Chapter 111 [part 1 of 2]

What happened on each side during the second battle, and why the battle was halted. 

[Depiction of England and France at war, c. 1415, from the Grandes Chroniques de France, at the British Library.]
 
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King Lisuarte placed King Arban of North Wales, Sir Guilan the Pensive, and the other knights in the vanguard, as ye have heard. And King Lisuarte with his battalion and King Cildadan were behind them, and the Emperor and all his men were farther back, each one in a column with its captains, as had been arranged.

King Perion gave the vanguard to his nephew Sir Brian of Monjaste, and he and Gastiles, with the standard of the Emperor of Constantinople, were behind him and all the other battalions arranged so that those that were farthest away on the first day of fighting now were at the front.

In these formations, they marched toward each other, and when they were close, trumpets played on both sides and the columns of Brian of Monjaste and King Arban of North Wales met each other so bravely that in the first attack more than five hundred knights fell to the ground, and their horses ran free through the field. Sir Brian found himself facing King Arban, and they struck each other hard and broke their lances, but did no further harm to each other. Then they put their hand to their swords and began to attack every way they could to do the most harm possible, as knights who had done so many times before and were experienced.

Norandel and Sir Guilan, working together, attacked the men on the opposing side, and as they were very brave and courageous, they caused great harm, and they would have caused even more if not for a knight related to Sir Brian and who had come with the men from Spain, named Fileno. He had with him many of the Spaniards, who were good men at war, and they attacked with such force in the area where Sir Guilan and Norandel were fighting that the Spanish knights pushed back them and all the others there, where Norandel and Sir Guilan did amazing feats to protect their men.

King Arban and Sir Brian were separated from their battalions and from each other due to the great press of fighting on the other side, and each of them began to encourage their men by attacking and bringing down their opponents. But as the Spanish knights were greater in number and had better horses, they held a great advantage, and if King Lisuarte and King Cildadan had not come to the rescue with their columns, their men could not have held the field and would have all been lost, but the arrival of those Kings compensated for the difference.

King Perion, when he saw the flag of King Lisuarte, said to Gastiles:

“Now, my good lord, let us move out, and keep watching that flag, as I shall do myself.”

Then they raced toward their enemy. King Lisuarte received them like he whose heart and courage had never failed; without any doubt ye may believe that during his lifetime there was never a king who better or more freely placed his body in danger over matters of honor, as ye can see throughout this great story in every battle and confrontation in which he is found.

Now, as these men were fighting in such a large number, who could tell you of the knightly deeds they did there? It would be impossible for whoever wished to tell the truth, for so many good knights were killed and injured there that the horses could hardly move without trampling them. Of King Lisuarte I tell you that as a man whose pride was hurt and holding his life as worthless, he charged into his enemies so courageously that few could be found who dared to await him. King Perion, coming from another area and performing amazing feats, by chance encountered King Cildadan, and when they recognized each other, they did not wish to attack each other. Instead they passed each other by and went on to attack whomever they found in front of them and sent many knights dead or injured to the ground.

When the Emperor saw such a great turbulence, he thought that the men on his side were in great danger, and he ordered the captains of his columns to attack as fast as they could, as he himself would, and this was carried out. All the battalions along with the Emperor charged at their opponents. But before they could arrive, those on the other side saw them coming and together they galloped as one across the field, so that they were all mixed among each other in such a way that they could not be organized nor protect their captains. Instead they rode so close together that they could not attack with their swords, and they fought hand to hand and tried to pull each other from their horses, and more of them died from being trampled than from injuries inflicted by men.

The confusion and noise was so great, along with the shouts and the clash of arms echoing in all the valleys of the mountains, that it seemed as if all the world were fighting there. And ye may truly believe that not all the world but most of Christendom and its best men were there, where it suffered so much damage on that day that for a very long time it could not recover.

Thus this should be taken as an example by kings and great lords. Before they do something, they should ponder and think carefully, putting great consideration into the problems that could result because under their command and due to their errors and fervor, blameless men can be injured and killed, as so often happens: and may their innocence carry their souls to a better place. Although those who caused this present destruction might survive, many deaths and great peril could be recounted, as came to pass on this occasion with King Lisuarte; he was very discreet and wise in all things, as ye have heard, but in this case he did not wish to take anyone’s advice but his own.

Great arrogance and rage can be found among those who have lordship over us that can place us in great anguish and suffering and tribulation, but because I believe these admonishments will be ignored, I shall place all this aside and return to our purpose, and I say that as the battle continued and many men died, the press was so great that neither side could prevail and all were occupied with fighting whomever they found in front of them.

Agrajes constantly tried to find King Lisuarte and had not seen him due to the great press and crowd of men, and going among the battles, he saw that Lisuarte had just brought down Dragonis in an encounter in which he broke his lance, and he had his sword drawn to attack him. Agrajes rode at him with his sword in hand and said:

“Attack me, King Lisuarte, for I am the one who despises thee most.”

When he heard that, the King turned to look and charged at him, and Agrajes at him, and they met each other so hard they could not strike a blow. Agrajes dropped his sword, which was attached by a chain, and seized the King’s arms, for, as has been said in other places in this story, Agrajes was the most aggressive knight with the most lively heart as there was in his time, and if courage like his was enough, there could not have been found a better knight in the world than him, and he was one of the best that could have been found in many places.

And as they gripped each other each trying to throw the other from his horse, Agrajes could have found himself in great danger because the King was larger and had greater strength, if it had not been for the intervention of King Perion, who came with Sir Florestan and Landin and Enil and many other knights. When they saw the situation Agrajes was in, they hurried to rescue him, and on the other side came Sir Guilan the Pensive, Norandel, Brandoivas, and Giontes, nephew of the King. Those men, even when they were charging on their horses and doing great deeds of knighthood elsewhere, always kept an eye out to look for the King, as was their responsibility. When these men arrived, they attacked with their swords since their lances had been broken, all of them so bravely that it was an astonishing thing to see, and both sides came together to rescue their own.

But the King and Agrajes were gripping each other so tightly that they could neither let go nor throw each other down, because the men on their side were in their way and helping them so they could not fall. And since the greatest press of battle and noise was there, many knights hurried there from both sides, among them Sir Cuadragante. When he arrived and saw the tumult and the King holding Agrajes, he charged roughly through them all and grabbed the King so bravely he almost knocked both of them down, but he did not dare to attack the King because he might have hit Agrajes, and he never let him go even though those who were defending the King gave him many blows.

King Arban of North Wales, who was coming with the Emperor of Rome, had not seen the King for a while, and when he arrived there and saw him in great danger, he was overcome and grabbed Sir Cuadragante tightly. And so all four were in each others’ grasp and around them were King Perion and his men, and from the other side Norandel and Sir Guilan and his men, and they never ceased fighting.

And as the situation was in great tumult and danger, on the side of King Lisuarte, the Emperor and King Cildadan intervened with more than three thousand knights, and on the other side, Gastiles and Grasandor with just as many companies of men. Each side arrived with such fury into the press and with such thunderous noise that by force they scattered those who were fighting, and those who were holding each other found they could finally let each other go. All four remained on horseback but were very tired and could barely hold themselves in their saddles. And so many men on King Lisuarte’s side had charged that the battle would have been lost if it had not been for the great skills of King Perion, Sir Cuadragante, Sir Florestan, and their other friends, who as courageous knights endured so much that it was a great marvel.

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Chapter 106 [part 1 of 2]

How the Emperor of Rome arrived in Great Britain with his fleet, and what he and King Lisuarte did. 

[A reconstruction of the face of Richard III of England (2 October 1452 - 22 August 1485), based on the skull discovered in 2012.]
 
