enjoying each other’s company. When they had left the great palaces, Amadis said:<br />
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“Let us see if that enchanted chamber has some other place where by some artifice it could be entered.”<br />
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Then they walked around the part of the palace where the chamber was, and they found that it was all of one stone without any joint at all.<br />
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“This has been made to protect it very well,” Grasandor said. “We ought to leave it to its owner, so that in place of this sword that ye came to win ye do not leave yours that ye won with so many sighs and so much care and great affliction to your spirit.”<br />
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Grasandor said this because Amadis had won his sword as the best and most loyal lover in his time, which he could not have achieved without having placed his spirit in much fierce anguish, as the second book of this story relates.<br />
+Sue Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725709764785276859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555107255854248187.post-37587975563542859192017-03-09T06:00:00.000-06:002017-03-09T06:00:05.816-06:00The sorcerer who didn’t trust his student<span style="color: #cc0000;">A medieval tale about keeping your word.</span><br />
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<i> The <a href="http://www.bluffton.edu/homepages/facstaff/sullivanm/spain/toledo/martinbridge/bridge.html">San Martín Bridge</a> over the Tajo River at the west end of Toledo, Spain, built in the 1300s. Etching by Vicente Urrabieta y Ortiz, published in the Chronicle of Toledo Province, 1866. </i><br />
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Were sorcerers evil? Maybe, maybe not. Urganda the Unknown certainly wasn’t. In fact she was honored by kings. But Arcalaus dedicated his life to doing harm.<br />
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In any case, you shouldn’t try to fool a sorcerer. Here’s a medieval story about someone who tried. It comes from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_of_Count_Lucanor"><i>El Conde Lucanor</i></a>, written in 1335 by don Juan Manuel, who was Prince of Villena and grandson of King Fernando III of Castile. The book contains parables and tales to help the fictional Count Lucanor understand how to confront problems in his life.<br />
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This story, “What Happened Between a Deacon from Santiago and Don Yllan, the Grand Master of Toledo,” deals with people who ask for help and promise to reciprocate. I’ve translated it freely.<br />
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A deacon who lived in the city of Santiago de Compostela yearned to master the magical arts, so when he heard that don Yllan of Toledo knew more about them than any man alive, off he went. As soon as he arrived, he made his way to don Yllan’s house and found him reading.<br />
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Don Yllan promptly rose and welcomed him, so apparently pleased to see him that he didn’t even want to hear why he’d come until they’d eaten. In the meantime, he offered the deacon a fine room and everything he might need.<br />
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After dinner, they spoke privately, and the deacon explained what he sought, urging don Yllan to share his wisdom, promising to be an eager learner. The master magician answered that the deacon was a man of high estate who’d go far – and men who achieve their goals soon forget what other men have done for them. Once the deacon had learned what he wanted, would he keep his word and help don Yllan in return? The deacon promised he would, no matter what good fortune came to him.<br />
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With that, they began the lessons. As the afternoon wore on and night came, don Yllan told the deacon that what he wanted to learn could only be taught in a much more private place, which he was about to show him. He took him by the hand and led him to a chamber. Then don Yllan left to call a young serving woman and told her to prepare some partridges for supper – but not to begin roasting them until he gave the order.<br />
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He returned to the deacon, and they climbed down a stone staircase for so long that it seemed as if the Tajo River had to be passing over their heads. At the bottom of the staircase lay a hallway leading to a beautiful room with the books he’d need to study. They sat down and were deciding where to begin when two footmen came through the door with a letter for the deacon from his uncle, the archbishop, that said he was very ill and if his nephew wished to see him alive, he should come right away. The deacon thought hard, weighing his uncle’s illness and his unwillingness to cease studying when he’d just begun. Finally he decided not to quit so soon, wrote a reply, and sent it to the archbishop.<br />
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Three or four days later, footmen came with more letters for the deacon telling him that his uncle had passed on, and that the clergy in Santiago were selecting a new archbishop. By the mercy of God they might pick him, but he shouldn’t hurry back. It was better for his chances to be elsewhere during the vote.<br />
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After another seven or eight days, two well-dressed squires came, kissed his hand, and showed him letters saying he’d been elected archbishop. When don Yllan heard this, he told his student he should thank God for this good news – and since God had blessed him with so much, would he be so kind as to grant his son the now-empty post of deacon? The new archbishop instead wanted to give it to his brother, promising to repay don Yllan very well later, and asked him to come with him to Santiago and bring his son. Don Yllan agreed.<br />
<br />
They were welcomed in Santiago and treated well, and after they’d been living there for a while, one day messengers from the Pope came to the archbishop telling him he’d been named bishop of Tolosa, and he could give the post in Santiago to whomever he wished. When don Yllan heard this, he reminded him bluntly of what he’d promised and asked him to give the post to his son. The archbishop wanted to give it to his paternal uncle. Don Yllan said he was being done a great wrong, but he’d consent with the understanding that it would be made up later on. The archbishop reassured him, asking him to come to Tolosa and bring his son.<br />
<br />
The counts and all the other noblemen of Tolosa welcomed them. After they’d been living there for two years, messengers from the Pope came with letters saying the bishop had been made a cardinal, and he could give the bishopric of Tolosa to whomever he pleased. Don Yllan came to him and told him that he’d failed to keep his word so many times that he had no excuse anymore and had to give the post to his son. The cardinal instead wanted to give it to his maternal uncle, an elderly nobleman. But, he said, don Yllan should come with him to the Holy See, and now that he was a cardinal, he’d surely be able to find some way to make it up to him. Don Yllan complained a lot, but he agreed and went with him to Rome.<br />
<br />
There, cardinals and everyone else at the Holy See welcomed them, and they lived in Rome for a long time. Every day, Don Yllan asked the cardinal to give his son a post, and he kept getting excuses.<br />
<br />
When the Pope passed away, the cardinal from Santiago was elected to replace him. Then Don Yllan went to him to say he could no longer offer any excuse to fail to keep his promise. The new Pope told him not to be in such a hurry, that the time would come when he could do something proper for his son. Don Yllan began to complain, reminding him of all the promises he’d never fulfilled and how he’d worried from the beginning that he’d never keep his word. He should no longer keep him waiting. The Pope shouted back that if he asked for anything ever again he’d throw him in prison because he was a heretic and a wizard, and he should have known he’d never get anything more than what he’d had back in Toledo, where his only livelihood was by means of black magic.<br />
<br />
When Don Yllan saw how little thanks he was going to get for what he’d done, he prepared to depart, and the Pope wouldn’t even give him food for the trip home. Then Don Yllan told him that if he wasn’t going to offer him a meal, he’d have to rely on the partridges he’d ordered to be roasted that night, and he called his wife and told her to begin preparing them.<br />
<br />
At that, the Pope found himself in Toledo, still the deacon of Santiago, just as he’d been when he’d arrived. He felt too ashamed even to speak. Don Yllan told him to go with good fortune, and since he’d proven himself so thoroughly, it wouldn’t be right to offer him any of the partridges.<br />
<br />
+Sue Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725709764785276859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555107255854248187.post-65597249272365836682017-03-07T06:00:00.000-06:002017-03-07T06:00:10.695-06:00Chapter 130 [part 1 of 5]<span style="color: #cc0000;">How Amadis, at the Island of the Vermilion Tower, was seated on some rocks overlooking the sea and speaking with Grasandor about his lady Oriana, when he saw a ship coming, from which he learned news about the fleet that had gone to the islands of Sansuena and Landas. </span><br />
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<i>[<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Insularium_Illustratum_%28Additional_MS_15760%2C_f.11r%29.jpeg">Map of Crete</a> made in 1495 by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henricus_Martellus_Germanus">Henricus Martellus Germanus</a>. At the <a href="http://searcharchives.bl.uk/IAMS_VU2:IAMS032-002093447">British Library</a>.]</i><br />
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As ye hear, Amadis and Grasandor were at the Island of the Vermilion Tower resting, and Amadis often asked about his lady Oriana, who was always in his desires and thoughts. Although he had her in his power, he had not lost a single bit of the love he had always felt. Instead, now more than ever his heart was subjected to her, and with greater concern he meant to follow her will, which was caused by the great love between the two.<br />
<br />
This was not by accident, unlike many who more quickly than they fell in love come to abhor one another. Rather, Amadis and Oriana were so affectionate and their thoughts, and so honorable and in conformation with good conscience, that their feelings continuously grew, as it does for all those whose love is based on virtue. But we all generally pursue the opposite, and our desires tend more toward the contentment and satisfaction of our base desires and appetites rather than toward what goodness and reason oblige us. <br />
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We should always hold that in mind and keep it in our sights, knowing that if all sweet and delicious things were placed in our mouths, when the sweetness had passed, bitterness would remain. As a result, not only would sweetness be forgotten, our desires would be so altered because of the final bitterness that we would feel great distaste toward the beginning, so we can well say that the glory and perfection of anything is in its conclusion.<br />
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Then if this is so, why do we fail to recognize that dishonorable actions, whether in love or anything else, at first bring sweetness and in the end bitterness and repentance, while virtuous actions of good conscience that at first are harsh and bitter in the end always yield contentment and joy?<br />
<br />
But in regard to this knight and his lady we cannot separate the bad from the good nor the sad from the joyous because since the beginning their thoughts always pursued the honest ending where they now found themselves. And if one or the other suffered worry and anguish in no small amount, as this great story recounts, do not believe that in the end they received sorrow or tragedy from it but instead great ease and joy because they remembered their powerful love so often that it made them see each other as if they were actually before their eyes, which gave great remedy and consolation to their welcome anguish, so by no means they wished to lose that sweet memory.<br />
<br />
But let us cease to speak of these faithful lovers both because the tale would never end and because a great deal of time has passed and will pass before other similar lovers will appear of whom such a great recounting can be written.<br />
<br />
And so as Amadis was speaking with Grasandor about the things he found most agreeable, it happened that as they were sitting on some high rocky peaks over the sea, they saw a small ship coming directly to the port, and they did not wish to go until they knew who was in it. When it reached the port, they sent one of Grasandor’s squires to find out who had docked. He promptly went to find out, and when he returned, he said:<br />
<br />
“My lords, the majordomo of Madasima, the wife of Sir Galvanes, has come on his way to the Island of Mongaza.”<br />
<br />
“Then, where is he coming from?”<br />
<br />
“My lord,” the squire said, “they say he comes from where Sir Galvanes and Sir Galaor are. And I could not learn more.”<br />
<br />
When Amadis heard this, he and Grasandor descended from the peaks and went to the port where the ship was. And when they arrived, Amadis recognized the majordomo, who was named Nalfon, and told him:<br />
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“Nalfon, my friend, I am very glad to see you because ye bear news from my brother Sir Galaor and about Sir Galvanes, and I have heard nothing about them since they left Firm Island.”<br />
<br />
When the majordomo saw him and recognized him as Amadis, he was amazed to find him in that place, for he was well aware that the island belonged to the giant Balan, the greatest enemy Amadis had because he had killed his father. He immediately disembarked and knelt before him and wished to kiss his hands, but Amadis would not give them and instead embraced him.<br />
<br />
The majordomo said:<br />
<br />
“My lord, what adventure has brought ye here to these lands so far from where we left you?”<br />
<br />
Amadis told him:<br />
<br />
“My good friend, God brought me here for a cause that ye shall learn about later, but tell me everything that ye have seen concerning my brother and Sir Galvanes and Dragonis.”<br />
<br />
“My lord,” he said, “praise God that I can tell you they are very well, and I can give you news ye will enjoy hearing. Know that Sir Galaor and Dragonis left Sobradisa well supplied and with many men. And my lord Sir Galvanes joined them with all the men he could from the Island of Mongaza in the high seas at a rock they used as a meeting point, which is called the Peak of the Enchanting Damsel. I do not know if ye have heard of it.”<br />
<br />
Amadis said:<br />
<br />
“By the faith ye owe to God, majordomo, if ye know anything about that peak, tell me, because Sir Gavarte of the Fearful Valley had told me that when he was ill, traveling by sea, he passed the foot of the peak of which ye speak, and his illness kept him from ascending it and seeing the many things there, and those who had seen them told him that among them was a great test, and all the knights who have attempted it have failed.”<br />
<br />
The majordomo said:<br />
<br />
“Everything about it which I could learn from men’s recollections I shall gladly tell you. Know that the peak received that name because a damsel lived and ruled there who labored to learn magical arts including black magic, and learned them so well that she acquired all the knowledge she had wished. And when she lived there she made a dwelling, the most beautiful and fine ever seen, and often it happened that many ships were anchored around that peak that had been passing through the sea from Ireland, Norway, and Sobradisa to Deep Island and the islands of Landas.<br />
<br />
“Those ships could not leave unless the damsel permitted, loosening the bonds of enchantment that had bound them fast. She was accustomed to take from those ships whatever she pleased, and if knights traveled in them, she would hold them as long as she liked, and she would have them fight each other until they were defeated and even killed, for they could do nothing else, and from that she took much pleasure.<br />
<br />
“She did many other things that would be long to recount, but as it is a very sure thing that those who deceive are in turn deceived and mistreated in this world and in the next, falling into the same traps they had set for others, at the end of some time in which this evil damsel had passed her days amid such riches and happiness, believing that with her wisdom she had penetrated the great secrets of God, she was by His permission betrayed and tricked by someone who knew nothing of such things.<br />
<br />
“It happened that among those knights she brought there was a man born on the island of Crete, handsome and extremely valiant at arms, and twenty-five years old. The damsel fell in love with him with so much affection that he made her lose her senses. Neither her great wisdom nor resistance could rein in her will, which was so disordered and defeated that she could not keep this man from becoming lord of what until then no man had possessed, which was her person. With such pleasures she spent some time with great joy to her heart, and he more for what he hoped to get from it than for her beauty, for nature had embellished her with little.<br />
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And so lived that damsel with her beloved knight, but he, believing that it did him little benefit to be lord of a place so strange and distant from the world, began to think about what he could do to escape from that prison. He thought that sweet words and a loving expression, along with the agreeable acts in which love consists, even when they are feigned, would accomplish much to disturb and confuse the judgment of anyone in love. He began to appear much more subjugated and impassioned by love than before, both in public and in private, and he urged her to cease to believe that he did so due to the power of her enchantments, instead only because his wishes and desires made him so inclined.<br />
<br />
“At such insistence, she believed that she possessed him completely, and judging by her own subjugated and compelled heart, she believed that he loved her as much as she loved him, without guile, so she left him free to do whatever he wished. When he saw himself freed, wishing more than ever to leave that life behind, one day he was speaking with the damsel as they looked out over the sea. As he had many other times, he embraced her with a show of great love, then he threw her from the peak and with that great fall she was dashed to pieces.<br />
<br />
“Having done that, the knight took everything he found and all those who dwelled there, both men and women, and he went to the island of Crete, leaving that peak unpopulated. But in a chamber in the damsel’s largest palace he had to leave behind a great treasure, they say, which neither he nor anyone else could take because it was enchanted then and still is until this very day.<br />
<br />
“And some men, who in times of great cold when dragons take shelter, have dared to climb the peak, have said that they reached the doors of that chamber but could not enter, and that on one door are inscribed letters red as blood, and on the other letters that spell out the name of the knight who will be able to enter. To win that treasure he must first pull out a sword that is thrust up to the hilt between the doors, and then they will be opened.<br />
<br />
“That, my lord, is everything I know about what ye have asked.”<br />
<br />