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This story says that after Giontes, the nephew of King Lisuarte, departed from Grasandor, as ye have heard, he went directly to Rome, where with his haste along with the urgency he gave the Emperor, very quickly a great fleet was raised and equipped with the ten thousand knights we have told you about, and then the Emperor set sail. Without any incident on the way he arrived in Great Britain at the port of Windsor, where he knew King Lisuarte was.

And when Lisuarte learned he had arrived, he along with many noblemen, among them two kings, Cildadan and Gasquilan, mounted their horses and went to receive him. When he arrived, most of the men had come to shore, the Emperor among them. And when they saw each other, they went to embrace and receive each other with great pleasure.

The Emperor told him:

“If ye, King, have received any injury or trouble because of me, I am here, and with a double victory your honor will be satisfied. And as I alone am its cause, I would wish to have the chance to take vengeance with only my men so it will be an example and a lesson to everyone that such a high man as myself no one should dare to anger.”

The King told him:

“My good friend and lord, ye and your men come exhausted from your long trip on the sea. Order them to disembark, take lodging, and refresh themselves from their labors. And meanwhile, we shall take counsel regarding our enemies, and when it is heard, ye may choose the place and means that most pleases you.”

The Emperor wished to leave immediately, but the King, who better than him understood what was necessary and whom they were fighting, restrained him until a more appropriate time, for he knew well that everything depended on that initial battle. And so they were encamped for a week as each day more men came to serve the King.

Then it so happened that one day as the Emperor and Kings and many other knights were riding through the fields and meadows around the encampment, they saw an armed knight coming on a horse with a squire who carried his weapons. If anyone were to ask me who it was, I would tell them that he was Enil, a good knight, Sir Gandales’ nephew. When he arrived at the encampment, he asked if Arquisil was there, a relative of Emperor Patin, and he was told that he was and that he was riding with the Emperor. When he heard this, he was very happy, and he went to where he saw the men riding, for he was sure he would be there. And when he reached them, he found that the Emperor and Kings were speaking in a field near a riverbank over their concerns about the battle. Enil knew that Arquisil was with them, and he went to them and greeted them very humbly, and they told him he was welcome and asked what he sought. When he heard this, Enil said:

“My Lords, I come from Firm Island with a message from my lord the noble knight Amadis of Gaul, son of King Perion, for a knight named Arquisil.”

When Arquisil heard this and on whose behalf he was asked, he said:

“Knight, I am he whom ye seek, say what ye wish and ye shall be heard.”

Enil told him:

“Arquisil, Amadis of Gaul would have ye know how when he called himself the Knight of the Green Sword and was in the court of King Tafinor of Bohemia, a knight arrived there named Sir Garadan, accompanied by eleven knights, of which ye were one. And he did battle with Sir Garadan, in which Garadan was defeated and killed as ye saw. And then the next day he did battle with you and your companions, he and eleven knights as had been agreed upon, and when ye and they were defeated, he took you as prisoners, and set you free at your request, and ye promised him as a loyal knight that anytime he called upon you, ye would put yourself under his control. And now through me he calls on you to comply with what a man of such high standing and such a good knight as yourself must do.”

 Arquisil said:

“Truly, knight, in everything ye have said ye have spoken the truth, and it happened just as ye say. It only remains to be seen if the knight who called himself the Knight of the Green Sword is Amadis of Gaul.”

Some knights who were there told him that without a doubt he may believe that he was. Then Arquisil said to the Emperor:

“Ye have heard, my lord, what this knight asks of me, and I cannot avoid fulfilling that to which I am obliged, because ye may believe that he gave me life and saved me from being killed by those who had a great desire to do so. And for that reason, my lord, I beg you not to be troubled by my leaving, for if I failed to do so in this case it would not be right for a man as high born and powerful as ye are to have me in his family nor in his company.”

The Emperor, as he was very impetuous and often given more to following his passion or preferences than the propriety of the grandeur of his estate, said:

“Ye, knight who has come on behalf of Amadis, tell him that he must be tired of giving me the kind of annoyances that petty men tend to do to great men, whom he nothing resembles, and the time will come when he shall find out who I am and what I can do. He shall not escape from me anywhere, even in that cave of thieves where he is hiding, and he shall pay for what he has done to me seven times over to satisfy my will. And ye, Arquisil, fulfill what has been asked of you, for it shall not be long before I put into your hands he of whom ye are prisoner, so ye may do with him what ye will.”

When Enil heard this, he was enraged beyond all fear, and he said:

“I do believe, my lord, that Amadis knows you, for he has seen you in the past, but more as a knight errant than as a great lord, as then ye also knew him, and that ye did not leave his presence so easily. And now, as ye come as a great lord, he also comes looking for you. Let he who knows the past judge as he will, and God shall judge what is coming, as He alone can do.”

As King Lisuarte saw this, he was very worried that Enil might receive some harm on orders of the Emperor, which troubled him greatly, as did all that he had heard him say, because it was quite unlike Lisuarte’s nature to be other than a king very discreet in what he said and very rigorous in what he did. And before the Emperor could say anything, he took him by the hand and told him:

“Let us go to our tents, for it is time to eat, so this knight may enjoy the freedom that messengers by custom and right must have.”

And thus the Emperor left as enraged as if the anger were for someone of equal grandeur as himself. Arquisil took Enil to his tent and did him great honors, and then he armed himself, mounted his horse, and left with him.

From here nothing else is told about what happened to him except that they arrived at Firm Island in peace and agreement. And as they came close to the encampment and Arquisil saw so many men there, since the troops of the Emperor of Constantinople had arrived, he was very amazed and fell quiet and said nothing, instead acting as if he had not seen it. Enil took him to Amadis’ tent, where he was well received by him and by many other noble knights.

Arquisil was there for four days, during which time Amadis took him to show him all the troops and outstanding knights and told him their names, for they were well-known for their skills in great feats at arms everywhere in the world. Arquisil was very amazed to see such knighthood, especially all those famous knights, and he fully believed that if the Emperor were to suffer some reverse, it would be only due to them, for he did not fear the other troops very much and would not have worried about them at all if they had not had such leaders, for their strength was enough to fortify all the men beneath them.

He also saw that his lord the Emperor would need great resources to do them battle, and considered himself most misfortunate to be a prisoner at that time, for if he had been far away, hearing about such an extraordinary and great thing as this, he would come to take part in it. But as he was a prisoner and could not take fight, he considered himself the most unlucky knight in the world, and he fell into such thoughts that without noticing nor wishing to do so, tears ran down his cheeks. And with that great anguish he decided to test the virtue and nobility of Amadis.

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Chapter 96

How King Lisuarte asked for advice from King Arban of North Wales, Sir Grumedan, and Guilan the Pensive, and what their answer was. 

[Detail of the Serrano Towers, a gateway in the city walls of Valencia, completed in 1398. Photo by Sue Burke.]
 
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After the knights left King Lisuarte, he had King Arban of North Wales, Sir Grumedan, and Guilan the Pensive called, and he told them:

“My friends, ye know the position that I am put in by the knights of Firm Island, and the great dishonor I have received from them, and if I do not respond in a way that will break their great pride, I would not consider myself a king nor do I think anyone else would. In order to give an accounting of myself the way that prudent men ought to do, which is to act after receiving a great deal of advice and deliberating carefully, I wish ye to tell me how things seem to you, as I have asked, so that I may make a decision that will serve my best interests.”

King Arban, who was a good and very prudent knight and who had a deep desire to honor the King, told him:

“My lord, these knights and I have thought very deeply and have spoken together, as ye ordered us, so that we can give you the best advice that our judgment can supply. We have found that since your will is not to reach any agreement with those knights, everything necessary must be sought with great diligence and discretion so that they may be brought to order and their madness contained. My lord, on one hand we see that the knights at Firm Island are numerous and very mighty in arms, as ye know, for by the grace of God they spent a long time in your service. And in addition to their abilities and resources, we have been assured that they have sent messengers to many places seeking help, which we believe they will find, because they are of great lineages, sons and brothers of kings and other great men, and because they have won a large number of friends. And when men arrive from many different places, soon they will constitute a great horde.