Amadis, when he heard this, spent a while thinking about how he could accomplish what so many others had failed to do. But he did not speak of it at all, and instead asked Nalfon about his brothers and friends. He replied:<br />
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“My lord, when all the fleets met there at the foot of that peak, they headed toward Deep Island. But their arrival could not remain very secret, and soon everyone was warned by some men who had been stationed in the sea, and the entire island was incited by a first cousin of the dead king.<br />
<br />
“And so when we arrived at port, all the island’s men came running, and we fought a great and perilous battle against them, they on the land and we in the ships. But finally Sir Galaor, Sir Galvanes, and Dragones jumped onto the land despite their opponents, and with the help of many of our men, they caused such destruction that eventually they pushed the enemy from the beach, so we had a place to disembark from our ships.<br />
<br />
“Then all of us together attacked so fiercely that the island’s men could not fight back, and they retreated. But the things that Sir Galaor did no man could recount, and he recovered all the fame he had lost during the long time of his illness. Among those he killed was their captain, the King’s cousin, because of which we were soon able to push all his men into the town, which we surrounded on all sides.<br />
<br />
“But they were all men of low rank and they had no leader, for most of the princes of that island had died with their lord the King during the rescue of Lubaina, and the rest were taken prisoner, and they saw that we controlled the countryside and they had no chance of getting aid. They immediately offered an agreement that assured them that if they surrendered, they would be able to keep what they had and possessed, and so it was done.<br />
<br />
“Not a week after our arrival we had won the entire island and proclaimed Dragonis as King. And because my lord Sir Galvanes and Sir Galaor were injured, although not badly, they decided to send me to my lady Madasima and to Queen Briolanja to tell them the news. And I, my lord, came here to see Madasima, my lady’s aunt, whom she dearly esteems and loves because she is a very noble lady of great quality, but I did not come with the thought of finding you here.”<br />
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Amadis took great pleasure in that news and gave many thanks to God because such a victory had been given to his brother and those knights whom he loved so much. And he asked Nalfon if they knew anything about the deeds of Sir Cuadragante, Sir Bruneo of Bonamar, and the knights who had gone with them.<br />
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“My lord,” he said, “after we had won the island, we found on it some people who had come from the Landas Islands and from the city of Arabia, thinking that they would be safer there, since they knew nothing about our arrival. And they said that before they had left, there had been a great battle against a nephew of King Arabigo, the men of the city, and the island, but in the end those from the island were destroyed and defeated, and that they knew nothing about the rest.”<br />
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With that news, they all went happily up to the castle, and Amadis spoke with the giant Balan, who had still not arisen from his bed. He told him that he needed to leave there without fail, and asked him to order that Darioleta and her husband be restored everything that had been taken from them including the ship in which they had arrived so that they could go to Firm Island, and that they should also have the pleasure of traveling with Balan’s son Bravo and his wife so they could see Oriana and be with the other damsels of high estate who were there until the time for his son to be made a knight, and that he send them with the honors due a man of such high estate.<br />
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The giant told him:<br />
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“My lord Amadis, just as my will and wish until now had been to do thee all the harm I could, now my thoughts are the reverse, and I love thee with a true love and I consider myself honored to be thy friend, and what thou orderest shall be done immediately. And I, when I can get up and am disposed to labor, wish to come to see thy court and that island and to be in thy company all the time that thou findest agreeable.”<br />
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Amadis said:<br />
<br />
“May it be done as thou sayest, and know that I shall consider thee forever as a brother for thy valor and for thyself, and for being of the family of Gandalac, whom my brothers and I consider a father. And give us permission to go, for we wish to leave tomorrow, and do not forget what thou hast promised.”<br />
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But I wish you to know that Balan did not make that journey as quickly as he thought. Instead, knowing that Sir Cuadragante and Sir Bruneo were besieging the city of Arabia and needed additional men, he took as many as he could from the island and from his friends’ islands and went well equipped to help. As a result the siege was brought to its conclusion with great honor. And he never left them until the realms of both Sansuena and of King Arabigo were won, as the story shall recount farther on.<br />
+Sue Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725709764785276859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555107255854248187.post-65041705357759209112017-02-28T06:00:00.000-06:002017-02-28T06:00:21.580-06:00Chapter 129 [part 4 of 4]<span style="color: #cc0000;">[How Grasandor finally found Amadis.] </span><br />
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[Detail of the <a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claustro_de_San_Benito_de_Bages">Cloister of Sant Benet de Bages</a>, in Bages, Spain. The Benedictine monastery was built in the 10th century. Photo by <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Claustro_de_Sant_Benet_de_Bages_-_001.jpg">Mutari</a>.]<br />
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And as ye hear, they reached the monastery and found Eliseo in no danger, for one of the monks there who knew something about such duties had cared for him and treated him. By then Galifon, lord of the castle, was fully conscious, and when he saw Landin unarmed, he recognized him, for he like all his brothers served King Cildadan.<br />
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But when they had learned that King Cildadan was going to help King Lisuarte in the war he had with Amadis, those three brothers had remained in those lands, and he could not take them with him. And when he was away attending to that matter, they did a great deal of harm in that region, considering King Cildadan to be insignificant because he was under vassalage to King Lisuarte. For when fortune moves from good to bad, not only is it contrary and adverse in the principal concern, it is contrary in many other things related to that, which could be compared to the circumstances of mortal sin.<br />
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Galifon said:<br />
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“My lord Landin, could I obtain a courtesy from you? And if ye think that my misdeeds do not merit it, your good deeds do. Do not consider my errors but what ye, given who ye are and the lineage from which ye come, ought to do.”<br />
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Landin told him:<br />
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“Galifon, I did not expect such evil deeds from you, for a knight who was raised in the court of such a good King and in the company of so many good knights is greatly obliged to follow all virtue. And I am amazed to see your upbringing brought to ruin and you following such a vile and treacherous life.”<br />
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“My greed for lordship,” Galifon said, “drew me from the path that virtue obliged me to follow, as it has done to many others who are more worthy and wise than me, but by your hand and will it shall all be remedied.”<br />
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“What do ye wish me to do?” Landin said.<br />
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“To win me a pardon from my lord the King,” he said, “and I shall put myself by your behalf at his mercy when I can ride again.”<br />
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“It shall be as ye say,” Landin said, “for from here on ye shall abide by the style of life that befits the order of knighthood.”<br />
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“So it shall be,” Galifon said, “without a doubt.”<br />
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“Then I set you and your brother free,” Landin said, “as long as ye shall be before my lord King Cildadan in twenty days and ye shall do what he orders. And in the meantime I will get you a pardon.”<br />
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Galifon thanked him deeply and promised to do as he had been ordered.<br />
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That done, they spent the night together there. The next morning Grasandor heard Mass and bid farewell to Landin and his cousin to return to his ship where he had left it on a beach at the sea, with great pleasure in his heart for the news that Landin had told him, for he was certain that Amadis was the knight who left Prince Island with the lady and went to fight with the giant Balan. So he returned on the same road he had come on, and he arrived at the ship before nightfall, where he found his squires, who were very pleased to see him, and they to see him.<br />
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Grasandor asked the sailor if he knew how to guide them to the island called Prince. He told him he did, because after they had arrived he had determined where they were, which he had not known at the time, and he would guide them there.<br />
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“Then let us go there,” Grasandor said.<br />
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So they left the beach and sailed all night, and the next day at vespers they arrived at the island. Grasandor went on land up to the town, where they told him everything that had happened to Amadis with the giant, which they had learned from the governor, who had returned there. And Grasandor spoke with him to be more certain, and he told him everything he had witnessed regarding Amadis, as this story has recounted.<br />
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Grasandor told him:<br />
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“My good lord, the news ye have told me has given me great pleasure. And I do not say this because it has a lot to do with the fact that Amadis has received so much honor in this adventure, for given the great events and dangers he has gone through, those of us who know him could not be surprised by anything else, no matter how great it were. Instead, I say this for having found him, for truly I could not have enjoyed any rest or respite anywhere until I had found news about him.”<br />
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The knight told him:<br />
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“Well, I believe that given the great things said about this knight everywhere in the world, those who have accompanied him for any time have seen many great deeds. But I tell you that if they could have seen what I saw of what just happened, that they would consider it among the most perilous.”<br />
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Then they ceased to speak more about that, and Grasandor told him:<br />
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“I ask you, knight, as a courtesy to give me one of your men to guide me to the island where Amadis is.”<br />
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“I would gladly do that,” he said, “and if ye need any provisions for the sea, I shall give you them, too.”<br />
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“I thank you for that sincerely,” Grasandor said, “but I have brought everything I need.”<br />
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The knight of the island said:<br />
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“Ye see here the man who will guide you, who came from there yesterday.”<br />
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Grasandor thanked him and got in his ship with the man to guide them, and they went out to sea. And they traveled without incident to the port at the Island of the Vermilion Tower, where Amadis was. Grasandor was immediately seized by the giant’s men, who asked him what he sought. He told them that he came looking for a knight called Amadis of Gaul, whom he had been told was at that island.<br />
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“Ye speak the truth,” they said. “Come with us up to the castle, and ye shall find him there.”<br />
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Then he left the ship armed as he was and went with those men up to the castle. When they reached the gate, they told Amadis that a knight was there asking for him. Amadis thought right away that it was one of his friends looking for him, and he came out to the gate.<br />
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When he saw Grasandor, he was the happiest person in the world, and he embraced him joyfully, and Grasandor embraced him, as if a great deal of time had passed without seeing each other. Amadis asked him how his lady Oriana was and if she had taken the news of his departure with much anger. Grasandor told him:<br />
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“My good lord, she and all the other ladies are very well, and about Oriana I tell you that she felt very upset and troubled when I told her. But her discretion is so great that she did not think ye would take that journey without a good cause. And do not believe that any upset or anger remains, for she only thinks about whether she can see you as soon as she wishes. And although I came to bring you back, I would be pleased if ye were to wait on my behalf four or five days because I have arrived very seasick.”<br />
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“I consider it good to do that,” Amadis said, “because I also need that time since I still feel weak from some injuries I had suffered and from which I have not yet healed. And ye made me very happy with what ye said about my lady, because in comparison to her anger, everything else that may befall me in great confrontations, even death itself, I would consider as nothing.”<br />
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+Sue Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725709764785276859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555107255854248187.post-78865192110464107962017-02-21T06:00:00.000-06:002017-02-21T06:00:01.173-06:00Chapter 129 [part 3 of 4]<span style="color: #cc0000;">[How Grasandor rescued Landin from a treacherous knight and his brothers.] </span><br />
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<i>[Miniature of the Castle of Jealousy, from </i>Roman de la Rose<i>, created around 1490 in Bruges, the Netherlands.<a href="http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Harley_MS_4425"> In the British Library</a>.]</i><br />
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Grasandor entered the forest, and after a while he found a deep valley with thick trees, and at its end he saw a small monastery amid the thickest part of the trees, and he went there. When he arrived, he found the gate open, and he dismounted and tied his horse to a hitch and entered. He went directly to the church and prayed as best he knew, asking God to guide him on that trip since it was being undertaken in His honor, and to lead him to where he could find Amadis.<br />
<br />
While he was on his knees, he saw a Cistercian monk coming, and he called to him and said:<br />
<br />
“Father, what land is this and who reigns here?”<br />
<br />
The monk said:<br />
<br />
“This is the kingdom of Ireland, but here it is not now much within the rule of the King because there is a knight here named Galifon with two brothers, who are also mighty knights like himself, and he has a fortified castle for protection. He has subjugated this entire mountain, with its fine land and amazingly wealthy towns, and he does great harm to knights-errant who pass through here. All three ride together, and if they find some knight, two of them hide and only one attacks. If the knight from the castle wins, they remain hidden, but if the battle goes poorly for him, all three attack. The two come out and easily defeat or kill the lone knight-errant.<br />
<br />
“Yesterday it happened that when two monks from this house went to ask for alms in those towns, they saw all three brothers defeat a knight and injure him very badly. And those two fathers asked and begged them for the love of God not to kill him and to give him to them, since he could not defend himself at all. They exhorted the brothers so much that they had to do it, and they brought him here on an donkey, and here we have him.<br />
<br />
“Then shortly after that another knight arrived, his companion, and when he learned about this, he left here a little before ye arrived with the intention of killing or avenging the knight here, who is injured. And truly, the knight who left is in great danger to his person.”<br />
<br />
When Grasandor heard this, he asked the monk to show him the injured knight. He took him to where they had placed the knight in a cell where there was a bed. When he saw him, he immediately recognized him as Eliseo, cousin of Landin, the nephew of Sir Cuadragante. And the knight also recognized him, for they had often seen each other and spoken during the war between King Lisuarte and Amadis.<br />
<br />
When Eliseo saw him, he told him:<br />
<br />
“Oh, my good lord Grasandor! I beg you for the kindness to aid my cousin Landin, who is in great danger, and later I shall tell you my fate as it befell me, for if ye were to delay while I told it, ye would not be able to give any help at all.”<br />
<br />
Grasandor said:<br />
<br />
“Where can I find him?”<br />
<br />
“After ye pass through this valley,” Eliseo said, “ye shall see a great plain, and in it a mighty castle, and ye shall find him there, going to seek the knight who is its lord and from whom I received this injury.”<br />
<br />
Grasandor immediately realized that what the monk had told him was true. He commended him to God and mounted his horse and rode as fast as he could in the direction the monk told him he could best see the castle. When he rode through the valley, he soon saw it on a peak higher than any around it, and as he rode toward it, reaching the top of a ridge, he saw Landin, who was in front of the gate of the castle shouting. But he could not hear what he said due to the distance.<br />
<br />
He stopped his horse amid some thick brush because he did not wish to make himself known until Landin needed help. As he was waiting, soon he saw an extraordinarily large and well-armed knight leave the gate of the castle where Landin was. They immediately separated a bit and then attacked as fast as their horses could gallop. They struck each other so hard with their lances and horses that both men fell heavily onto the ground. But the knight from the castle fell much harder and was stunned. Still, he got up as fast as he could and put his hand on his sword to defend himself.<br />
<br />
Landin got up as one who was very lively and valiant, and saw that his enemy was ready to receive him. He put his hand on his sword, his shield in front of himself, and attacked him, and the other knight came at him. They gave each other such great blows with their swords on top of their helmets that sparks flew, and they hacked apart their shields and cut their chain mail in many places, allowing the swords to reach their flesh. Thus they spent some time doing all the harm they could to each other.<br />
<br />
But soon Landin began to fight better and was able to control the knight from the castle, who could no longer try to do anything besides protect himself from the blows, unable to deliver one himself. When he understood his situation, he began to gesture with his sword for the knights in the castle to help him, for they had delayed. Then the two knights came out as fast as their horses could gallop, with their lances in their hands, and they said:<br />
<br />
“Evil traitor, do not kill him!”<br />
<br />
When Landin saw them coming, he prepared to meet them like a good knight without becoming upset, because he had already been told that when the first knight was in trouble, the other two would come to rescue him. He told them:<br />
<br />
“Ye are evil and traitors, and ye freely kill good and loyal knights!”<br />
<br />
Grasandor had been watching it all, and when he saw the two coming, he spurred his horse as hard as he could and came at them shouting:<br />
<br />
“Leave the knight alone, ye villains and criminals!”<br />
<br />
He struck one of them with his lance so bravely on his shield that he was immediately pushed over the haunches of his horse and landed on the field, which was hard, in such a great fall that his right arm, over which he fell, was broken, and he was so stunned he could not get up. <br />
<br />
The other knight came to strike Landin with his lance held high, or to trample him with his horse, but he could not because Landin dodged him with such speed and agility that he could not catch him. The knight rushed past so fast he could not injure Landin, but Landin tried to cut the legs of the horse.<br />
<br />
Grasandor told him:<br />
<br />
“Stay with this knight on foot, and leave that knight on horseback to me.”<br />
<br />
When Landin saw this, he was very happy, and he could not guess who that knight could be who had come to help him at such a time. He immediately turned to the knight he was fighting and gave him great and dangerous blows with his sword. And although the knight tried to protect himself as best that he could, he could not help himself, and Landin could do to him whatever he wished. Grasandor attacked the knight on horseback, and they gave each other great blows with their swords, for Grasandor had cut apart his lance and injured his hand.<br />
<br />
And so all four were doing the greatest harm they could to each other, but soon Landin knocked his opponent down before his feet. And when the other knight who was still on his horse saw this, he began to flee toward the castle as fast as he could with Grasandor right behind him, who would not let him get away. And because he rode stunned, he erred in his aim at the drawbridge and fell with his horse into the moat, which was very deep and full of water, so with the weight of the armor he was soon drowned, and the men in the castle could not rescue him because Grasandor was at the end of the bridge, along with Landin, who had come immediately on a horse he had taken from among those in the field.<br />
<br />
And when they saw that the fight was over and there was nothing left to do, they both turned back toward where they had left the knights to see if they were dead. Landin said:<br />
<br />
“My lord knight, who are ye to have helped me at such a time when I needed it so much?”<br />
<br />
Grasandor told him:<br />
<br />
“My lord Landin, I am Grasandor, your friend, and I give thanks to God that I found you when ye needed my help.”<br />
<br />
When Landin heard this, he was amazed at how fate had been able to bring him to those lands, for he knew well that Grasandor had remained at Firm Island with Amadis when the fleet left there to go to Sansuena and to the Kingdom of King Arabigo. He told him:<br />
<br />
“My good lord, who brought you to these lands, so far from where ye had remained with Amadis?”<br />
<br />
Grasandor told him everything that ye have heard, and the circumstances that led him to leave to look for Amadis. He asked him if he knew something about Amadis. Landin told him:<br />
<br />
“Know, my lord Grasandor, that my cousin Eliseo and I came from where my uncle Sir Cuadragante is, with Sir Bruneo and the knights that ye saw leave Firm Island, with a message from my uncle for King Cildadan to ask him for some men, for we fought a battle there with King Arabigo’s nephew who took over the land when he learned that his uncle the King had been defeated and taken prisoner. And although we were victorious and caused great losses to the enemy, we suffered a lot of harm and lost many men.<br />
<br />
“For that reason we came to bring more, and we left Prince Island three days ago, and there we learned that a lady brought a single knight in a small boat and they said they were going to the Island of the Vermilion Tower to fight with the giant Balan. They could not tell me the reason why, only that the governor of that island went with the knight to see the battle because, from what they said, that giant is the most valiant of all in the islands. And since ye say that Amadis went out to sea with a lady, I think that must be him, for he would be appropriate for such an undertaking.”<br />
<br />
“Your news has made me very happy,” Grasandor said, “but I cannot help feeling very sad not to find myself with him in a confrontation like that.”<br />
<br />
“Do not feel troubled,” Landin said, “for God did not make him except to give such honor and fame to him alone that everyone else in the world together could not obtain.”<br />
<br />
“Now tell me,” Grasandor said, “what has happened to you, for I found in a monastery over there in the end of a valley your cousin Eliseo badly wounded, and I could not learn from him anything except that he told me ye were coming to fight that knight. And the monks in that monastery told me the foul way in which he and his brothers would defeat and dishonor the knights they fought with, and I did not ask anything else so I would not be detained.”<br />
<br />
Landin told him:<br />
<br />
“Know that we left the sea yesterday to travel by land to where King Cildadan was, for we were very seasick from traveling by ship. And when we had neared the monastery that ye saw, we met a damsel who came weeping, and she asked for our help. I asked her why she was crying, for if it were something we could rightly remedy, we would do so. She told me that a knight held her husband prisoner unjustly to take from him a very fine inheritance that he had in his lands, and he was being held in chains in a tower, which was to the right of the monastery by a good two leagues.<br />
<br />
“I asked the damsel to swear that she was telling me the truth, which she did right away. I told my cousin Eliseo to remain in that monastery because he was more seasick, while I went with the damsel, and if God directed me well, I would immediately return for him. But he begged me so much that I could not help but bring him in my company. And coming down the valley amid thick brush, we saw a knight coming up the plain armed and on horseback. Then Eliseo told me:<br />
<br />
“ ‘Cousin, go with the damsel, and I shall go find out about that knight.’<br />
<br />
“So he left me, and I went with the damsel, and I arrived at the tower where her husband was being held. I called to the knight who held him, and he came out unarmed to talk to me. And when he saw my face, he immediately recognized me and asked me what I wanted. I told him everything the damsel had told me, and that I wanted him to release her husband right away and not to do him any wrong and injustice in the future. He did so immediately out of love for me, because in no way did he wish to fight with me, and he promised to do as I had asked. And I reprimanded him, saying that a man of such good fortune ought not to do such things, which I could do because that knight was my friend, and we had traveled together when we had just been made knights and spent some time looking for adventure.<br />
<br />
“With that being done, I returned to the monastery as we had agreed, and I found Eliseo badly injured, and I asked what had happened to him. He told me that as he was riding toward that knight after we had parted, shouting for him to turn around, after a while he did turn toward him, and there was a great battle, and he thought he had obtained a great advantage over him and had almost defeated him, when two other knights came out of the forest and attacked him so fiercely that they knocked down both him and his horse and injured him badly. And if God had not had those two monks from that monastery arrive when they did, who begged to save his life, they would have killed him. They desisted out of love for them, and the monks took him away.”<br />
<br />
“I know all this about your cousin, for the monks told me about it,” Grasandor said, “but about you I only knew that ye had left the monastery to fight with those vile and treacherous knights. But what do ye believe we should do about those who are not dead?”<br />
<br />
Landin told him:<br />
<br />
“Let us find out how they are, and then we shall decide.”<br />
<br />
Then they went to where Galifon, the lord of the castle, lay on the ground, for he had been unable to arise, but now he was breathing better and was more conscious than before. And they also found his brother, who was not dead but very badly injured. Landin called two squires, one of his and one of his cousin’s, who had come with them, to dismount from their palfreys and put those two knights across the saddles and for them to ride on the haunches, and they went to the monastery thinking that if Eliseo was dead or dangerously injured, they would kill those two knights, and if his health was improving, they would decide to do something else.<br />
<br />
+Sue Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725709764785276859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555107255854248187.post-66816664472127471652017-02-14T06:00:00.000-06:002017-02-14T06:00:23.286-06:00Chapter 129 [part 2 of 4]<span style="color: #cc0000;">[How Amadis confronted Balan and what he demanded of him, and how Grasandor came to search for Amadis.]</span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iH9BryP8WA0/WJ3ZQSuF-rI/AAAAAAAABeQ/4ZOebS2J744hSRzkfhCNEKY-7FZKFcCKgCLcB/s1600/Chapter129b_Caen_%25C3%25A9glise_St_Pierre_Lancelot.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="219" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iH9BryP8WA0/WJ3ZQSuF-rI/AAAAAAAABeQ/4ZOebS2J744hSRzkfhCNEKY-7FZKFcCKgCLcB/s320/Chapter129b_Caen_%25C3%25A9glise_St_Pierre_Lancelot.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
[Lancelot <a href="http://www.abdn.ac.uk/sll/disciplines/english/lion/link21.shtml" target="_blank">crossing the sword-bridge</a>. Detail from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Saint-Pierre,_Caen" target="_blank">Church of Saint-Pierre</a>, Caen, France. Photo by <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Caen_%C3%A9glise_St_Pierre_Lancelot.JPG">Roi.dagobert</a><span id="goog_1333003685"></span><span id="goog_1333003686"></span>.]<br />
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<br />
And so as the story tells you, Amadis went with the giantess who was the wife of Balan into the castle, and when he was inside, they had the giant told that the knight whom he had fought was there and wished to speak to him. Balan ordered them to bring Amadis to his bed, and it was done. When Amadis was in the chamber, he said:<br />
<br />
“Balan, I am very vexed with thee, for I came here looking for thee and placed myself in thy power, trusting thy word, to fight thee with the assurances thou gavest to the lady for whom I came and then to the knight from Prince Island, yet thy men broke thy promise and tried to kill me vilely. I fully believe that this did not please thee nor didst thou order it, but that did not keep me from danger, for I came very close to death. Yet however it was, I am content by what thou didst with thy son.<br />
<br />
“I ask thee, Balan, to make amends to the lady who brought me here. If not, I cannot release thee from the battle until it is over, although it has already concluded, for it was up to me to kill thee or save thee. I love thee and esteem thee more than thou knowest for being a relative of Gandalac, the giant of the Peak of Galtares, for I have learned that thou art wed to his daughter. But although I hold this volition, I cannot permit myself to fail to make thee give this lady her justice.”<br />
<br />
The giant answered him:<br />
<br />
“Knight, although the pain and sorrow I find myself in for being defeated by a single knight is so great and so strange that I have never felt it before today, and it hurts more than death, it is nothing compared to what I feel over what my son and my men did to thee. And if my strength gave me the chance to carry it out myself, thou wouldst see how far the strength of my word could extend. But I can do no more than deliver to thee he who did it, although he be the only mirror in which his mother and I see ourselves. If thou desirest more, ask for it and thy will shall be satisfied.”<br />
<br />
Amadis told him:<br />
<br />
“I am content with what thou didst. Now tell me what thou shalt do regarding the lady.”<br />
<br />
“Thou shalt see what I will do,” the giant said, “but I cannot make amends for the son of this lady, who is dead. I urge thee to ask of me what is possible.”<br />
<br />
“So I shall,” Amadis said, “for otherwise would be madness.”<br />
<br />
“Then say what thou wishest,” he said.<br />
<br />
“What I wish,” Amadis said, “is that immediately thou shall release the husband of this lady, and her daughter, and all their company, and shall restore to them all their goods and their ship, and in exchange for the son thou killed, thou shall give thine own, who shall be wed to that daughter. Although thou art a great lord, I tell thee that of lineage and all goodness she owes thee nothing, because they are hardly lacking in estate and grandeur, for besides their great possessions and income, they are governors of one of my father’s kingdoms.”<br />
<br />
When he heard this, the giant looked at him more closely than ever, and he said:<br />
<br />
“I ask thee for the courtesy to tell me who thou art, for thou has placed thyself high, and tell me who thy father is.”<br />
<br />
“Know,” Amadis said, “that my father is King Perion of Gaul, and I am his son Amadis.”<br />
<br />
When the giant heard this, he immediately raised up his head as best he could, and he said:<br />
<br />
“What is this? Is it true that thou art the Amadis who killed my father?”<br />
<br />
“I am,” he said, “he who to rescue King Lisuarte, who was at the point of death, killed a giant, and they tell me he was thy father.”<br />
<br />
“Then I tell thee, Amadis,” the giant said, “that I do not know to what to attribute this great daring to come to my lands, whether to thy great courage or to the reputation of my being true to my word. But thy great heart has been the reason, which never feared nor failed to act and to defeat all dangers. And since fortune is so favorable to thee, it is not reasonable for me to contradict its efforts from here on, since it has shown me that my own efforts are not enough to harm thee. And as for what thou sayest about my son, I give him to thee to do thy will with him, and not for the goodness I had hoped of him but for the badness, for of he who does not keep his word no praise may be made. And likewise I release the knight and his daughter and their companions, as thou hast ordered, and I wish to become thy friend to do thy orders in all things that thou findest necessary for me.”<br />
<br />
Amadis thanked him for this and said:<br />
<br />
“I take thee as my friend for who thou art to Gandalac, and as a friend I ask thee from here on to abandon this bad custom on this island, for if thou dost not conform to the service of God, following His holy doctrines in all other things, although they may bring thee some hope of honor and advantage, in the end they cannot keep thee from falling into great misfortune. And thou canst see it is so: He wished to guide me here, where I had not meant to travel, and to give me strength to overcome and defeat thee, which given the great size of thy body and the oversized courage of thy valiant heart, I could not have prevailed and done thee harm without His mercy. But let us speak no more of this, for I believe thou shalt do what I ask. Forgive thy son for his young age, which was the cause of his error, because I love his mother like a sister. And have him and the damsel come here so that they may immediately be betrothed.”<br />
<br />
“Since I am determined to be thy friend,” the giant said, “everything shall be done that thou considerest good.”<br />
<br />
Then he ordered the knight to be brought there who was the husband of the lady, and their daughter and all their companions. Darioleta, like them, was as pleased to see the matter brought to such an end as if she were made lady of the world. And before them and the mother and grandmother of the boy they were betrothed, and Amadis ordered that the wedding be arranged promptly.<br />
<br />
Now the story wishes to show you the reason for this wedding. First it would have ye know how Amadis ended that great adventure to his honor and to the satisfaction of that lady who brought him there to defeat the mighty Balan, and although he was his enemy because he had killed his father, he had dared to go to that island where he was put in great danger, as ye have heard.<br />
<br />
The second reason is for ye to know that to Bravor, son of Balan, and to the daughter of Darioleta was born a son named Galeote, who took after his mother, for he was not so large nor so out of proportion as giants were. Galeote was lord of that island after his father Bravor’s life was over, and he married a daughter of Sir Galvanes and his wife, the beautiful Madasima. And from them was born another son who was named Balan like his great-grandfather. Thus one son succeeded the other, reigning over that island, for so long that from them was descended the valiant and courageous Sir Segurades, first cousin of the elderly knight who came to the court of King Arthur, 120 years old, and although for the 40 previous years he had ceased to bear arms due to his age, without a lance he brought down all the knights of great renown who were found in the court at that time.<br />
<br />
Segurades lived in the time of Uther Pendragon, father of King Arthur and lord of Great Britain, and he left a son and ruler of that island named Bravor the Brun, who was given that name because he was excessively brave, for in the language of the time “brun” meant brave. Tristan of Leonis killed Bravor in a battle at that island, where by fate the sea had cast him and Isolda the Blonde, daughter of King Languines of Ireland, and their entire company, who were bringing her to marry King Mares of Cornwall, his uncle.<br />
<br />
From Bravor the Brun came the great and courageous Prince Galeote the Brun, lord of the Far-off Islands, a great friend of Lancelot of the Lake, and so from this ye can know, if ye have read or shall read the book about Sir Tristan and Lancelot where these Bruns are mentioned, how his lineage was founded. And because they were descended from that giant, son of Balan, they were always called giants although their bodies did not conform too their size on his mother’s side, as we have told you, and also because all those in that lineage were very mighty and valiant at arms, and with a great part of the arrogance and treachery from which they had been descended.<br />
<br />
But now we shall leave Amadis at that island where he spent some days resting to recover from the wounds Balan had given him in that fight, and which the giant and his wife had insisted on, where he was served very well. We shall tell you the story about what Grasandor did after the huntsman gave him Amadis’s orders and he learned that Amadis had gone with the lady in that boat out to sea.<br />