“And on the other hand, my lord, we have seen that your house and court has lost very many knights, more than at any other time in our memory. And the greatness of your estate has caused you to have many enemies who will now show the ill will that they hold against you, since many grievances of this kind are more often revealed in times of need, while during good times they are maintained in silence.

“So for these reasons as well as for many others that we could tell you, it would be good if your vassals and friends would be called upon to learn what they can offer, especially the Emperor of Rome, who has more at stake in this than you, as the Queen has told you. And once it is known how much strength ye can have, my lord, then ye may take vigorous action or whatever other course available to you.”

The King considered this good advice, and said that it was what he wished to do. And he ordered Sir Guilan to take charge of being the messenger to the Emperor, since such a knight as himself would be fitting for such a mission. He answered:

“My Lord, I am ready to serve you in this and in a great deal more. And may God be pleased in His mercy that this will result in an increase in your honor and estate, just as I myself wish for you, and may I be dispatched soon, so that your order will be carried out quickly.”

The King said:

“Ye will only need a letter of credentials, which is here, and ye should say to the Emperor that as he chose to send Salustanquidio and Brondajel de Roca, his senior majordomo, and a great many other knights to ask for my daughter Oriana so he could wed her, and as I decided to make him happy and to have him in my family, against the will of all my subjects who wanted to have her as their lady at the end of my days, I arranged to have her sent to him, although with great pity from me and with much sorrow and anguish from her mother to see her leave us to go to such foreign lands. When she was taken by his men with her ladies and damsels, and they were sailing in the sea beyond the limits of my kingdom, Amadis of Gaul and other knights who were his friends departed in another fleet from Firm Island and, after all the Emperor’s men were defeated and Salustanquidio killed, my daughter and all those who were still alive were taken by them to that island, where they hold her.

“They have sent messengers to me by whom they offered me some agreements, but, knowing that he more than I is involved in this matter, I did not wish to enter into any agreement with them until I informed him. He should know that what would make me most satisfied would be if we were to besiege them where they hold her and that a way we could show the entire world that we consider them thieves and robbers, and we as great princes shall punish them for their great insult to us. And ye should tell him whatever else ye think best in this case, and if he is in agreement, may it be immediately placed in execution, because injuries always grow when the solution to them is delayed.”

Sir Guilan told him:

“Everything shall be done as ye order, and may it please God if my voyage has the same effect as my will to serve you.” And taking a letter of credentials, he left for the sea, and this story shall recount what he did farther on.

When that was done, the King had Brandoivas called and ordered him to go to the island of Mongaza to see Sir Galvanes and tell him to come immediately with all the men on the island. And from there he should go to Ireland to see King Cildadan and give him the same message, and to work with him to come as best prepared for war as he could be to wherever Lisuarte was. In the same way he ordered Filispindel to go to Gasquilan, King of Suesa, and to tell him what was happening, for, as he was such a famous knight who was always in search of great deeds, now he would have the opportunity to demonstrate his virtue and the courage that burned in his heart.

And in the same way he sent many others of his friends, allies, and vassals, and called for his entire kingdom to be prepared by the time that those messengers returned. And he gave orders to look for as many horses and weapons as could be found in all parts so he would have as many mounted men as possible.

But now we shall leave this, and no more shall be said until its proper time, to tell what Arcalaus the Sorcerer did.

The story recounts that as Arcalaus the Sorcerer was in his castles, always hoping to cause some harm as he and all evil man are accustomed to do, news arrived to him about the discord and disruption between King Lisuarte and Amadis. The great pleasure he took from that need not be told, because those were the two men in the world whom he most despised, and his thoughts and concerns never ceased devising how he might cause their destruction.

He considered what he might do in this situation to cause them the greatest harm, since in his heart he could not find it to help either one of them. And as he was subtle in everything vile, he decided to try to bring together a third army made up of the enemies of both King Lisuarte and Amadis and to locate it in such a way that if there were a battle, the men on his own side could very easily defeat and destroy those who remained.

With this thought and desire, he mounted his horse, brought with him all the servants he would need, and traveled both by land and sea to King Aravigo, who had been left so badly injured after the battle that he and his companions, the other six kings, fought against King Lisuarte, as the third part of this story has recounted, and who had received such harm and dishonor in the battle from Amadis and his family. When he arrived, he said:

“Oh King Aravigo, since thou hast the great spirit and courage that the grandeur of thy royal estate requires and the great discretion thou must have to govern it, contrary fortune, which in the past has been such an enemy to thee, now has repented and wishes to make amends so that the great discredit to thy honor may be satisfied by a double victory, which if thou art wise, thou shalt realize is in thy hand. And thou, King, should know that I was in my castles thinking carefully about thy loss and how to find a way to repair it, because as thy servant the enhancement of thy royal estate would bring me great advantage; then I learned very trustworthy news that the great enemies of thee and me, King Lisuarte and Amadis of Gaul, have confronted each other over a cause of such magnitude that by no means is amends expected nor possible except by a great battle and combat that will cause the destruction of one of them, or by good fortune, of both. And if thou wishest to take my advice, it is certain that not only will the loss that thou suffered in the past with me be regained but thy estate will be increased by many more reigns, and afterwards all of us will be in thy service.”

After King Aravigo heard this and considered how Aracalaus had arrived from such distant lands with such haste, he said:

“My friend Arcalaus, the length of your journey and the fatigue it must have caused you give me reason to consider your arrival very important and to believe everything that ye have told me. I would like what ye have said to be recounted more extensively because my intention will always be to pursue whatever will serve my grandeur, even in adverse times.”

Arcalaus told him:

“As thou knowest, King, the Emperor of Rome wished to take a wife, and asked King Lisuarte to give him his daughter Oriana. Although the Princess was the rightful heir of Great Britain, Lisuarte, considering the Emperor’s grandeur, decided to give her to him and delivered her to a first cousin of the Emperor himself named Salustanquidio, a very powerful prince. He was with her and a large company of Romans traveling by sea when Amadis of Gaul and many knights who were his friends attacked them. After this prince was killed and his fleet was destroyed, and many of those in it taken prisoner or killed, Oriana was stolen and carried to Firm Island, where they hold her. Thou canst imagine the discredit that this brings to King Lisuarte and the Emperor.

“I wish thee to know that this Amadis of whom I speak was one of the knights who wore the armor with the insignia of serpents and who fought against thee and the other six kings in the great battle thou hadst with King Lisuarte. He was the one who wore the golden helmet, and due to his great deeds and courage, victory was snatched from thy hands. And, as a result of what I have described, King Lisuarte on one side and Amadis on the other are calling together all the men they can, so it can and must rightly be believed that the Emperor himself will come in person to avenge the great sorrow in his heart and his loss of honor. And thou canst conclude what harm could occur to them if there is a battle.

“If thou wouldst call up thy men, I shall provide the help of Barsinan, Lord of Sansuena, son of the other Barsinan whom King Lisuarte killed in London, and I can also give thee the entire lineage of the good knight Dardan the Arrogant, whom Amadis killed at Windsor, which would be a large company of very good knights. And I can also call upon the King of Deep Island, who escaped from the battle with thee.

“With all these men, we could place ourselves where, under my guidance, when the battle is over, thou canst have at thy mercy both the victors and the losers without any danger to thy men. Then, what could result from this other than by winning such a great victory that all of Great Britain would be subject to thee, and thy royal estates would be placed at a higher pinnacle than any other emperor in the world? Now, mighty King, consider whether for a little effort and danger, thou wishest to win such great glory and realms.”