<br />
This story has told you that when Amadis departed at the seashore with the lady in that boat and armed himself with the armor of the dead knight, he ordered one of his men to tell Grasandor how he had left and to inter the knight and win Amadis forgiveness from his lady Oriana. This man went immediately to the place where Grasandor was hunting, who did not know that Amadis had left. Instead, he thought that like all the rest he was with his hunting dog and the beaters where he had been assigned.<br />
<br />
The man gave him Amadis’s orders, and when Grasandor heard them, he wondered what cause could have made Amadis depart, especially having left without first getting permission from his lady Oriana. He immediately left the hunt and ordered the mountaineer to guide him to where the dead knight was.<br />
<br />
When they arrived, he saw him lying on the ground, but he saw nothing in the sea, since the boat with Amadis was already too distant. He immediately had the knight loaded onto a palfrey, and he brought together all the company to return to Firm Island, thinking hard about what he would do. When he arrived at the foot of the hill, he ordered the men with him to inter the knight in the monastery there, which Amadis had established to honor the Virgin Mary when he left for Poor Rock, as the second book of this story has recounted.<br />
<br />
He went to where Oriana and his wife Mabilia were. When they saw him alone, they asked where Amadis was. He told them everything that had happened and what he knew, and he left nothing out, but he spoke with a happy expression on his face so he would not trouble them. When Oriana heard this, for a while she could not speak because she was so upset, and when she had recovered, she said:<br />
<br />
“I am sure that if Amadis left without you and without telling me about it, he must have had a good reason.”<br />
<br />
Grasandor told her:<br />
<br />
“My lady, I believe the same, but I ask pardon from you on his behalf, which he left word for me to say with the man who saw him go.”<br />
<br />
“My good lord,” Oriana said, “it is more necessary to ask God in His mercy to protect him than to ask me to pardon him. I know well that he has never failed me at any time in the past, nor shall he do so in the future, out of the faith I have in the great and true love he holds for me. But what do ye think ought to be done?”<br />
<br />
Grasandor told her:<br />
<br />
“It seems to me, my lady, that it would be good if I went to look for him, and if I find him, to undergo the same good or trouble that he has, for I will not rest day or night until I find him.”<br />
<br />
All those ladies agreed that Grasandor should do so immediately, but Mabilia never ceased to weep that night about it, thinking that during the voyage he could not avoid encountering great dangers and conflicts. But in the end, wishing more for honor for her husband than for satisfaction for her desires, she thought it best for him to go.<br />
<br />
When morning came, Grasandor rose and heard Mass, bid farewell to Oriana and Mabilia and the other ladies, boarded a ship, and brought with him his arms, a horse, two squires with the necessary provisions, and a sailor to guide them. Then he went out to sea in the same direction that Amadis had gone.<br />
<br />
Grasandor traveled on through the sea not knowing where he should go except where fate brought him, for he had no other certainty besides only knowing which way Amadis had gone. And so journeying as ye hear all that day and night and the next day, they sailed without finding a single person who could tell them any news, and his misfortune on the second night brought him to pass very close to Prince Island unable to see it in the darkness, for if he had put in port there, he could not have failed to find Amadis because he would have learned that Amadis had docked there and that the knight who governed that island had left in his company, and he would have immediately been sent to the Island of the Vermilion Tower.<br />
<br />
But things happened differently, and he sailed on far that night, and the next day, and at night he found himself on the seashore at a large beach. There Grasandor ordered the ship to stop until morning to learn what that land was. And so they waited until day came and they could make out the land, and it seemed to them that it must be the mainland, filled with beautiful groves of trees.<br />
<br />
Grasandor ordered his horse to be brought out, and he armed himself and told the sailor not to leave there until he returned or on his orders, because he wished to see where they had dropped anchor and to try to learn some news about whom he sought.<br />
<br />
Then he mounted his horse, and with his squires on foot, for they had not bought palfreys so that the ship would travel lighter. So they went most of the day and did not find a single person, and they were very amazed that the land seemed unpopulated. He dismounted at the edge of a forest which lay alongside a spring he had found, and the squires gave food to him and his horse, and after they had eaten, they told him:<br />
<br />
“My lord, let us go back to the ship, for this land seems uninhabited.”<br />
<br />
Grasandor told them:<br />
<br />
“Remain here, since ye cannot accompany me, and I shall ride on until I hear news. And if I do not find anything, I shall promptly return to you, and if ye see that I am late, return to the ship, and if I can, I shall be there.”<br />
<br />
The squires, who were already tired and could not continue, commended him to God and told him that they would do as he ordered.<br />
<br />
+Sue Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725709764785276859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555107255854248187.post-36241881746856683972017-02-07T06:00:00.000-06:002017-02-07T06:00:14.659-06:00Chapter 129 [part 1 of 4]<span style="color: #cc0000;">How Darioleta lamented the great danger Amadis was in. </span><br />
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<br />
<i>[Petronilla of Aragon (1136-1173), Queen of Aragon from 1137 to 1164. From </i>The Portuguese Genealogy<i>, made in Lisbon, Portugal, between 1530 and 1534. At the <a href="http://searcharchives.bl.uk/IAMS_VU2:IAMS032-002042314" target="_blank">British Library</a>.]</i><br />
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Darioleta, the lady who had caused Amadis to come there, when she saw him surrounded by all his enemies without any chance or hope for rescue from any source, began to lament passionately and to curse her fate, which had brought her so much suffering and pain, saying:<br />
<br />
“Oh, misfortunate wretch! What will become of me if the best knight ever born were to die because of me? How will I dare to appear before his father and mother and brothers knowing that I was the cause of his death? At the time of his birth, I labored to save his life, using my knowledge to make and build the ark so he could escape, from which I have received great rewards, but if he were to die now, he would die with nothing to his advantage, and not only would I have lost my past efforts, I would be worthy of dying with more sorrow and torment than any other person because I have brought death to him, the flower and height of the world.<br />
<br />
“Oh, such is my affliction, because I did not give him time at the seashore when I arrived to let him return to Firm Island and bring some knights who could have aided him, or at least could have rightly died with him! But what can I say but that my rashness and passion were due to womanhood?”<br />
<br />
So as ye hear Darioleta lamented beneath the entrance to a church with great anguish in her heart and no other expectation but to see Amadis die soon, and to see herself and her husband and daughter placed in a prison from which they would never leave.<br />
<br />
Amadis was within the fissure between those rocks as we have told you, and he saw what the lady was doing because, with the large fire before him, he could watch the entire plaza although it was exceedingly large. He felt great sorrow to see her weeping and raising her hands to heaven as if to ask for mercy, and his rage grew so great that it drove him from his senses.<br />
<br />
He thought that he would be in much more danger when day came than during the night, because at night most of the people of the island were resting and he would only have to protect himself from those before him, and when morning came many more men could attack him, so he could not escape being killed. Although they could not harm him there, sleep and hunger would overcome him and would place him in their hands. <br />
<br />
With this rage he thought to risk everything, and gripping his shield, with his sword in hand, he prepared to attack his enemies. But the knight from Prince Island, who was very worried that he might be harmed and his promise broken despite the assurances he had given to him on behalf of the giant, was among them to make sure the men would not come at him until the health of the giant was determined, because he believed that when the giant regained his senses, he would correctly apply his will to the situation, and his promise would be kept.<br />
<br />
When he saw that Amadis was preparing to come out and attack, he came to him as fast as he could and said:<br />
<br />
“My lord knight, I ask you for the courtesy of listening to me a little before ye come out.”<br />
<br />
Amadis remained still, and the knight told him everything he had discussed with Bravor, the giant’s son, and how nothing would happen until morning came, and by then the giant would be much better and conscious. Beyond all doubt Amadis could believe that the giant would fulfill everything he had obliged himself to, even if he were close to death. If Amadis would wait until then, he had faith that God would solve and take care of everything.<br />
<br />
Amadis listened to him speak and believed it was all true because in the brief time that he had known him, he had come to consider him a good man. He said:<br />
<br />
“For your love I shall wait this time, but I tell you, knight, that all the effort ye place in this will be lost if the first thing he does is not to make amends to the lady.”<br />
<br />
The knight told him:<br />
<br />
“He shall do this and much more, or I cannot consider myself a knight nor this giant to be who I have always thought he was. Ye may believe that he possesses great virtue and truth.”<br />
<br />
Amadis remained quietly in place where he was. And so, as ye hear, he was surrounded by his enemies, trapped between rough rocks, and both he and they were waiting for morning.<br />
<br />
Now the story says that after the giant’s men had carried him to the castle as stunned as if he were dead, they placed him in his bed, where he spent most of the night unable to speak and only laid his hand directly over his heart to show that this was where the pain came from. When his mother and wife saw that, they had the doctors examine him, and they immediately found his trouble, and they gave him so many potions and tended to him in other ways that before dawn he was completely conscious.<br />
<br />
When he could speak, he asked where he was. The doctors told him he was in his bed.<br />
<br />
“Then, the battle that I had with that knight,” he said, “how did it go?”<br />
<br />
They told him the entire truth, for they did not dare lie about anything, as is right to speak to truthful men, telling him everything that had happened, and how when the knight from Firm Island had him on the ground, his son Bravor, thinking he was dead, had come out with his men from the castle, and they had the knight surrounded between some rocks in the plaza where the battle had been, and were waiting for his orders.<br />
<br />
When the giant heard this, he said:<br />
<br />
“Is the knight alive?”<br />
<br />
“Yes,” they said.<br />
<br />
“Then have my son come here and all the men who are with him, and let the knight go free.”<br />
<br />
This was immediately done, and when the giant saw his son, he said:<br />
<br />
“Traitor, why hast thou broken my promise? What honor and gain could come to thee from what thou hast done? For if I were dead, thou couldst do nothing to restore me, and much more dead would be thy honor, with greater loss to my lineage by that broken promise and thy deeds than my death as a knight, and nothing could be done about it. If I were to live, dost thou not know that thou canst not escape death from me anywhere for what thou wouldst have done? Thus thou and all those who do not keep their word stray far from their intent, for by thinking to avenge injuries, they fall into them with more shame and dishonor than ever. But I shall make thee suffer for what thou hast done wrong.”<br />
<br />
Then he ordered him seized and tied hand and foot and placed before the knight from Firm Island, and he should be told how wrong his son had been in breaking his word, and the knight should take what amends he wished with him. And so they brought him before Amadis and placed him at his feet. The boy’s mother, when she saw this, was afraid that the knight, as a man done wrong, would do the boy some harm, and as a mother she came, without the giant knowing it, as fast as she could to where Amadis was.<br />
<br />
At that time, Amadis had his helmet in his hand, which he had never removed from his head earlier when he was surrounded, and his sword in its sheath, and was untying the giant’s son to set him free. When the lady arrived and saw his face, she immediately recognized him as Amadis, and came to him, alone and weeping, and said:<br />
<br />
“My lord, do ye recognize me?”<br />
<br />
Amadis, although he immediately saw that she was the daughter of Gandalac, his brother Sir Galaor’s foster father, he answered her by saying:<br />
<br />
“My lady, I do not know you.”<br />
<br />
“Well,” she said, “my lord, I am well aware that you are Amadis, brother of my lord Sir Galaor. And if ye would prefer that your name be secret, I shall do so, and if ye wish it to be known, do not fear the giant, for he has given you his assurance. Ye shall see that he is willing to keep his word by what he does, for he has sent you his son and mine, who broke his promise, so that ye may take any vengeance on him that ye wish, and for which I ask mercy from you.”<br />
<br />
“My good lady,” Amadis said, “ye already know how obliged we all are who are the brothers and sisters and friends of Sir Galaor to whatever involves your father and his children. I also wish to show you the same consideration in another matter very dear to you, and ye have no need to thank me for it, because without your request I was letting him go. I do not wish to take vengeance except against those who try to defend their evil deeds.<br />
<br />
“And as for what ye say about my name and whether I would prefer to have it be made known or kept secret, I say that I would rather the giant know who I am and that ye tell him that I shall not leave here in any fashion until he makes the amends that I order him to do for the lady who brought me here. <br />
<br />
“And if he is as truthful as everyone says, he should return and place himself here as he was when I had defeated him in this field so that I may do whatever I will, for if he was taken from here senseless he has some excuse, but now that he has consciousness, he has no honest reason to avoid it.”<br />
<br />
The lady thanked him with great humility and said:<br />
<br />
“My lord, do not doubt my husband, for he shall return here as ye say or fulfill everything ye order. And without any concern ye may come with me to see him.”<br />
<br />
“My good lady and friend,” he said, “without concern I would trust you with my life, but I do fear the nature of giants, who are rarely governed by and submitted to reason, since their great fury and rage governs them in all things.”<br />
<br />
“That is true,” the lady said, “but for what I know about this giant, I ask you to come with me without any fear.”<br />
<br />
“If this pleases you,” Amadis said, “I consider it good.”<br />
<br />
Then he put his helmet on his head, picked up his shield, put his hand on his sword, and went with her, considering that he could be more safe there than where he had been expecting death without any hope for aid, for even if he were to have killed all the men surrounding him, that would not have been enough to save himself. Before he could have set out to sea, because everything there was under the control of the giant’s men, the people of the island themselves would kill him; for although in other places where giants ruled, they were despised for their arrogance and cruelty, Balan was not hated by his people because he protected their safety without taking anything from them. So for Amadis to think he could withstand those people was impossible.<br />
<br />
For those reasons he risked, without any more assurance than he had been given at first and that the lady had provided, to enter into that great castle armed as he was, and if they were doing that to trick him, he would do amazing things before they could kill him.<br />
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+Sue Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725709764785276859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555107255854248187.post-24634492409574209852017-01-31T06:00:00.000-06:002017-01-31T06:00:30.866-06:00Chapter 128 [part 3 of 3]<span style="color: #cc0000;">[Of the greater danger that befell Amadis after defeating the giant.]</span><br />
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[Targe and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavise" target="_blank">pavise</a> <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tarja_i_pav%C3%A9s_de_Llu%C3%ADs_Cornell,_procedents_de_la_cartoixa_de_Valldecrist,_finals_del_segle_XIV,_Museu_de_Belles_Arts_de_Castell%C3%B3.JPG" target="_blank">shields of Lluís Cornel</a>l, from the end of the 14th century, in the F<a href="http://www.castellonturismo.com/en/what-to-see/museums/museum-of-fine-arts" target="_blank">ine Arts Museum of Castellón</a>, Spain.]<br />
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When the giant fell, Amadis immediately came to him, took off his helmet, put the point of his sword in his face, and said:<br />
<br />
“Balan, thou art dead if thou dost not satisfy the lady for the harm that thou didst to her.”<br />
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But Balan did not respond or understand what he had said, for he was as if dead. Then the knight from Prince Island, who had come with Amadis, drew near and said:<br />
<br />
“My lord knight, is the giant dead?”<br />
<br />
“I do not believe so,” Amadis said, “but the giant cannot breathe, as ye see, and I did not observe any mortal blow at all.”<br />
<br />
And he said the truth, for the blow to the giant’s chest that impaired his breathing he had not noticed or felt himself give. The knight said:<br />
<br />
“My lord, out of courtesy I ask you not to kill him until he has regained consciousness and sufficient judgement to satisfy this lady by his free will. As well, you should not kill him because if he dies, no one will be powerful enough to save your life.”<br />
<br />
“For that reason,” Amadis said, “although I shall not fail to do as I wish with him, because of your love for him and because he is related to Gandalac, I shall refrain from killing him until he knows whether he wishes to agree to what I asked.”<br />
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As they were speaking, they saw the son of the giant and as many as thirty armed men leaving the castle, and they came shouting:<br />
<br />
“Die, die traitor!”<br />
<br />
When Amadis heard this, ye may understand what kind of hope he had for his life seeing them all coming furiously to kill him. But he decided not to seek their mercy, and if death came to him it would be after having done everything in his power without failing in a single thing. He looked to one side and the other around him, and he saw a crack between some rocks that surrounded the plaza, for it had been made by removing all of its stones and rocks, but many of them still remained around it.<br />