When King Aravigo heard this, he was very happy, and he said:

“My friend Arcalaus, what a great thing ye have told me, and although my desire is not to tempt fate further, it would be madness to set aside things that very rightly offer great honor and advantage, because if the results are as hoped and reason itself is a guide, men receive the fruit that their efforts deserve. And if the result is to the contrary, they must still do that which they are obliged to by virtue, in consideration of the honors it could give them and disregarding their previous misfortune. When the opportunity offers itself, they must not fail to take it, for otherwise they would be subjected, defeated, and dishonored for all the days of their lives. Given that, do not worry about what concerns me and my men and friends, but in the other matters proceed with the urgency and diligence that ye see as appropriate for such a situation.”

Arcalaus, with this promise from the King, left for Sansuena and spoke with Barsinan, reminding him of the death of his father and his brother Gandalod, whom Sir Guilan the Pensive had defeated and taken prisoner for King Lisuarte, who in turn ordered him to be thrown from a tower where his father had been burned at its foot. He also told him how at that time he had arranged for his father to be king of Great Britain and had taken King Lisuarte and his daughter prisoner, and how because of Amadis, everything had been lost. But now Barsinan had a chance not only to avenge his enemies as he wished, but that the great realm that his father had failed to take, he himself would be able to acquire, and he should be brave because otherwise great things can rarely be obtained. For if fortune had been contrary to his father, it had repented and wish to give him satisfaction for the injuries he had received. And he told him how King Aravigo was preparing everything in his power because he saw the issue so certain of victory that there was no way to err, with all the other help that was certain to arrive, among many other reasons.

Such were the arts that Arcalaus had always practiced as a great master of dark deeds.

Because Barsinan was a very proud young man, and resembled his father in wickedness, with little difficulty an effort Arcalaus achieved everything he wished. With a burning heart and excessive arrogance Barsinan responded that with full urgency and intention he would undertake that labor, bringing with him all of the men of his realm, and from beyond it all those who wish to follow him. When Arcalaus heard that answer, he was very happy at how he had made preparations that fulfilled his will, and he told him to immediately make everything ready for when he sent for them, because it was very important for this to be attended with diligence.

And from there he quickly traveled with a very happy heart to the King of Deep Island, and spoke with him for a long time. And because of all the things he said and all his arguments, just as with the others, he convinced him to call up his men and get them in order and prepared for when they would be needed.

When this was done, he returned to his own lands and spoke with the family of Dardan the Arrogant using the same arguments, and because of that, they all believed they could obtain great advantage. As secretly as he could he made agreements with them, telling them of the great preparations he had made. And so he waited for the time to put in play everything that ye have heard.

But now the story shall not speak of this until its proper time, and it shall turn to tell what happened to Sir Cuadragante and Sir Brian of Monjaste after they left the court of King Lisuarte.

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Chapter 94

How the news came to King Lisuarte that the Romans had been ruined and Oriana had been rescued, and what he did about it. 

[King John of England hunting stags from the manuscript De Rege Johanne, 1300-1400, at the British Library.]
 
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On the day that King Lisuarte delivered his daughter to the Romans, he spent some time with her a little outside of town, at times somewhat consoling her with great mercy as a father, and other times with excessive passion eliminating all hope that he might change his mind. But neither one way nor the other did he give her any consolation or recourse, and her wailing and sorrow was so great that no man in the world would not have been moved to pity. Although her father the King throughout all that affair had been hard and unyielding, he could not deny the paternal love that his distraught daughter deserved, and tears came to his eyes against his will.

Saying nothing more, he turned away more sadly than his face showed, and before leaving he spoke with Salustanquidio and Bronajel de Roca, urging them to take good care of her. He returned to his palace and found both men and women sobbing over Oriana’s departure, and the very strict orders that he had given did nothing to change that because the Princess was more beloved and more dear to everyone than anyone in Great Britain had ever been.

The King looked around his great hall and saw none of the usual knights except for Brandoivas, who told him that the Queen was in her chamber weeping with great sorrow. He went to the chamber where she was and found there none of the ladies and princesses and other damsels who usually accompanied her. And when he saw everything so deserted in different from how it had been, missing both knights and women, and those who were there were so sad, he felt great regret, and his heart was covered by a dark cloud, so for a while he did not speak. He entered into the chamber where the Queen was, and when she saw him enter, she fell senseless in a dead faint on an estrado. The King picked her up, holding her in his arms until she was awake, and when he saw her in a better disposition and more composed, he told her:

“My lady, it will not do for your discretion or virtue to show such weakness at any adversity, even more so for this which should be received as such an honor and advantage. And if ye wish to have my love and friendship, ye should cease this, and now should be the last of it, for your daughter is not going so bereft. She can still be considered the greatest princess there ever was in her lineage.”

The Queen could not respond in any way, and so just as she was she let herself fall face down on a bed sighing over the great suffering in her heart. The King left her and returned to his hall, where he found no one with whom to speak except for King Arban of North Wales and Sir Grumedan, who with their gestures and faces showed the sadness they held in their hearts. Although he was very wise and long-suffering and knew how to hide all things better than any other man, he could not do anything other than show in his own gestures and speech the sadness that he secretly held.

And so he thought that it would be good if he went away to the forest with his hunters until the time came that would cure what at present had no good remedy. He ordered King Arban to make ready the tents and all the equipment necessary for hunting in the forest, because he wished to go to the hills immediately the next morning. And so it was done, and that night he did not wish to sleep in the chambers of the Queen so she would not suffer more anguish than she already did.

The next day after he heard Mass, he went to hunt, and as he found himself alone, it greatly aggravated his sadness and meditation, and he found rest nowhere. This was a King so noble, so gracious, so careful to have the best knights with him that he could, as he once did; with them had come all the honor and good fortune and fate he had desired, but now in a short period of time he had seen it all changed contrary to the way it had been and the way he wished it to be, so he did not possess enough discretion nor was his heart strong enough, and many times he could not help falling into great suffering.

But as often happens when Fortune begins to make her changes, she is not content with the anger that men acquire by their own will, and instead with great cruelty she wishes to make it grow and increase, following her usual style, which is never to be orderly. There where the King was, she wished to show how he would forget that sorrow which to her seemed to have a very minor cause which he had accepted willingly, and to replace that pain with another that would strike him much harder than he had ever known.

Some of the Romans who had fled from Firm Island had arrived and learned where the King was, and they went to him and told him everything that had happened to them, just as the story has recounted, and they left nothing out since they had been present for everything. When the King heard this, although his pain was very great since it was such an extraordinary thing and had so much to do with him, he maintained a good expression and did not show any of his sorrow, as kings often do, and he told them:

“My friends, the death of Salustanquidio and your losses weigh heavily on me, and I am accustomed to receiving affronts and giving them to others in matters that concern me. Do not leave my court, and I shall order that everything ye need be provided.”

They kissed his hands and asked him the favor to remember the other companions and lords they had been prisoners with. He told them:

“My friends, do not worry about this, for it shall be solved in the best way for the honor of your lord and my own.”

He ordered them to go to the town where the Queen was, and to say nothing about that until he came, and they did so. The King spent three days hunting with the anguish that ye can understand he had, and then he returned to where the Queen was. To everyone he looked happy, although in his heart he felt what ought to be felt in such a case. He dismounted and went to the Queen’s chambers. And as she was one of the most noble and wise women in the world, in order not to anger him further, seeing how that would do little to remedy her desires, she acted much more consoled.

When the King arrived, he ordered everyone to leave the chamber, sat down with her on the estrado, and told her:

“In things of little substance that come by accident, people have some ability and license to show a little suffering and melancholy, but just as it comes with little cause, so easily and with a small remedy it can also be set aside. But in things that are very grave and painful, especially in cases of honor, it is the opposite, and these things ought to be felt and shown little gravity, yet the vengeance and rigor should be very great. And getting to the point, ye, Queen, felt great sorrow at the absence of our daughter, as is the custom of mothers, and have displayed many feelings over that and over the wedding, as is often the case. But I said then that in brief time it would be forgotten, but what has become of this is such that without showing excessive anger, amends must be sought with great diligence and a great heart.

“Know that the Romans who had taken your daughter, and their entire fleet were destroyed and taken prisoners, many of them killed along with their Prince Salustanquidio, and she and all her ladies and damsels were taken by Amadis and his knights to Firm Island, where they hold her in great victory and with pleasure. And so it could well be said that such a great and exceptional thing as this has never happened before in the memory of any man in the world. So it is necessary that ye with great discretion as a woman, and I with great courage as a King and knight, work to remedy this for your honesty and my honor with deeds rather than with excessive sentiment.”

After the Queen heard this, for some time she did not respond. And as she was one of the ladies who most loved her husband in the world, she thought that in something such as this and with such men, it was more important to create concord then discord, and she said:

“My lord, although ye consider very important what has happened and what ye have learned about your daughter, if ye were to judge it in light of that time when ye were a knight errant and were to think of the clamor and suffering of Oriana and of all of her damsels, and the great period of time in which it took place and became publicly known everywhere so everyone was speaking about it, although the attack was a great act of violence, no man should be amazed that those knights dared to do what they did, as men who do nothing else but to rescue ladies and damsels when they receive some harm and injury. And, my lord, although she is your daughter, ye had already delivered her to those who had come for her on behalf of the Emperor, and thus the violence and injury is more a matter for him than for you. Now as the response commences, it should be taken with temperance so that ye do not seem to be at the head of this conflict, for if it were done otherwise, it could hardly be hidden.”

The King told her:

“Now, my lady, remember to act in keeping with your honesty, as I have told you, and as for what regards me, with the help of God, amends shall be made with the grandeur that your estate and mine require.”

With that he left her and went to his hall. He had King Arban of North Wales and Sir Grumedan called, along with Guilan the Pensive, who now had recovered from his injury. He took them aside and told them everything that has happened about his daughter and with the Queen, because these three were the knights in whom he had the most trust of all those in his kingdom. And he asked and ordered them to think about it deeply and tell him what they thought he should do to best fulfill his honor, but at that time without more deliberation he did not wish them to respond.

Thus the King spent several days thinking about what he ought to do. The Queen remain very thoughtful and anguished to see the rigors of her husband the King, and how he used it against those whom he well knew would prefer to lose their lives than the least part of their honor, which she also expected from the King himself. And so of all the conflicts that had come to him, no matter how large they were, as this great story has recounted, in comparison to this they seemed like nothing.

So as she was in her chamber with infinite things going through her mind about how to achieve the remedy of such a rupture, a damsel entered and told him that Durin, the brother of the Damsel of Denmark, had arrived from Firm Island and wished to speak to her. The Queen ordered him to enter, and he knelt and kissed her hands and gave her a letter from her daughter Oriana, for apparently when Oriana saw the determination of the knights at Firm Island to send Sir Cuadragante and Brian of Monjaste to her father the King with the mission that ye have heard about, she decided it would be good to prepare for them before they arrived at the court of her father the King by writing a letter to her mother the Queen and sending it with Durin, and that was what she had done.

When the Queen received the letter, tears of loneliness came to her eyes for her daughter because there was no way to recover her if God in His mercy did not provide a solution to the great danger and confrontation that faced her lord the King. And so she was quiet for a while and could not say anything to Durin, and before asking him anything, she opened the letter to read it.

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Chapter 83

How by agreement and on order of Princess Oriana, the knights took her to Firm Island. 

[The Wheel of Fortune. From Troy Book and Siege of Thebes by John Lydgate, c. 1457, at the British Library.]
 
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After Amadis and the other knights left the ship carrying Salustanquidio and saw that they had control over the entire Roman fleet without opposition, they all met on Sir Florestan’s ship. They agreed that since Oriana wished to go to Firm Island, which seemed wise to them, they should do so immediately. They ordered that all the prisoners be put on a ship guarded by Gavarte of the Fearful Valley and Landin, Sir Cuadragante’s nephew, with a great many knights to watch over them.

They ordered that the spoils, which were plentiful, be placed in another ship, to be guarded by Sir Gandales, Amadis’s foster father, and Sadamon, one of the most sensible and faithful knights there was. In all the rest of the ships they split up the men at arms and sailors to take them to port, and they still had all the ships that had left Firm Island.

When everything was ready, they asked Sir Bruneo of Bonamar and Angriote d’Estrauvaus to let Oriana know that they would carry out what she had ordered, so she would feel content. Those two knights got on a boat to go to the ship where she was, and entered her chamber. They knelt before her and told her:

“Good lady, all of the knights who came to rescue you in your service wish you to know that the fleet is ready and prepared to leave. They wish to know your will, which they will carry out with complete devotion.”

Oriana told them:

“My good friends, if I am never able to reward you for this love that ye all show me and what ye have done for me, I would now despair of my life. But I have faith in our Lord that by His mercy, He would wish it be done just as it is my will. And tell these noble knights that our agreement should be carried out, which is to go to Firm Island, and when we arrive, we shall hold counsel about what should be done. I have faith in God, who is the just Judge and knows all things, that He will guide what now seems so shattered and turn it into great honor and pleasure. All things just and true, like this, may seem harsh and laborious at the beginning, as things seem now, but in the end we should only hope for good results. And things that are unjust and false yield only lies and disloyalty.”

The two knights returned with that answer. When those awaiting the reply heard it, they ordered the trumpets to sound, of which the fleet had many, and with great joy and with the shouts of the common men, they set sail. All the great lords and knights were very happy and had great spirit, since it had been their desire to remain with each other and the princess after they had successfully achieved what they had begun. As they were all of fine lineage and accomplished at deeds at arms, their courage and hearts grew knowing that their side was in the right and seeing that they were in discord with two such high princes, for they only expected to gain great honor whether things went well or poorly, since great deeds are always praised and remembered wherever they happen.

And as they all wore very fine armor and were great in number, even to those who did not know of their grand and great deeds, they would have seem like the army of a great emperor, for truly it would be hard to find in the house of any prince, no matter how grand he was, so many knights of such lineage and such worth.

Then what can be said here except that thou, King Lisuarte, should have thought about the time when thou wert a prince without inheritance. Thou ventured out into great reigns and realms, making use of thine intelligence, strength, virtue, temperance, and precious honesty more fully than any of the mortals of thy time did. Then thou took the diadem and precious crown and made thyself lord of so many knights, for which in all parts of the world thou wert praised and held in great esteem. It is not known if thou lost this because thy same fate was turned into misfortune, or whether thou suffered a great reversal in thy esteem and honorable fame from thy lack of understanding, for it is in the hand of God to give this to thee or to take it from thee.

Instead, I testify that I believe it occurred so that thou wouldst suffer, reduced from that height in which thou wert placed, so thou should especially regret those prosperous times when thou faced no opposition that might hurt thee.

And if thou hast complaints over this, complain to thyself, for thou wished to subject thy ears to men of little virtue and less truth, believing what thou heard from them instead of what thine own eyes saw. And along with this, without any pity or conscience, thou gave such latitude to thy free will that, not letting thy heart be touched by the admonishments of many people or the painful sobbing of thy daughter, thou wished to disinherit her and place her in tribulation, she whom God had adorned with so much beauty, nobility, and virtue, exceeding all women of her time. If anything in her honor could be reproached, given her excellence and sound thinking, in the end, the outcome should be more attributed to the permission of God, who wished it so according to His will, rather than to any error or sin, since if the wheel of fortune turned against thee, thou wert the one who let it loose from its mechanism.