<br />
He ran there and raised up the giant’s shield, which was large and strong, and put it at the entrance to that crack, so they could only hurt him except from the front, and not from above because there was an overhang. When the men arrived, some went to the giant to see if he was dead, and others charged at Amadis. Three men came up to him and attacked with their lances, but they could not do him harm because as we have told you, the shield was very large and strong and covered most of his body and legs, and it, after God, saved his life.<br />
<br />
One of the three attacked him with his sword, and when Amadis saw him approaching, he came at him and gave him a blow on the top of his head, which sunk down to his neck and knocked him dead at his feet.<br />
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When the other guards saw that he had left the rocks, they all tried to kill him, but he quickly went back, and to the first one who arrived he gave a blow on the shoulder. That man’s armor did him no good, and his arm fell to the ground and he next to it, dead. This made the rest so wary that none dared to come close. They surrounded him at the front and sides, which were the only parts they could, and they threw so many lances, darts, and stones that half his body was covered, but they could do him no harm because his shield protected him from everything.<br />
<br />
In the meanwhile they took the giant to the castle in deep mourning and placed him in his bed as if he were dead and senseless, and they immediately returned to help their companions. When they arrived, they saw that no one was approaching him and he had two dead men next to him, and as they were rested and enraged, and they had not seen or heard about his mighty blows, they came to attack him with their lances. But Amadis remained where he was, well covered by his shield, and when one of them came forward and struck his shield hard with his lance, Amadis gave him such a blow that his head flew some distance away. The men immediately backed off to join the others, and no one dared to get close.<br />
<br />
So as they stood there with nothing to do but throw many darts and an infinite number of rocks at him, the knight from Prince Island took great pity to see him thus, and believed that if they killed him, the best knight who ever bore arms would die. He immediately went to the son of the giant, who was unarmed due to his tender age, and told him:<br />
<br />
“Bravor, why dost thou do this, contrary to the word and promise of thy father, which never before today has been broken? Consider that thou art his son, and thou shouldst resemble him in his good conduct. And consider that thy father had assured that knight’s safety from all his subjects except for himself, and if thou lettest them kill him, it will never be proper for thee to appear before good men, who will always hold this in thy account and will hold thee in great disrespect.”<br />
<br />
The boy told him:<br />
<br />
“How can I stand to see my father dead before me and not take vengeance against the one who killed him?”<br />
<br />
“Thy father,” he said, “is not dead and has no mortal blow on him, for I looked at him when he was on the ground at the request of that knight. He told me that he esteemed thy father for being in the family of Gandalac, and he did not kill him when it was in his hand to do so.”<br />
<br />
“Then what shall I do?” the boy said.<br />
<br />
“I shall tell thee,” the knight said. “Keep him surrounded that way all night without suffering any harm, and between now and the morning we shall see how thy father is, and depending on that, thou shalt decide, for at thy hand and will is the life or death of that knight, who cannot leave except at thy orders.”<br />
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The boy said:<br />
<br />
“I thank thee deeply for thy advice, for if the knight were to die and my father live, I could not survive anywhere in the world if my father knew, for I am certain that he would seek me out to kill me.”<br />
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“Since thou knowest this,” he said, “do as I have advised thee.”<br />
<br />
“Let me speak first with my grandmother and mother to get their counsel.”<br />
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“I think that is wise,” the knight said, “and in the meantime order thy men to do no more than they have done.”<br />
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The boy said:<br />
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“That order will serve for little, since it seems to me that the knight can protect his life from everything except hunger, and I see no other way to kill him, but I shall do what thou hast offered as advice.”<br />
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Then he ordered them to stay there and guard the knight well so he could not leave, and to do him no harm, while he went to the castle. They all did as he ordered, and he left and spoke with those ladies, and despite their great passion and sadness, since the knight could not escape, and the giant was breathing better and recovering consciousness, they feared to break his promise. They told him to do what the knight from Prince Island had advised. It greatly helped when the boy’s mother learned that the knight loved her father Gandalac, for she had feared he might be Sir Galaor, whom her father had raised and who had returned to him his reign over the Peak of Galtares by killing Albadan, the brave giant who was holding it by force, as the first book of this story has recounted at greater length.<br />
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She knew Sir Galaor well and loved him with all her heart because they had been raised together, and if it would not have been a great impropriety because her husband was in such condition and he might learn of it, she herself in person would have gone to find out whether that knight was Sir Galaor or one of his brothers. She had seen them all when she was in the court of King Lisuarte, where she had spent some time during the battle King Lisuarte fought with King Cildadan, in which her father and brother fought, and they did amazing feats at arms in the service of King Lisuarte out of love for Sir Galaor, as the second book of this story has told at greater length.<br />
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With that agreement, the boy returned after night had already fallen and ordered a large fire be built in front of where Amadis was, who knew nothing about the agreement, and told his men to keep careful watch over him, well armed, so the knight could not get out and do them any harm, for he frightened them to death.<br />
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Amadis remained in the place where he had been, with the point of the shield on the ground and one hand on the handle and the other on his sword, expecting to die before he would let them take him prisoner. He thought that despite Balan’s promise, those men were trying to kill him, so no other promise they gave him would be kept. He would not consider asking for mercy even if he knew he would die a thousand times, except to ask for mercy from God, to Whom he always commended everything regarding himself with his whole heart, and even more that night when he had no other aid or help and expected none except from Him.<br />
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+Sue Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725709764785276859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555107255854248187.post-8999483548662479112017-01-24T06:00:00.000-06:002017-01-24T06:00:09.007-06:00Chapter 128 [part 2 of 3]<span style="color: #cc0000;">[How Amadis fought the giant Balan.] </span><br />
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<i>[The portal of the <a href="http://www.prague.eu/en/object/places/462/church-of-our-lady-beneath-the-chain-kostel-panny-marie-pod-retezem" target="_blank">Church of Our Lady beneath the Chain</a>, of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta, in Prague, Czech Republic. Photo by Sue Burke.]</i><br />
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The knight went to his boat and returned to Amadis. When Amadis heard the answer, without hesitation he went to the port and immediately disembarked on the shore. But first he took aside the man who had guided the lady in the ship and told him:<br />
<br />
“My friend, I ask thee not to say my name to anyone. If I must die here, it shall be discovered, and if I am the victor, I shall give thee a great reward for doing this.”<br />
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The sailor promised to do so. Then they went up toward the castle, and they found the giant unarmed in the great plaza before its gate. When they arrived, the giant studied him and said to the lady:<br />
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“Is this one of the sons of King Perion, whom thy wert to bring?”<br />
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The lady told him:<br />
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“This is a knight who seeks thee for the wrong that thou didst to me.”<br />
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Then Amadis said:<br />
<br />
“Balan, thou hast no need to know who I am. It is enough for thee to know that I come to ask thee to make right the great wrong thou didst to this lady. Without any reason, thou hast killed her son and taken her husband and daughter prisoner. If thou makest it right, I shall not have to fight with thee, but if not, prepare thyself for battle.”<br />
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The giant said, laughing:<br />
<br />
“The best amends I can give thee is to release thee from thy quest and from death, for since thou hast come at thy free will to amend her loss, thou must hold thy life as dearly as hers. And although I am not accustomed to doing this for anyone unless they first test the edge of my sword, I shall do it for thee because thou hast come in ignorance to seek thy own harm unwittingly.”<br />
<br />
“If I feared thy threats as much as thou thinkest,” Amadis said, “I would be excused from coming to find thee from such a far-off land. Do not believe, Balan, that I seek thee out of ignorance, for I well know that thou art one of the most famous giants in the world. But as I see that thy custom here is so counter to the service of the most high Lord, and what I seek to do conforms with His holy law, I do not consider thy valor to be much, because He shall fulfill what I lack. And because I consider thee highly and I love thee for what others love in thee, I beg thee to make amends to this lady as is just.”<br />
<br />
When the giant heard this, he said:<br />
<br />
“Thou has made such fine demands that if I would not suffer shame for granting them, I would do all that I could for the contentment of this lady, but first I wish to test and see what the knights of Firm Island are like. And because it is now late, I shall send thee food and two very good horses so that thou mayst select the one thou preferest, and two lances. Prepare thyself with all thy courage, which thou shalt need, to fight here in three hours. And for thy comfort if thou wishest other arms, I shall give thee the best, for I think that I can offer a great quantity from the knights I have defeated.”<br />
<br />
Amadis told him:<br />
<br />
“Thou hast acted like a good knight, and the more courtesy I see in thee, the more it troubles me that thou hast no understanding of what thou ought to do. I shall take a horse and lance and no other arms besides those that I have brought, for the blood on it from he whom thou hast killed without cause will give me more courage to avenge him.”<br />
<br />
The giant returned to the castle without responding, and Amadis to his company and the knight from Prince Island, who did not want to leave his side no matter how much the giant asked him to come with him to the castle. They remained beneath the portal of a church that was at the edge of the plaza, where soon they were brought food. There they rested, speaking of things that most contented them, waiting for the giant to appear.<br />
<br />
The knight frequently studied Amadis’ face to see if the great confrontation had affected him, and he always seemed to see him display greater courage, by which he was very amazed.<br />
<br />
When the time came that the giant had set, two very large and beautiful horses were brought to Amadis with fine tackle for such a use, and he took the one that seemed better. After examining it, and since it came with a saddle, he mounted it, put his helmet on and his shield around his neck, and when he was ready in the great plaza, he sent the man who had brought the horses to take the other back and tell the giant that he was waiting for him and not to make the day be in vain.<br />
<br />
All the people of the island who could come were around the plaza to see the battle, and the walkways and windows of the castle were filled with ladies and damsels.<br />
<br />
And so as ye hear, he saw three trumpeters playing a sweet song in harmony in the great Vermilion Tower, which was the sign that the giant was coming out to fight, as was the custom every time he did battle. Amadis asked those present about it. They told him the reason for it, which seemed good to him and the act of a great lord, and he thought that when he was at Firm Island, with his lady, if he had the occasion to do battle with someone who came seeking it, that he would order the same thing done because he thought it would serve to increase the courage of the knight for whom it was played.<br />
<br />
When the trumpets were done, the gates of the castle opened, and the giant came out on the other horse that he had sent to Amadis, his lance in hand and armed in steel polished clean like a mirror. The helmet like the shield were made to his measure, and plate armor covered the rest of his body. When he saw Amadis, he told him:<br />
<br />
“Knight of Firm Island, now that thou seest me armed, dost thou dare wait for me?”<br />
<br />
“Now I wish thee to make amends to this lady for the wrong thou hast done to her,” he said, “and if not, protect thyself from me.”<br />
<br />
Then the giant came at him as fast as his horse could go, and he was so large that there was no knight in the world, no matter how courageous he was, who would not have felt terror. And as he came hard with a great eagerness to meet him, he lowered his lance so much to avoid erring in the blow that it struck Amadis’s horse in the center of its forehead and the lance came out a ways from the back of its neck.<br />
<br />
But Amadis, unaffected by his size or valor, for he had already experienced such things, struck the giant on his large and strong shield so hard that the force threw the giant from the saddle and he fell on the field, which was very hard, in a great tumble that seriously injured him. Amadis’s horse fell dead with him on the ground, and he arose as fast as he could, although with great effort because one of his legs was caught beneath the horse. <br />
<br />
He saw the giant get up somewhat stunned but not so much that he did not immediately put his hand on the strong steel sword he carried. He believed no knight in the world would dare to wait for two blows from it, for they would leave him dazed or dead.<br />
<br />
Amadis put his hand on his own very good sword and covered himself with his shield, and went at him. The giant did the same and charged with his arm held high to strike him without care, both because of his great arrogance and because in his encounter with Amadis, the lance had come right at his heart and with such force that it pushed the shield against his chest so hard that his flesh was bruised and his cartilage broken, so he was in great pain and had lost much of his strength and ability to breathe.<br />
<br />
Amadis, seeing him approach, realized that he was defeated, and he raised his shield as high as he could to receive the blow. The giant hit so hard that the sword easily cut through the boss down and took off a third of the shield, but did not strike deeper. If he had struck further, he would have also sent Amadis and his arm to the ground.<br />
<br />
Amadis, who in such straits had great experience and knew how to free himself from danger, neither neglecting nor forgetting anything he ought to do, before the giant could pull back his arm, struck him such a blow next to the elbow that although the sleeve of the plate armor was strong and of thick mail, it could not stop or delay his very fine sword from cutting through much of the flesh and one of the forearm bones.<br />
<br />
The giant felt the blow deeply and pulled back a ways, but Amadis immediately charged him and gave him another blow on the top of the helmet with all his strength, and the sparks flew as if it had somehow been set on fire. It twisted the helmet on his head, so he could not see.<br />
<br />
When the governing knight from Prince Island, who had come with Amadis, saw the blows that Amadis gave, and the encounter with the lance which had thrown from the saddle someone as valiant and as heavy as that giant, and what Amadis had done with his sword, he began to cross himself many times and said to the lady, who was next to him:<br />
<br />
“My lady, where did ye find that devil who does such things that no other mortal knight has done?”<br />
<br />
The lady told him:<br />
<br />
“If many such devils like him were in the world, there would not be so many injuries and deaths from arrogant and evil men as there are.”<br />
<br />
The giant quickly placed his hands on his helmet to straighten it, and he felt that his right arm had lost much of its strength for he could barely hold his sword in his hand, and he pulled farther back, but Amadis immediately came at him as he had from the first and gave him another great blow on the center of his shield, hoping to strike him on his head, but he could not, for when the giant saw such a fierce blow coming, he raised his shield to receive it. The sword sunk so deep into it that when Amadis tried to pull it out, he could not.<br />
<br />
The giant tried to attack him, but he could only raise his arm a little, so his blow was weak. Then Amadis pulled on his sword as hard as he could, and the giant tugged on his shield, so that the great strength of the one and the other made the straps that held it around his neck break. Amadis pulled away the shield with his sword, which brought great danger to the giant because he had no way to use his own sword.<br />
<br />
When the giant understood that and realized he had no shield, he took his sword in his left hand and began to strike Amadis with great blows, who ably protected himself with his shield, but he could in no way keep the giant’s blows from cutting through his chain mail in several places and reaching his flesh. And certainly, if the giant could have attacked with his right hand, he knew he would be in great danger of death, but with the left hand, although the blows were mighty and strong, they were poorly aimed, and most of them missed and were in vain.<br />
<br />
Amadis, who wanted to wield his sword to attack, raised it up stuck in the shield, only seeking to defend himself. But seeing himself in such difficulty and danger, he decided to try to resolve the situation as fast as he could, and he pulled back a bit and took his own shield from his neck and threw it in the field between himself and the giant. He put a foot on the giant’s shield and pulled with both hands on the sword so hard that he pulled it free.<br />
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Meanwhile the giant picked up Amadis’s shield with his right hand, and although it was very lightweight, he could hardly raise it up and hold it in his hand, for the injury next to his elbow was so serious and with all the blood that had flowed from his arm, it felt almost dead, so he could only raise up and use his hand weakly. What impeded and fatigued him more were the bruised flesh and broken bones over his heart from the encounter with the lance ye have heard about, which cut his breath so much he could hardly breathe.<br />