Returning to our purpose, as ye have heard, the fleet was sailing in the sea, and in seven days at dawn it entered the port of Firm Island, where as a sign of joy many shots were fired from their cannons. When the island’s populace saw so many captured ships, they were alarmed, and everyone with their weapons rushed to the docks. But as soon as they arrived, they knew the ships belonged to their lord Amadis by the pendants and flags that flew from the crow’s nests, which were the same as those he had taken with him.

And then they launched boats, and men got out, Sir Gandales among them, to arrange for lodgings as well as to have a bridge of boats made from the land to the ships so Oriana and the ladies could disembark.

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Chapter 80 [part 1 of 3]

How King Lisuarte sent for Oriana to deliver her to the Romans; what happened with a knight from Firm Island, and in the battle between Sir Grumedan and the Greek Knight’s companions against three Roman challengers; and how, after they defeated the Romans, the Greek Knight’s companions went to Firm Island, and what they did there. 

[A lady being borne in a litter, from The Collected Works of Christine de Pizan, “The Book of the Queen,” (c. 1410-1414) Harley MS 4431, British Library.]
 
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Ye have heard that Oriana was at Miraflores Castle and Queen Sardamira was with her, having been sent by King Lisuarte to visit her and tell her of the grandeur of Rome and how her reign would by enlarged by her marriage to the Emperor, which was being readied. Now know that, since her father the King had made a promise to the Romans, he decided to order her brought and make arrangements to send her away. He ordered his nephew Giontes to take two knights and some servants to bring her, and to prevent any knight from talking with her.

Giontes took Ganjel of Sadoca and Lasanor and other servants, and went to where Oriana was. They bore her in a litter because that was the only way she would come, for she was faint from so much weeping. With her damsels and Queen Sardamira and her retinue, they left Miraflores and took the road to Tagades, where the King was.

On the second day something happened, about which ye shall now hear: near the road and below some trees next to a fountain was a knight in fine armor on a brown horse. He wore a green surcoat tied with green cords through gold eyelets over his chain mail, and he seemed extremely handsome. He took a shield and put it around his neck, took a lance with a green pendant and blandished it a little, then said to his squire:

“Go tell Oriana’s guards that I ask them to give me the chance to speak with her, and there shall come no harm to them nor her, and if they let me do that, I shall thank them, and if not, I shall be sorry and must attempt to do what I can.”

The squire went and gave them the message, and when he said the knight would force them to let him speak to her, they laughed and told him:

“Tell your lord that we shall not let him see her, and if he wishes to attempt to do so by force, nothing shall come of it.”

But Oriana, who overheard that, said:

“What does it matter to you if that knight speaks to me? Perhaps he brings me some news that would please me.”

“My lady,” Giontes said, “your father the King ordered us not to allow anyone to approach you to speak to you.”

The squire returned with this answer, and Giontes prepared for battle. When the knight in green heard the reply, he immediately charged and they struck each other on their shields so mightily that their lances broke into pieces, but with the great force of the encounter, Giontes’s horse’s leg was dislocated and it fell. One of Gionte’s feet was trapped beneath it in the stirrup, and he could not get up. The knight in green went past him, riding handsomely, turned immediately, and said:

“Knight, I ask you to let me speak with Oriana.”

He told him:

“I can no longer deny you that, although my horse is to blame.”

Then Ganjel of Sadoca shouted at the knight in green to prepare himself and not touch Giontes or he would die for it. “Would that I had you in such as state,” he said.

The knight in green rode at him as fast as his horse could gallop once he got a lance from his squire, but he erred in the encounter. Ganjel of Sadoca struck him on the shield and broke his lance, but no other harm was done. The knight turned around toward him and saw his sword in his hand, and struck him with his lance so hard it flew into pieces. Ganjel was thrown from his saddle and fell hard.

Then Lasanor charged, but the knight, who was very skilled at such situations, protected himself so well that Lasanor missed with the lance and it was knocked from his hand, and they struck each other so bravely that their shields were smashed and the arm Lasanor used to hold it was broken. The knight in green, who turned to face him sword in hand, saw that he was too stunned to attack, so he took the reins to his horse and struck its head with the flat of his sword to made it flee through the countryside with his master. And seeing it go, he could not help from laughing.

Then he took a letter he carried and went to Oriana in her litter. And she, who had seen him defeat those three knights, all quite skilled at arms, thought it was Amadis, and her heart trembled. But the knight approached her with great humility, held out the letter, and said:

“My lady, Agrajes and Sir Florestan send you this letter, in which ye shall find news that will give ye pleasure. May God keep you, my lady, for I must return to those who sent me. I know for certain that they need me, though I may be of little worth.”

“It seems to me to be the contrary from what I have seen,” Oriana said, “and I beg you to tell me your name, for ye had to work so hard to bring me pleasure.”

“My lady,” he said, “I am Gavarte of the Fearful Valley, and what your father the King is doing to you gives me deep sorrow. But I trust in God that it will be very hard for him to make it happen. Rather, so many of your subjects and others shall die that it will be known throughout the world.”

“Oh, Sir Gavarte, my good friend, may God be pleased to have such a time come to me when your great loyalty to me shall be rewarded!”

“My lady,” he said, “it has always been my desire to serve you in everything as my legitimate ruler, and in this matter even more, knowing the great injustice being done to you. I shall come to your aid with others who wish to serve you.”

“My friend,” she said, “I beg you to say this wherever ye may be.”

“So I shall,” he said, “for I can do so with loyalty.”

Then he bid her farewell. Oriana went to Mabilia, who was with Queen Sardamira, and the Queen told her:

“It seems to me, my lady, that we have equal guardians. I do not know whether it is due to their weakness or the misfortune of this road, for here your guards and mine were both defeated and left injured.”

When the Queen said this, they all laughed heartily, but the knights were ashamed and confounded and did not dare appear before them. Oriana stood there a while as the knights sought aid, for Lasanor’s horse could not bring him back for a long time.

She stepped away with Mabilia and they read the letter, and from it they learned that Agrajes, Sir Florestan and Sir Gandales wished her to know that Gandalin and Ardian the dwarf were already at Firm Island and Amadis would be there within a week. He had ordered them to prepare a great fleet that would be needed to go to an important place, and they had it ready. They hoped she would be pleased and hold great hope that God would aid her.

Oriana and Mabilia were overjoyed beyond comparison at that news, for it would bring them life, since they held themselves for dead if the wedding were to happen. Mabilia comforted Oriana and begged her to eat. Until then, in her great sorrow, she had not wished nor been able to eat, nor could she now with such great joy.

So they traveled down the road to where the King was, but before they arrived, the King and the Romans came out to receive her along with many other people. When Oriana saw them, she began to weep fiercely and had herself helped from her litter, and all her damsels joined her. When they saw her sobbing so pitifully, they wept and tore their hair and kissed her hands and dress as if they beheld her dead, and everyone felt great sorrow.

This sight troubled the King greatly. He told King Arban of North Wales:

“Go to Oriana and tell her that I feel the greatest distress in the world for what she is doing, and that I send orders for her and her damsels to enter the litter and appear more cheerful and go to her mother, and I shall tell her news that will make her happy.”

King Arban did as he was ordered, but Oriana answered:

“Oh, King of North Wales, my good cousin! My great misfortune has been so cruel that if ye and others who have undertaken great peril to aid sad and distressed damsels cannot rescue me with arms, then perhaps ye can rescue me with words. Advise my father the King not to do me such wrong and not to tempt God, or the great good fortune he has enjoyed in his life may turn contrary. My cousin, try to make him come here and bring with him Count Argamon and Sir Grumedan, for by no means shall I depart from here until this is done.”

As she spoke, King Arban could not stop sobbing and could not answer. He returned to the King and told him what Oriana had said, and Lisuarte thought it harmful to oppose her in public because the more her sorrow and anguish became notorious to everyone, the more his blame would grow. Count Argamon, seeing his hesitation, urged the King to go to her, and he insisted so much that with Sir Grumedan, the three went to his daughter. When she saw her father, she came to him and knelt before him, and her damsels with her, but he immediately dismounted and raised her up by the hand and embraced her.