<br />
But as he was valiant both in strength and spirit, and he saw his fate approaching death, he withstood with great effort because after Amadis’s sword had been stuck in the shield with that great blow, Amadis could not attack or ward off blows with it. But when he pulled the sword out and it was free and unimpeded, he took the giant’s shield by its handles and could barely lift it up, given its size and weight, and charged to attack with great blows, using all his strength, so that the giant was harried, and both from the speed of Amadis’ attacks and from his haste to protect himself and attack, his heart collapsed on itself from the pain he felt within it, and he fell as if he were dead on the field.<br />
<br />
When the men watching in the castle saw this, they shouted, and the ladies and damsels shrieked, saying:<br />
<br />
“Our lord is dead! Death to the traitor who killed him!”<br />
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+Sue Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725709764785276859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555107255854248187.post-60093931855338780422017-01-17T06:00:00.000-06:002017-01-17T06:00:00.189-06:00Chapter 128 [part 1 of 3]<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>[Christ crucified between two thieves, with the Virgin Mary and John the Evangelist, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_of_Arimathea" target="_blank">Joseph of Arimathea</a> collecting Christ's blood in a grail. From </i>Estoire del Saint Graal,<i> c. 1315-1325. <a href="http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Royal_MS_14_e_iii" target="_blank">Royal MS 14 E III</a> at The British Library.]</i><br /> <br />+ <br /> <br />The story says the knight ordered sufficient provisions brought to the shore, and when that had been done, unarmed as he was, he boarded a ship with men to guide them. They set sail for Balan’s island, and as they were traveling through the sea, the knight asked Amadis if he knew King Cildadan. Amadis said he did, that he had often seen him and his great feats of knighthood in the battles that King Lisuarte fought against Amadis, and it could be truthfully said that he was one of the most courageous and best kings in the world.<br /><br />“Certainly he is,” said the knight from Prince Island, “but against him, fortune has been more adverse than it ever has to anyone else so worthy by placing his realm in vassalage beneath King Lisuarte, because for such a King it is better to rule and be lord than to be a vassal.”<br /><br />“Now he is freed from that tribute,” Amadis said, “for the great courage of his heart and the valor of his person removed that burden from his great estate, which he bore not at his own fault.”<br /><br />“How do ye know this, knight?”<br /><br />“My lord,” he said, “I know it because I saw it.”<br /><br />Then he told him what King Lisuarte had done to release him, just as this book has recounted. When the knight heard this, he knelt on the deck and said:<br /><br />“Lord God, praised be Thou forever, for Thou hast freed that King, as his great virtue and nobility deserved.”<br /><br />Amadis said:<br /><br />“My lord, do ye know this Balan?”<br /><br />“Very well,” he said. <br /><br />“I ask you, if ye please, since there is nothing else we must speak of, to tell me what ye know about him, especially what ought to be known about his character.”<br /><br />“I shall do so,” the knight said, “and ye might not find anyone else who could tell you so fully. Know that this Balan is the son of the brave Madanfabul, the giant whom Amadis of Gaul killed, when he was called Beltenbros, in the battle King Cildadan fought against King Lisuarte of one hundred knights against one hundred knights, where many other giants and mighty knights in his lineage died. They held many islands in this region of great worth, and with the deep love and affection they had for my lord King Cildadan, they wished to be in his service, and almost all of them were killed in that battle.<br /><br />“This Balan ye ask me about was a very young man when his father died, and he was left this island which is the most fertile of all with fruit of all types and all the most appreciated and esteemed spices in the world. For this reason there are many merchants and infinite others who come there safely, who provide the giant with great income.<br /><br />“And I tell you that after he became a knight, he proved to be greater than his father in courage and bravery and in personality and conduct, which is what ye wished to know about. He is very different and the opposite of other giants, who are naturally very arrogant and vain, but he is not. Instead, he is very calm and truthful in everything, so much so that it is amazing that a man who comes from such lineage can be so dissimilar to the character of the others.<br /><br />“Everyone thinks this comes from the side of his mother, who is the sister of Gromadaza, the brave giantess, wife of the late Famongomadan of the Burning Lake. I do not know if ye have heard about that. Just as she exceeds the beauty of her sister Gromadaza and many other giantesses who in their time were beautiful, she is also very different in all manner of goodness. Her sister was exceedingly brave and impetuous, but she is very gentle and disposed to every virtue and all humility.<br /><br />“This must be the reason why women who are ugly, with bodies more like men than women, acquire much of the manly arrogance and roughness that men have, owing to their nature, and women who are beautiful and gifted with the proper nature of women are the contrary, conforming to their condition with a delicate voice, soft and smooth flesh, and beautiful faces, which make them peaceful and deflect bravery, as was the giantess who was the wife of Madanfabul and mother of Balan, and this is reflected in her son’s gentleness and repose.<br /><br />“Her name is Madasima, and because of her, that same name was given to a very beautiful daughter who was left by Famongomadan, who married a knight named Galvanes, a man of high estate, and all who know her say that she is of a very noble nature and very humble with all people. <br /><br />“Now I wish to tell how I know everything I say and much more about the deeds of these giants. Know that I have been the governor of Prince Island, where ye found me, since the time when King Cildadan was a prince and had lordship over the island without having anything else to his inheritance. And more because of his great courage and good deportment than for his estate, he was called by the entire Kingdom of Ireland to marry the daughter of King Abies, whose realm she inherited when Amadis of Gaul killed the king, and he left me in the post of governor, which I have held since then.<br /><br />“And as I am here amid those people, and they all have deep affection for my lord the King, I have a great deal of contact with them, and I know that the sons of the giants who died in that battle I told you about are now men, and they have a deep desire to avenge the deaths of their fathers and family if they get the opportunity.”<br /><br />When Amadis heard these facts, he said:<br /><br />“My good lord, I am very pleased by what ye have recounted for me. I am only troubled by the good nature of him whom I seek, and I would be more pleased if it were all the opposite and he was very boastful and arrogant, because men like that do not take long in achieving the ire and punishment of God. I do not wish to deny that I am more afraid than I was before. But no matter how it may be, I shall not fail to bring a remedy to this lady, if I can, from the great wrong and injustice she has received for no reason. I would wish to know from you if this Balan is married.”<br /><br />The knight from the island told him yes. “And with a daughter of a giant named Gandalac, lord of the Peak of Galtares, with whom he has a son some fifteen years old, who if he lives, will inherit that realm.”<br /><br />When Amadis heard this, he was quite upset and very sorry to have learned about the great love that Balan had for Gandalac and his sons, for Gandalac had been the foster father of his brother Sir Galaor. He considered everything that his brother had to be the same as his own to protect. And he said to the knight:<br /><br />“Ye have said things that make me more fearful than before.”<br /><br />He said this for what he had been told about Gandalac. The knight suspected that he held more fears about the battle, but that was not so. Even if he would have to fight against his brother Sir Galaor himself, whom he feared more than the giant, he would do so, for he would not in any way fail to fight to right and restore that lady’s cause or lose his life, because it had always been his custom to help those who rightly asked him for it.<br /><br />And so speaking of what ye have heard and of many other things, they traveled all that day and night. The next day at the third hour they saw the Island of the Vermilion Tower, which gave them great pleasure, and they sailed on until they were very close. Amadis studied the island, and it seemed exceptionally beautiful, both for its thickly wooded mountains that he could make out in the distance and for the placement of its castle with its beautiful, strong towers, especially the one called Vermilion, which was the largest and made of the rarest stone that could be found in the world.<br /><br />In some stories it is read that when the island first began to be populated, the man who had the tower and the rest of the great castle built was Joseph, son of Joseph of Arimatha, who had brought the Holy Grail to Great Britain. Because at the time all those lands were pagan, and seeing the location of the island, he populated it with Christians, and he made that great tower where he and all the people took refuge when they saw approaching danger.<br /><br />But after some time it was ruled by giants until Balan came, and while its population had remained Christian, as they still were, they had lived subjected and oppressed by those lords because most of them were of a pagan sect. But they suffered through it all for the great richness of the land, and if they had any peace, it was only under the time of Balan, both for the good will he had for them and for the love of his father. He was closer to the law of Jesus Christ than any of the others, and even more so farther on, as this story shall recount.<br /><br />Having arrived, Amadis told the knight from Prince Island:<br /><br />“My good lord, if ye please, since ye know this Balan, as a courtesy go to him and tell him how the lady, whose son he killed and whose husband and daughter he took prisoner, has brought with her a knight from Firm Island to seek to amend the harm he has done to her, and if he does not give it, to fight him and force him to give her satisfaction. And get a guarantee that this knight shall be safe from harm by everyone except himself, however good or bad things turn out.”<br /><br />The knight told him:<br /><br />“I shall be happy to do so, and ye may be sure that the promise he gives will have no exceptions.”<br /><br />Then the knight with his men boarded a boat and went to the port, and Amadis remained with the lady in some seclusion.<br /><br />When the knight arrived, he was immediately recognized by the giant’s men and brought before him, who received him with good will, for he had spoken with him a great many times, and he said:<br /><br />“Governor, what dost thou seek in my lands? Tell me, for thou already knowest that I consider thee a friend.”<br /><br />The knight told him:<br /><br />“So I consider thee, and I thank thee deeply, but I have come for a matter that does not involve me, but for an odd thing that I have witnessed. And this is that a knight form Firm Island has come by his own will to fight with thee. I am very amazed that he dares to do such a thing.”<br /><br />When the giant heard this, he said:<br /><br />“This knight thou speakest of, does he bring a lady with him?”<br /><br />“Yes,” the knight said, “absolutely.”<br /><br />“I understand,” the giant said, “that he would be Amadis of Gaul, he who is lauded with so much praise and fame throughout the world, or one of his brothers, because she left here to bring one of them back, which is why I permitted her to go.”<br /><br />Then the knight said:<br /><br />“I do not know who he is, but I tell thee that he is a very handsome knight and very well built for his size, and calm in his reasoning. I do not understand whether simplemindedness or the great courage in his heart has given him such madness. I come to thee to ask for a guarantee for him, so that he shall fear no one except for thee.”<br /><br />The giant told him:<br /><br />“Thou knowest well that my word shall never be broken at my will. Bring him with safety, and when thou hast, thou shalt learn from experience which of these two possibilities that thou spoke of are true.”<br /><br />+<br />Sue Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725709764785276859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555107255854248187.post-89044381587133516702017-01-10T06:00:00.000-06:002017-01-10T06:00:24.520-06:00Chapter 127 [part 2 of 2]<span style="color: #cc0000;">[How the lady came to seek Amadis, and what he feared most about the giant.] </span><br />
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<i>[The fortress of <a href="http://turismosomontano.es/en/que-ver-que-hacer/lugares-con-historia/conjuntos-historicos" target="_blank">Alquézar</a>, Spain.]</i><br />
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“And so my husband and son and the giant were armed, and they mounted their horses in a great plaza between some large stones and the gate to the castle, which is very stout. Then my unfortunate son begged his father so much that against his will he granted him the first joust, in which my son was struck so fiercely by the giant that he and his horse were knocked down so roughly that they both died immediately.<br />
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“My husband charged him and struck his shield, but it was like striking a tower. The giant came to him and grabbed him by the arm and, although he has been gifted with sufficient strength for the size of his body and his age, he was pulled from the saddle as if he were a boy. After this was done, the giant ordered my dead son left in the field, and for my husband and me and my daughter, who we were bringing so she could serve your sister Melicia, to be brought to his fortress, and he ordered our company be placed in prison.<br />
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“When I saw this, like a woman out of her mind, which I was at that time, I began to shout wildly and say:<br />
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“ ‘Oh King Perion of Gaul! If thou wert here, or one of thy sons, how sure I am that by thee or by any of them I would be saved from this great tribulation!’<br />
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When the giant heard this, he said:<br />
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“ ‘What dost thou know of this King? Is he by chance the father of the one they call Amadis of Gaul?’<br />
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“ ‘Yes, he truly is,’ I said, ‘and if any of them were here, thou wouldst not be powerful enough to do me any injustice, for they would protect me as she who has passed and expended all of my days in their service.’<br />
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“ ‘Then if thou hast such faith in them,’ he said, ‘I shall allow thee to call whichever of them thou most preferest, and it would please me the most if he were Amadis, who is so esteemed in the world, because he killed my father Madanfabul in the battle between King Cildadan and King Lisuarte when my father took Lisuarte from his saddle and was bearing him beneath his arm to the ships. Amadis, who at the time called himself Beltenebros, chased him, and although he could rightly attack in defense of his lord and those on his side, he saved him without my father seeing him, which should not be considered as great courage or valor, nor a great dishonor to my father. And if thou wishest he, who is so famous and whom thou hast served, to fight for thee, take that boat with a sailor whom I shall give to guide thee, and look for him. And to incite in him more wrath and a greater desire to avenge thee, take thy son the knight armed and dead as he is. And if he loves thee as thou believest, and if he is as courageous as all say, seeing thy great plight, he shall not fail to come.’<br />
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“When I heard this, I told him:<br />
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“ ‘If I do what thou sayest and bring that fine knight to thine island, how may he be certain that thou hast spoken the truth?’<br />
<br />
“ ‘Nor thou nor he should have any fear of this,’ he said, ‘for although there may be in me evil and arrogance, I have kept and shall keep my word for my entire life, and I would rather die than fail to do so. I give my word to thee and to any knight who comes with thee, especially if he is Amadis of Gaul, that there shall be nothing to fear other than my own self at my wishes.”<br />
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“So, my lord, because of what the giant told me, and because of my dead son, and my lord husband and my daughter who are prisoners along with all our company, I have dared to come this way, trusting in our Lord and in your good fortune, and that the cruelty of that devil is so against His service that He shall give me vengeance against that traitor with great glory for you.”<br />
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When Amadis heard this, he felt great sorrow at the misfortune of this lady, who was dearly loved by his father King Perion and by his mother the Queen and by all others, and held as one of the best ladies in the world of her lineage. And he considered the confrontation grave, not only for the danger of the battle, which was great given Balan’s fame, but also for going to his island and being among people where he would have to act according to their wishes.<br />
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But he put the matter entirely in the hand of the Lord who had authority over all things, and had great pity for that lady and her husband. She never ceased to weep, and he, putting aside all fear, with great courage consoled her and told her that soon her loss would be repaired and avenged, if God were willing and he were able to do so.<br />
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They traveled for two days and a night, and on the third day to their left they saw a small island with a castle that seemed very tall. Amadis asked the sailor if he knew whose it was. He said he did, it belonged to King Cildadan, and it was called Prince Island.<br />
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“Guide us there,” Amadis said, “so we may take on board some food, for we do not know what might happen.”<br />
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So he turned the boat and soon they reached the island. When they were at the foot of a craggy hill, they saw a knight descending it, and when he arrived, he greeted them and they greeted him. The knight from the island asked them who they were. Amadis told him:<br />
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“I am a knight from Firm Island and, if it is the will of God, I am coming to put right an injustice and wrong done to this lady that she suffered at an island farther on.”<br />
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“What island was this?” the knight said.<br />
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“The Island of the Vermilion Tower,” Amadis said.<br />