She told him:

“Father, my lord, have mercy on this daughter who in a sad moment was engendered, and hear me before these noblemen.”

“My daughter,” the King said, “say what ye please, and with a father’s love I must hear you.”

She fell to the ground to kiss his feet. He pulled back and rose her up. She said:

“My lord, your will is to send me to the Emperor of Rome and separate me from you and my mother the Queen and this land which God made my homeland. And since from this trip I expect nothing but death, which shall either come for me or I shall give to myself, in no way shall your wish be fulfilled. The results for you shall be sin, and in two ways: first, I shall be disobedient to your will, and second, I shall die because of you. For all this to be avoided and God be served by us, I wish to enter a convent and live there, leaving you free to dispose of your kingdom and lordships as ye wish. I shall renounce all rights that God gave me in favor of my sister Leonoreta or anyone else as ye may desire. And, my lord, ye shall be better served by whoever she marries than by the Romans, who when they have me, shall become your enemies. If in this way ye think to win them, ye shall not only lose them but, as I said, ye shall make them mortal enemies of yours, and they will think of nothing else but how to take this land.”

“My daughter,” the King said, “I understand well what ye say, and I shall give you my answer in front of your mother. Now return to your litter and go to her.”

Then they put her in her litter and had her taken to her mother the Queen, who received her with great love, but weeping, for the wedding was being arranged entirely against her will.

But neither her nor the great lords of the kingdom nor the lesser lords could change the King’s mind. Because of this, Fortune was now angered and tired. It had given him high achievements and blessings, but now he had grown more angry and arrogant than ever before, so Fortune wished to change things to the contrary, more for the sake of his soul than his honor, as the fourth book of this grand story shall tell in much greater detail.

The Queen consoled her daughter with great pity, and her daughter, with many tears and true humility, on her knees, said that her mother was outstanding in the world for giving counsel to sad women and finding the remedy to their tribulations, so who equal or better than she could be found in all the world? To those who saw them, mother and daughter seemed embraced, speaking with deep compassion both of the great delights of the past and their anguish and profound sadness, which many times overcome people, and no one, no matter how great or discreet they may be, can avoid it.

Count Argamon, King Arban of North Wales, and Sir Grumedan took the King aside under some trees, and the Count told him:

“My lord, ye have ordered me not to speak further about this concern, and because your discretion is so much greater than all others, knowing what is best and what is not, well and honorably I could be excused from speaking. But as I am of your blood and your vassal, I am not content or satisfied with what has been said, and I believe, my lord, that as wise men oftentimes are right, when they err even once, they do so worse than any madman, because, in their daring wisdom, they do not take counsel, blinded by love, hatred, greed, or pride, and they can fall so low that they can hardly rise again. Beware, my lord, for ye are committing great cruelty and sin, and very soon ye may suffer such a lashing from the Lord on high that your brilliance and glory in the world shall become obscured. Consider how many wise men have forgone their own desires to bend their fortunes to follow your will. Listen to advice this one time, and if trouble should come to you from this, you can blame the advice rather than yourself, which this is the great remedy and relief of those who err.”

“Good Uncle,” the King said, “I am very aware of all that ye have just told me, but I can do nothing else but fulfill the promise I have made.”

“Then, my lord,” the Count said, “I ask for permission to return to my lands.”

“May ye go with God,” the King said.

So they concluded their conversation, and the King went to eat. When the tablecloths were lifted, he ordered Brondajel de Roca be called, and said to him:

“My friend, ye see how much this wedding goes against the will of my daughter and all my vassals, who love her dearly. But I, understanding that I will be giving her to such an honorable man and placing her among you, shall not go back on my promise. So prepare the ships, for within three days I shall deliver Oriana and all her ladies and damsels to you. And take the precaution of not allowing her to leave her chamber in the ship so that no disaster can occur.”

Brondajel told him:

“Everything shall be done as ye order, and although now the Empress finds it sorrowful to leave her lands where she is known to all, when she sees the grandeur of Rome and its great reign, and sees kings and princes bowing to serve her, it shall not take long before her will shall be satisfied and content. Such news shall be sent to you by writing soon, my lord.”

The King embraced him laughing and said:

“May God help me, Brondajel, my friend, I believe that such men as you will know very well how to make her recover her joy.”

Salustanquidio, who was now well enough to leave his bed, asked the King for the kindness of sending Olinda with Oriana, for he had promised Olinda that when he was King, as the Emperor had said he would be when he arrived with Oriana, he would take her as his wife. The King was very pleased by that and praised her highly, saying that given her discretion and honesty and great beauty, she well deserved to be queen and lady of a great land.

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Chapter 78 [part 2 of 3]

[How Grasinda’s challenge was delivered to the court of King Lisuarte, and how it was received.] 

[A corner of the Archbishop’s Palace in Alcalá de Henares, Spain. The oldest parts date back to the 13th century. The statue is of Catalina of Aragón, Princess of Castile and Queen of England, who was born in that palace in 1485. Christopher Columbus had his first meeting with Queen Isabel there in 1486. Photo by Sue Burke.]
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The Greek Knight and Grasinda and their company hastened to where King Lisuarte was in his town of Tagades. Many grandees and other noblemen of his kingdom were with him, whom he had called to advise him about what to do regarding the marriage of his daughter Oriana, whom the Emperor of Rome had sent an urgent request to wed. They all told him not to do it, for it would be an error against God to take the reign from his daughter and send her to be subject of a foreign man with a changeable and inconstant moods. While he might deeply desire her now, soon he might chase after someone else, for that truly was the way of fickle men.

But the King, annoyed by this advice, remained firm in his resolve. God permitted this because Amadis had secured his kingdom and his life so often with notable services and given the King greater fame and height than any other king of that time, yet from that Amadis received such undeservedly poor thanks. Now the King’s grandeur and honor would be discredited and humbled, as the fourth book shall tell farther on.

Lisuarte would not change his mind, and his stubbornness and rigidity was made clear to everyone. Yet he thought it good to summon his uncle, who was very old and suffering from gout. Although the man did not wish to leave his home because he understood the error of the King’s plans and disagreed with him entirely, when he saw the King’s orders, he immediately left for the court. When he arrived at the palace, the King came out to receive him, took him by the hand to his dias, had him sit next to him, and said:

“Good uncle, I had you called along with these noblemen that ye see here to provide counsel for what I ought to do about the marriage of my daughter to the Emperor of Rome, and I ask you to tell me how it seems to you, and I ask the same of them.”

“My lord,” he said, “it is a very serious thing to provide advice as ye have ordered us because there are two issues here: one, a wish to fulfill your will, and the other, to disagree with it. If we disagree, ye shall become angry as most kings do, who in their great power wish to content and satisfy themselves in their opinions and not be berated and opposed by those whom they command. However, if we agree, ye put us all in a fine condition with God and His Justice and with the world, due to the great disloyalty and treachery that we would commit, since your daughter, being the heir to these reigns after your days, would lose them. She has the same right and even more to them than ye had to be King after your brother.

“Then look well, my lord, at how ye would have felt when your brother died if what ye ought to have possessed had been taken from you and given to someone it did not belong to. And if by chance your intention is that by making Oriana an empress and Leonoreta the lady of these reigns, both would be very grand and honored ladies, if ye look at it with the utmost rationality, it could turn out to be the contrary. Ye do not have the right to change the order of your ancestors who were lords of this realm and take one away or add another.

“If the Emperor were to have your daughter as his wife, he himself would have the right to inherit them through her. If ye do not agree, he is so powerful he could take them without much effort, and so both your daughters would be disinherited, and this land, so honored and outstanding in the world, would be subject to the Empire of Rome without Oriana having a thing to say except for what the Emperor may permit, so ye would leave her without a realm. And for that reason, my lord, if God wills, I wish to be excused from giving advice to someone who much better than I knows what ought to be done.”