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“And who did this injustice?” the knight said.<br />
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“Balan the giant, who they say is the lord of that island,” Amadis said.<br />
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“Then what remedy can ye give alone?”<br />
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“To fight with him,” Amadis said, “and break the arrogance with which he has treated this lady and many others who did not deserve it.”<br />
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The knight began to laugh as from disdain, and said:<br />
<br />
“My lord knight from Firm Island, do not place in your heart this great folly, by your own free will, of searching for he from whom all the world flees. Even if the lord of that island, who is Amadis of Gaul, and his two brothers, Sir Galaor and Sir Florestan, who are the flower and height of all the knights in today’s world, were to come all three to fight Balan, this would be considered great madness by all who know him. For that reason, I advise you to leave this quest, for I would have to mourn your injury and harm because I am a knight and friend to those whom my lord King Cildadan loves and esteems, and I have been told that he and King Lisuarte are now at peace with Amadis of Gaul. I do not know how, but I know for certain that they now share great love and concord. And if ye continue on what ye have begun, it is nothing else than to go knowingly to death.”<br />
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Amadis told him:<br />
<br />
“Death and life are in the hands of God, and those who wish to be praised above all others must place themselves in the attempt to do dangerous things that others do not dare to try. I say this not believing I am thus, but because I wish to be thus. And for that reason I ask you, my lord knight, not to cause me more fear than I already hold, which is not little, and if ye please, as a courtesy help me with some supplies that could be of service to us if some difficulty overcame us.”<br />
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“I shall do that gladly,” the knight from the island said, “and I shall do more. To see such an amazing thing, I wish to keep you company until your fate, good or ill, comes to pass with that brave giant.”<br />
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+Sue Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725709764785276859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555107255854248187.post-7245284749309929932017-01-03T06:00:00.000-06:002017-01-03T06:00:10.623-06:00Chapter 127 [part 1 of 2]<span style="color: #cc0000;">How Amadis departed with the lady who came by the sea to avenge the killing of the dead knight she brought in her boat, and what happened on that quest. </span><br />
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<i>[Drawing of King Arthur as he<a href="https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/ILLUMIN.ASP?Size=mid&IllID=11739" target="_blank"> finds a giant roasting a pig</a> from the </i>Roman de Brut<i> by Wace (Edgerton 3028), second quarter of the 14th century, made in England. From the <a href="https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=6654&CollID=28&NStart=3028" target="_blank">British Library</a>.]</i><br />
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As ye have heard, Amadis remained at Firm Island with his lady Oriana enjoying the greatest delights and pleasure that any knight ever had, from which he had no wish to leave even to become the lord of the world. If his lady had been absent, the troubles and pain and anxieties of his impassioned heart would have tormented him without comparison, and he would have found no renewal or rest anywhere; yet everything was the utter opposite being in her presence and seeing her great beauty, which had no equal. That made him forget all his past troubles and had no thought except for the good fortune he found himself in.<br />
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But since among the perishable things of this world, nothing can be found that ends well, since God did not wish to make it so, and when we think we have reached the goal of our desires, at that point we are immediately tormented by others of greater size or better fate. So soon, Amadis looked within himself, and while he was aware that what he possessed was beyond comparison, he began to remember his earlier times when his honor and esteem had been achieved by feats at arms, and he thought that if he spent much time in his present situation, his fame would begin to fade and shrink. So he was placed in great worry, not knowing what to do with himself.<br />
<br />
He sometimes spoke to Oriana with great humility, asking her urgently to give him permission to leave and go to places where he believed his aid would be needed, but she, finding herself on that island far from her father and mother and all the people of her native land, having no other consolation or company besides him for her solitude, never wished to grant it. Instead, always with many tears, she begged him to give his body some rest from the labors of the past, and she also reminded him that his friends had left at great danger to themselves and their men to gain realms to increase their honor, and were they to suffer some reversal, if he were there, he could help them much better than if he were somewhere else. With this and other many loving things she tried to detain him.<br />
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But as ye have been told many times in this great story, ever since the knight’s spirit had been lit by that great fire of desire on the first day when he began to love her, he had a great fear of somehow angering her or failing to follow her command regardless of the good or ill that would come to him. So with little pressure, although his desire had reached anguish, he was detained.<br />
<br />
Determined to fulfill his lady’s command, he agreed with Grasandor that until some news came about the fleet, they would ride out through the mountains and go hunting for exercise, and preparations were quickly made. They left with their beaters and dogs from the island, and rode to where, as this book has told you, there were hills and riverbanks with more bear, boar, deer, waterfowl, and many other animals than could be found anywhere else. They hunted often, and at night returned to the island with great pleasure for themselves and for the ladies, and so they lived that life for some length of time.<br />
<br />
Then it happened one day that as Amadis was among the beaters on the skirts of the mountain near the seashore waiting for a boar or wild beast, holding the leash of a very handsome dog that he especially liked, he looked at the sea and saw a boat coming in the distance toward him. And when it was closer, he saw in it a lady and a man who was rowing, and because it seemed odd, he left the line of beater without being seen and rode downhill with his dog, passing through some thick brush.<br />
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He reached the shore, where he found that the lady and the man with her had landed and were dragging from the boat a fully armed dead knight, whom they laid on the ground, covered by his shield.<br />
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When he reached them, Amadis said:<br />
<br />
“Lady, who is this knight, and who killed him?”<br />
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She turned to look, and although he was dressed as knights usually do to go hunting, and he was alone, she immediately recognized him as Amadis, and she began to tear her veils and clothing in great mourning and said:<br />
<br />
“Oh my lord Amadis of Gaul! Help this sad and ill-fated lady for what ye owe to chivalry, because these hands of mine took you from your mother’s womb and made the ark in which ye were placed in the sea, saving your life when ye were born. Help me, my lord, for ye were born to save and rescue those with tribulations and bitter persecutions such as those that have come over me!”<br />
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Amadis felt great sorrow for the lady, and when he heard her words, he looked at her more carefully and immediately recognized her as Darioleta, who was with his mother the Queen when he was engendered and born, and so his pain for her grew. He came to her and took her hands from her hair, which was mostly white, asked her to tell him why she was weeping and tearing her hair so hard, and said he would not fail to immediately place his life in danger of death to repair her great loss.<br />
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When she heard this, she knelt before him and wished to kiss his hands, but he would not give them, and she told him:<br />
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“Then, my lord, without going elsewhere and finding some delay, come with me right away in this boat, and I shall guide you to where ye may remedy my troubles, and on the way I shall tell you my misfortune.”<br />
<br />
Amadis, seeing her with such anguish and passion, believed the lady had indeed suffered a great injury. And because he had no armor and only his fine sword, knowing that if he sent for his arms, Oriana would stop him from going with the lady, he decided to arm himself with the armor of the dead knight. He ordered the man to disarm the dead knight and help him put on that armor, and so it was done. With the lady and the man who was rowing, he immediately entered the boat. As he was about to cast off from the shore, by chance a beater from his company came chasing a wounded deer that had hidden there where the brush was very thick.<br />
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When Amadis saw him, he called to him and said:<br />
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“Tell Grasandor that I am leaving with this lady who landed here, and I ask for his forgiveness. Her great loss and haste mean that I cannot see him and speak to him. I ask him to have this knight interred and to win the forgiveness of my lady Oriana because I am making this trip without her permission. She must believe that I could not have failed to do so without great shame.”<br />
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That having been said, the boat left the shore as fast as it could be rowed, and they traveled all that day and night the same way that the lady had come. In the meantime Amadis asked her to tell him about her urgency and injury that needed such help. Weeping bitterly, she told him:<br />
<br />
“My lord, ye know that when your mother the Queen left Gaul to go to your island to attend the weddings of yourself and your brothers, she sent a messenger to my husband and me at Little Brittany, where at her command we were governing, and in her letter she ordered us to follow her to Firm Island because it would not be right if those celebrations happened without us. She did this because of her great nobility and her great love for us rather than for anything we deserved.<br />
<br />
“At this command, I and my husband and my unfortunate son, whom we left there dead and whose armor ye wear, immediately set sail with a fine company of servants in a very large ship. We sailed with good weather, which to our ill fortune changed to bad weather that pushed us far off course, and after two months and many dangers that overcame us because of that storm, one night a high wind took us to the island of the Vermilion Tower, where a giant named Balan is the lord, the bravest and strongest of all the giants of any island.<br />
<br />
“We came to port, not knowing where we were traveling, and we took shelter, but we were soon surrounded by people from the island in boats, and we were all taken prisoner and held until the next day when they took us to the giant. When he saw us, he asked if there was a knight among us. My husband said yes, that he was, and that the man next to him, his son, was also a knight.<br />
<br />
“ ‘Then,” the knight said, “ye must follow the custom of this island.’<br />
<br />
“ ‘And what is the custom?’ my husband asked.<br />
<br />
“ ‘Ye must fight me one by one,’ the giant said, ‘and if either of you can defend yourself for an hour, ye and all your company are all free, and if ye are defeated within that hour, ye are my prisoners, but ye shall have some hope for your safety if as good men ye had put all your strength to the test. But if by chance your cowardice is so great that ye do not place yourselves in battle, ye shall be put into a cruel prison where ye shall suffer great anguish as payment for having taken the order of knighthood and fearing loss of life more than loss of honor or those things for which ye took your oath. Now that I have told you everything rightly about the customs maintained here, decide what ye would prefer.’<br />
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“My husband told him: <br />
<br />
“ ‘We wish to fight, for in vain we would bear arms if out of fear of some danger we would fail to do with them what they were made for. But what security have we that if we are victorious, the custom ye have spoken of shall be followed?’<br />
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“ ‘There is none other than my promise,’ the giant said, ‘for come good or ill, it will not be broken willingly by me. I would rather have my body be broken, and I have had my son whom I have here and all my servants and vassals swear to uphold it.’<br />
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“ ‘In the name of God,’ my husband said, ‘have my arms and horse be brought to me and to my son, and prepare yourself for battle.’<br />
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“ ‘This shall be done at once,’ the giant said.<br />
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+Sue Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725709764785276859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555107255854248187.post-57683327124846816192016-12-27T06:00:00.000-06:002016-12-27T06:00:11.304-06:00Chapter 126 [part 2 of 2]<span style="color: #cc0000;">[How the Kings and knights left Firm Island, and what they planned to do.] </span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LKWHovCkXco/WFgT0unh4lI/AAAAAAAABbY/mgnwLS5HPWEWoUoMyONxUsN8qXgb-cztwCLcB/s1600/Chapter126b_MoonEclipseSequence-2783-2833-netClaro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LKWHovCkXco/WFgT0unh4lI/AAAAAAAABbY/mgnwLS5HPWEWoUoMyONxUsN8qXgb-cztwCLcB/s320/Chapter126b_MoonEclipseSequence-2783-2833-netClaro.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
[A series of <a href="http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160923.html" target="_blank">photos </a>depict the Moon rising over <a href="https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castelo_de_Sesimbra" target="_blank">Sesimbra Castle</a>, south of Lisbon, Portugal. Photo by <a href="http://www.miguelclaro.com/wp" target="_blank">Miguel Claro</a>.]<br />
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The lords and ladies returned to island for the games and great merriment in honor of the weddings. When they were finally over, the Emperor asked Amadis for permission to leave, if he were pleased, because the Emperor wished to return to his lands with his wife and reform that great realm, which after God Amadis had given him. He asked for Sir Florestan, King of Sardinia, to come with him, and said he would immediately deliver all the realm of Calabria, as Amadis had ordered, and the rest he would divide with him as a true brother. This he did, and after Arquisil, Emperor of Rome, arrived in his grand empire, he was received with great love by all, and he was always accompanied by that courageous and valiant knight Sir Florestan, King of Sardinia and Prince of Calabria, by whom both he and all the empire was benefitted and honored, as we shall recount farther on.<br />
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When the Emperor had bid farewell to Amadis, offering him his person and realm at his wishes and command, he took his wife, whom he loved more than he loved himself, and the very noble and courageous knight Sir Florestan, whom he considered to be just like a brother, and the very beautiful Queen Sardamira. He also brought the bodies of the Emperor Patin and the very courageous knight Floyan, which were in the monastery at Lubaina at the orders of King Lisuarte, and of Prince Salustanquidio, which at the time when Amadis and his companions brought Oriana to Firm Island, he had ordered to be very honorably placed in a chapel so that it could receive the sepulture in his lands appropriate to his grandeur.<br />
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He ordered the great fleet that the Emperor Patin had left at the port of Windsor to come there, and he and all the Romans who had been prisoners at Firm Island returned to his empire.<br />
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All the other Kings and lords prepared to go to their lands, but before they left they decided to plan how the knights who were going to win the realms of Sansuena, the Kingdom of Arabigo, and Deep Island might proceed with precautions so that they could achieve their goals without any obstacles.<br />
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Amadis spoke with King Lisuarte, saying that he thought that given the time the King had been away from his lands, he might be feeling anxious, and if he were, Amadis hoped he would not delay his return. The King said that in fact he had been relaxing with great pleasure, but now it was time to do as Amadis said, but if for what was being planned he needed Lisuarte’s knights, he would gladly give them. Amadis thanked him deeply and said that since the lords of those lands were being held prisoner, no more provisions would be needed than the men that his lord King Perion was leaving behind, and if by chance Lisuarte’s were necessary, he would accept them, for all had to serve Lisuarte as a lord, and those lands were being won for him.<br />
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The King said that if that was how things seemed to him, he would immediately arrange to leave, but first he wished to call together all those lords and ladies in the great hall because he wanted to speak to them. When they were all together, King Lisuarte said to King Cildadan:<br />
<br />
“Your great loyalty, which has delivered me in the recent past from many dangers and fears, has tormented and afflicted me because I did not know how I might offer satisfaction. A reward equal to your great merit would be hopeless to search for because it could not be found. Considering what was in my hand and possible, I saw that just as your noble person had been placed at my service in many battles, in that same way mine with everything in its realm shall with complete willfulness be place to fulfill whatever may be to your honor, and so from here onward ye shall no longer be in vassalage to my service, which your contrary fortune had subjected you to by force. From here on any service shall be done at your pleasure as between two good brothers.”<br />
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King Cildadan said:<br />
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“Whether this deserves thanks or not I leave to be judged by those who by some compulsion were caused to follow another’s will rather than their own, which is always accompanied by anxiety and sighs. And ye may believe, my lord, that the volition which until now ye received by force and with no friendship, shall from here on be given with love and many more men and obedience and attention to whatever is most agreeable to you. Let the time come that can demonstrate this by deeds.”<br />
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All the great lords thought King Lisuarte had acted with great virtue, and many praised him, above all Sir Cuadragante, who had always thought the vassalage was a enormous and sorrowful misfortune for that kingdom, where he was had been born, which in other times had been very honored and empowered over all others, for he now saw it freed from such heavy and dishonorable servitude.<br />
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King Lisuarte asked King Cildadan what he wished to do, because Lisuarte was arranging to return to his lands. He answered that if it pleased King Lisuarte, he would remain there to help plan how his uncle Sir Cuadragante could win the kingdom of Sansuena and, if necessary, go with him. The King told him that he had spoken wisely and he was pleased for him to do so, and if any of his men would be necessary, he would immediately send them. King Cildadan thanked him sincerely and said that he believed what they had would suffice, since Barsinan was their prisoner.<br />
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With that King Lisuarte and his company left, and Amadis and Oriana went with him, although he did not wish them to, for almost a full day’s journey, then they returned to plan what ye have heard about, which they did in this way: since the kingdom of King Arabigo shared a border with Sansuena, Sir Cuadragante and Sir Bruneo would go together and immediately try to win whatever part was weakest, and the rest would be easier to conquer.<br />
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Sir Galaor said he wished to go, and his cousin Dragonis would go with him, since he would soon be able to bear arms, and that he, with all the rest of what he would have in his kingdom, could be used to help him win Deep Island. Sir Galvanes said he also wished to make the same journey, and he would get good men for it from the island of Mongaza. With that agreement Sir Galaor left with his wife, the very beautiful Queen Briolanja, and Dragonis went with them, and Sir Galvanes and Madasima went to his land to prepare for the journey as fast as they could.<br />
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Although Amadis had urged Agrajes to stay with him at Firm Island, he did not wish to do so. Instead, he said he would go with Sir Bruneo and with the men from his father the King, and would not leave Sir Bruneo until he was a king and at peace. Sir Brian of Monjaste and all the other knights there said the same and left with Sir Cuadragante, especially the good and courageous Angriote d’Estravaus, who no matter what Amadis said would not go to his own lands and rest, or be dissuaded from going with Sir Bruneo of Bonamar.<br />
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All these knights left with new arms and brave hearts, taking the men from Spain, Scotland, and Ireland, and from the Marquis of Troque, who was Sir Bruneo’s father, and from Firm Island and the King of Bohemia, and many other companies that had come from other lands. They boarded a great fleet and they all urged Grasandor to remain with Amadis to keep him company, which he did much against his wishes, for he would rather have made that journey.<br />
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But he was not there in vain, nor was Amadis, for they often left to accomplish great feats at arms, righting many wrongs and injuries done to ladies and damsels and others who could not defend themselves by their own hands and abilities, and who sought them ought, as this story shall recount farther on.<br />
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King Cildadan, who deeply loved Sir Cuadragante, tried as hard as he could to be allowed to go with him, but Sir Cuadragante would not consent to it at all. Instead, he asked him out of love to return immediately to his kingdom to bring happiness and consolation to his wife the Queen and all his subjects with the good news he brought and could fully recount: that by fulfilling his duty he had lost his freedom, and by fulfilling the promise and vow to his honor and obligation, he had won it back.<br />
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Gastiles, nephew of the Emperor of Constantinople, had send all his men with the Marquis of Saluder, and remained to see the results of the effort so he could tell his lord the Emperor everything about it. When he saw what was being done, he spoke with Amadis and told him that he was very sorry not to have men prepared to help those knights in their journey, but if Amadis considered it good, he would go personally and with some of the men who had remained behind.<br />
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Amadis told him:<br />
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“My lord, what has been done should be enough, and because of your uncle and yourself I have been given all the honor that ye see. May God be pleased in His mercy to have a time come when I can serve him. And ye, my lord, should leave immediately and kiss his hands for me, and tell him that everything that has just been won here has been won by him, and it shall always be at his service or whomever he may send. I also commend you to kiss the hands of the very beautiful Leonorina and Queen Menoresa for me, and tell her that I shall fulfill everything I promised and shall send them a knight of my lineage who will be able to serve her very well.”<br />
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“I fully believe that,” Gastiles said, “because there are so many in your lineage that there are enough to serve all the world.”<br />
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With that he said farewell and boarded his ship, and for now nothing more shall be told until the proper time.<br />
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When everything ye have heard of was arranged and prepared, the great fleet left the port and went out to sea with all those knights and the courage that their great hearts would give them in perilous encounters. Amadis remained at Firm Island with Grasandor, as has been said; Mabilia, Melicia, Olinda, and Grasinda remained with Oriana, praying for God to help their husbands. King Perion and his wife Queen Elisena returned to Gaul. Esplandian and the King of Dacia and the other youths remained with Amadis waiting for their time to become knights and for Urganda the Unrecognized to arrange it, as she had said and promised.<br />
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But now this story shall cease to speak of those knights who went to win their kingdoms, and shall recount what happened Amadis a little later.<br />
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+Sue Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725709764785276859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555107255854248187.post-26673004160532452942016-12-20T06:00:00.000-06:002016-12-20T06:00:09.396-06:00Chapter 126 [part 1 of 2]<span style="color: #cc0000;">How Urganda the Unrecognized brought together all the Kings and knights that were at Firm Island, and the great things she told them that would happen in the past, present, and future, and how she finally left. </span><br />
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<i>[Gargoyle at the Cathedral of <a href="http://www.catedralbcn.org/index.php?lang=en" target="_blank">Santa Eulalia,</a> Barcelona, Spain. Photo by Bernard <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8852518" target="_blank">Gagon</a>.]</i><br />
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The story recounts that after the great festivities of the weddings were over at Firm Island, Urganda the Unrecognized asked the Kings to order all the knights and ladies and damsels to gather together because she wished to tell them all of them her purpose and reason for coming, which they ordered to be done.<br />
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When they were all together in the great hall of the castle, Urganda sat before them, holding her two young noblemen by the hands. When everyone was quiet, waiting for her to speak, she said:<br />
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“My lords, without being told, I knew about these great festivities following those many deaths and losses that ye have suffered, and God is my witness that if any or all of those evils could have been prevented by me, I would have not failed to place all my effort and person into such labors. But as it had been permitted by the Lord on high, they could not have been avoided, because what by Him is ordained, without Him none has the power to prevent. And since I could not have forestalled those evils with my presence, I realized that to improve on what good was within my powers, given the great love I have for many of you and that ye have for me, and to declare some things that I had previously told you by private means, as I am accustomed to do. That way ye may truly believe what I said, as ye could the things ye heard from me at other times.”<br />
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Then she looked at Oriana and said:<br />
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“My good lady and beautiful bride, ye should well recall that when I was with your father the King and your mother the Queen in their town in Fenusa, sleeping with you in your bed, ye asked me to tell you what would happen to you, and I asked you not to wish to know. But because I knew your will, I told you how the lion of Fearful Island would leave its cave, and his great roars would frighten your guardians so he could take control of your flesh and, with them, put his great hunger at rest.<br />
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“This ye ought to clearly understand, for your husband, who is very much stronger and braver than any lion, left this island, which may rightly be called Fearful for it has so many caves and hiding places, and with his strength and shouts the, fleet of the Romans, who guarded you, was defeated and destroyed, and so ye were placed in his mighty arms and he took control of your flesh, as all have seen, without which his ravenous hunger could not have been contented or appeased. And thus ye know that everything I told you was true.”<br />
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Then she said to Amadis:<br />
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“Then ye, my good lord, shall clearly see the truth in everything I had told you, that ye would give your blood for others, for in the battle with Ardan Canileo the Fearful ye gave it for your friends King Arban of North Wales and Angriote d’Estravaus, who were prisoners. Then your fine sword, when ye saw it in the hands of your enemy and which was turned against your flesh and bones, ye dearly wished were in some lake from which it would never reappear. And then the reward that followed from this, what was it? Truly, none other than anger and great enmity between yourself and King Lisuarte, who is here, which was the result of your winning the Island of Mongaza, as all have clearly seen and as I told you.<br />
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“And things that I wrote to you, very virtuous King Lisuarte, when ye found this very handsome and noble youth Esplandian, your grandson, in a forest hunting with a lioness, ye still hold clearly in your memory. From what I said about the past ye can see that I knew, because he was raised by three very different wet nurses, in fact a lioness and a sheep and a woman, all of whom gave him milk.<br />
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“I also told you that this youth would bring peace between yourself and Amadis, and I leave it to be judged by both of you all the ire, all the acrimony, and all the enmity he has eliminated from your wills with his grace and great handsomeness, and how because of him and his great discretion ye were rescued by Amadis when ye expected no other thing but death. Whether such a service as this was worthy of eradicating enmity and attracting love, I leave to these lords to judge.<br />
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“As for other things that in due time shall occur, as the letter foretold, may they be judged by those who will be alive to see them, from by what I knew about the past they may believe that I know about the future. <br />
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“Another prophecy I told you was much greater than the rest, for it contained everything that happened by delivering your daughter Oriana to the Romans, and the great evils and cruel deaths that resulted, which, so as not to remind you of a thing which would cause so much anguish and ire at a time when ye ought to be enjoying great pleasure, I shall leave for those who wish to see it in the second book where they may observe clearly that all the things that happened are contained in it and were said by me previously.<br />
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“Now that I have spoken of things in the past, I wish ye to learn about the present things ye do not know about.”<br />
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Then she took the handsome youths by the hand, Talanque and Maneli the Moderate, for such were their names, and said to Sir Galaor and King Cildadan:<br />
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“My good lords, if in your lives ye have received any services and aid from me, I am content with the reward I have, which is enormous glory for me. Since I myself cannot engender any progeny, I caused to have in other women such handsome youths as these to be born, whom ye see here. Without a doubt ye may believe that if God allows them to reach the age for knighthood and to become knights, they shall do such things in His service to maintain truth and virtue that not only those who engendered them against the prescripts of the Holy Church shall be forgiven, and I for causing it, but their merits and worth shall be so surpassing in this world that in the next they shall achieve their rest, and I as well. And so many things shall happen because of these youths that no matter how much I might say, it would not be enough, so I shall leave them to their time, which will not be long from now, given the age that they have already acquired.”<br />
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Then she said to Esplandian:<br />
<br />
“Very handsome, blessed, and noble Esplandian, thou wert engendered in the great blaze of love by those from whom thou hast inherited a great part of it without them losing a single bit of their own, and which thy tender and innocent age now conceals. Take this youth Talanque, son of Sir Galaor, and Maneli the Moderate, son of King Cildadan, and love one as much as the other, for although by them thou shalt be placed in many dangerous confrontations, they shall rescue thee from other confrontations in which none but themselves shall be able to aid thee.<br />
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“And this great dragon that brought me here I leave for thee, in which thou shalt be made a knight with the horse and arms that lie hidden within it along with other rare things that at the time of thy knighthood shall be made manifest. This serpent shall be the guide to the first events in which thy mighty heart shall reveal thy high virtue, and it shall guide thee and many others of thy great lineage through fearsome storms and misfortunes in the open sea without any danger, where with great battles and labors thou shalt repay the Lord of the world for some of the great mercies thou shalt receive from Him, and in many places thou shalt be known by no other name than the Knight of the Great Serpent.<br />
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“In it thou shalt travel for long days without rest, for besides the great and dangerous battles thou shalt fight, thy spirit shall be placed in all affliction and great anguish by she who shall read and understand the seven letters that will burn like fire on thy left side. That great heat and ardor shall burn within thee with flames that shall not be quenched until the great flocks of cormorants fly to the East over the rough waves of the sea and place the hawk in such dire straits that it will not dare to alight in its tight nest, and the proud black falcon, the most esteemed and beautiful of all birds of prey, along with those of its lineage and other birds that are not, shall come to its aid and cause such great destruction among the cormorants that the field shall be completely covered by their feathers and many of them shall perish in their sharp claws, and others shall drown in the water where the mighty black falcon and its allies overtake them.<br />
<br />
“Then the great hawk shall pull out most of their entrails and place them in the sharp claws of its helper, and with them, its ravenous hunger, which for a long time had tormented him, shall be satisfied and ceased. It shall give him possession of all its forests and great mountains, and he shall be brought back to his perch in the tree of the Holy Garden. At this time the great dragon, having fulfilled the hour marked by my great wisdom, before all shall sink into the great sea, giving thee to know that more on firm ground than on moving water thou ought to pass the coming time.”<br />
<br />
This said, she told the Kings and knights:<br />
<br />
“My good lords, now I must go elsewhere and cannot avoid it, but when Esplandian is ready to receive knighthood and all these youths receive it with him, I know that for a reason now hidden to you, many of you here now shall be brought together and at that time I shall come, and in my presence great festivities will be made for the novice knights, and I shall tell you many great and amazing things that will come to them. And I warn you all not to dare to approach the serpent until I return, for if anyone does, everyone in the world could not prevent that person from losing his life.<br />
<br />
“And because ye, my lord Amadis, have here as a prisoner the wicked and evil-doing Arcalaus, who is called the Sorcerer and whose vile wisdom is never used except to do harm, and who might still do you injury, take these two rings, one for you and the other for Oriana, for while these are on your hands, nothing that he may do can cause harm to you or to anyone in your company, nor shall his enchantments have any power while ye hold him prisoner. And I tell you not to kill him because with death he would not pay in the least for the evil he has done. Instead put him in an iron cage where all can see him, and there he shall die many times. Much more painful is the death that leaves a person alive than that with which all dies and perishes.”<br />
<br />
Then she gave the rings to Amadis and Oriana, which were the finest and most extraordinary ever seen. Amadis told her:<br />
<br />
“My lady, what can I do to repay you for all the honors and gifts I have received from you?”<br />
<br />
“Not a thing,” she said, “for everything I have done and shall do from here on ye already paid for when I could not take advantage of my wisdom and ye restored that very handsome knight to me, who is the thing I most love in the world, although he felt contrary, when by force of arms ye defeated the four knights at the causeway of the castle where they were holding him, and then ye defeated the lord of the castle. Then ye made your brother Sir Galaor a knight. And with that great benefit to my life, which could not be sustained without my beloved, I was repaid and will still be repaid for all the days in which I will be allowed to aid your advancement by the most powerful Lord of this world.”<br />
<br />
Then she called for her palfrey to be brought, and all the lords and ladies accompanied her to the seashore, where she found her dwarves and the skiff. After she was bid farewell by everyone, she got in and they watched her return to the great dragon, and then the smoke was so black that for more than four days nothing could be seen of what was within it, but after that, it dissipated, and they saw the serpent as it was before. Of Urganda they knew not what she had done.<br />
<br />
+Sue Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725709764785276859noreply@blogger.com0