“Uncle,” the King said, “I understand well what ye have told me, but I would rather that ye and those here were to praise me for what I have said and promised to the Romans, since by no means may I go back on my word.”

“Do not hesitate because of that,” the Count said, “for everything consists in how it ought to be done and made certain. In that, ye can protect yourself from shame and keep your word, and yet ye may decline or promote what would be best for you.”

“Ye speak well,” the King said, “and for now it shall not be spoken of more.”

Thus he ended that meeting, and everyone went to their lodgings.

In the ships where the beautiful Grasinda traveled with the Greek Knight, Sir Bruneo of Bonamar, and Angriote d’Estravaus, voyaging in the sea as ye have heard, one morning the sailors spied the mountain named Tagades, where the town called by the same name and King Lisuarte were at the foot of the mountain. They went to the lady, who was speaking with the Greek Knight and his companions, and they said:

“Lords, give us a reward for good news, for if the wind does not change, within an hour ye shall be docked in the port of Tagades, where ye wished to go.”

Grasinda was very joyful, as was the Greek Knight, and they all went to the railing of the ship and happily saw the land they had so much wished to see. Grasinda gave thanks to God for having guided her there, and with great humility she asked Him to direct her affairs so she could leave there with the honors she wished.

But I tell you that the eyes of the Greek Knight took great comfort in seeing that land where his lady was, from whom for such a long time he had been away. He could not hold back his tears, and he turned his face away from Grasinda so she would not see them and wiped them away as secretly as he could.

Putting on a happy face, he turned back to her and said:

“My lady, have hope that ye shall leave this land with the honor ye desire. Your beauty gives me great courage, and I feel certain that right and reason are on my side, and as God is the judge, He shall wish to have the honor be yours.”

Grasinda, who had felt afraid, as one whose moment was arriving, took courage and said:

“Greek Knight, my lord, I have much more faith in your good fortune and blessings than in the beauty of which you speak. Having that in your mind, ye shall cause your praise to be increased in this as in all other great deeds ye have brought to completion, and ye shall make me the happiest of all women alive.”

“Let us leave that to God,” he said, “and let us speak about how it may best be done.”

Then they called Grinfesta, a damsel who was the daughter of the majordomo and was good and wise and knew a good deal of French, which King Lisuarte spoke. They gave her a letter in Latin that had been written earlier to give to King Lisuarte and Queen Brisena. They ordered her not to speak or answer except in French while she was with them, and when she had the answer, to return to the ships.

The damsel took the letter and went to her lady’s chamber and dressed in fine and beautiful clothing, and as she was in the flower of youth and extremely beautiful, she seemed quite lovely to all who saw her. Her father, the majordomo, ordered palfreys and horses to be taken out of the ship and given fine saddles and reins, and the sailors put a boat into the water and took the damsel and her brothers, both knights, and two squires who carried their arms, and quickly brought them to land outside the town.

The Greek Knight ordered another boat put in the water to carry Lasindo, Sir Bruneo’s squire, and told him to go by another route to the town and ask there for news about his lord, saying that he had been ill when Sir Bruneo went to seek Amadis. With this excuse, he should try hard to find out what answer they gave to the damsel, and in any case, to return in the morning in a boat that would be waiting for him. Lasindo left to fulfill his orders.

And I tell you that when the damsel entered the town, everyone found pleasure in looking at her and said that she came marvelously attired and well-accompanied by those two knights. She asked where the King’s palaces were.

It happened that the handsome young childe Esplandian and Ambor of Gadel, son of Angriote, who by orders of the Queen were to serve her as long as the people from foreign lands were there, were both on their way to hunt with goshawks, and they met the damsel. When they learned that she was asking about the King’s palace, Esplandian gave the goshawk to Sargil and went to her, seeing that she wore foreign clothing, and spoke to her in French:

“My good lady, I shall guide you, if ye please, and I shall identify the King to you, if ye do not recognize him.”

The damsel looked at him carefully and was impressed by how handsome and charming he was, so much so that it seemed to her she had never in her life seen a man or woman so attractive, and she said:

“Gentle childe, may God make you as blessed as handsome. I thank you very much for what ye say to me, and I thank God for meeting such a good guide.”

Then her brother gave the reins of her horse to the childe, who took them and led them to the palace. At that moment, the King was in the courtyard under some finely worked porticos, and with him were many noblemen and all the men from Rome. He had just promised them they could take his daughter Oriana to the Emperor, and they had promised to accept her as their lady.

The damsel, who had dismounted, entered the gate with Esplandian leading her by the hand, followed by her brothers, and when they arrived at the King, she knelt and wished to kiss his hands, but he would not give them to her because he only did that as a sign of granting a great favor to a damsel.

She gave him the letter and told him:

“My lord, it is necessary for the Queen and all her damsels to hear it, and if by chance the damsels become angered when they hear what it says, they may wish to have a fine knight represent them, as my lady does, and by whose orders I come here.”

The King ordered King Arban of North Wales and his uncle, Count Argamon, to go to the Queen and bring with her all the princesses and damsels that were in her palace. This was done, and the Queen came with such a company of ladies, all of such beauty and fine apparel as would be hard do find in all the world, and she sat near the King, with the princesses and all the other women around her.

The damsel bearing the message kissed the Queen’s hands and told her:

“My lady, if what I seek seems strange, to not be surprised, since for such things God made your court excel over all others in the world, and the excellence of yourself and the King are the cause of this. Since only here can be found the remedy that in all other places is lacking, hear this letter and grant what is asked in it, and a beautiful lady shall come to this court with the valiant Greek Knight who protects her.”

The King ordered her to read it, and it said:

“To the noble and honorable Lisuarte, King of Great Britain: I, Grasinda, the most beautiful lady of all the damsels of Romania, send my greetings and would have ye know, my lord, why I have come to your land under the protection of the Greek Knight. The reason for it is that I was judged to be the most beautiful lady of all Romania, and to follow that glory which made my heart so delighted, I wish to be judged more beautiful than any of the many damsels in your court, because having defeated them first in one place and then in another, I shall have achieved the joy that I desire so much.

“And if there be a knight who wishes to contradict that on behalf of one of your damsels, he shall have to do two things: first, fight with the Greek Knight, and second, to place in the field of battle a fine crown, such as I bring, for the winner to take as a sign of having won that victory and give to she for whom he fought.

“And, most high King, if what I propose pleases you, order safe passage for all my company and the Greek Knight, who shall only fight those who wish to fight him. And if a knight fighting for the damsels is defeated, let there be a second fight, and a third, and he in his great skills shall hold the field against all.”

After the letter was read, the King said:

“May God save me, I believe that the lady is very beautiful and the knight esteems himself quite a bit at arms, but however that may be, they have embarked on a great fantasy that could have been avoided without harm to them. But people’s will comes in many ways, and people put their hearts in them and do not consider the fate that may result. And ye, damsel, may go, and I shall order the safe passage proclaimed as your lady asks, so she may come when she pleases. And if no one is found who contradicts her quest, her will shall be satisfied.”

“My lord,” she said, “your reply is as we had hoped, and she can come to your court without complaint. And since the Greek Knight is coming with two companions in search of jousts, they require the same safe conduct.”

“So be it,” the King said.

“In the name of God,” the damsel said, “then tomorrow ye shall see them in your court. And ye, my lady,” she said to the Queen, “order your damsels to be where they can see how their honor is increased or decreased by their protectors, as my lady shall do. And may ye be commended to God.”

Then she bid them farewell and they went to the ships, where they were received with great pleasure. She told them how her message had been delivered, and they immediately ordered their arms and horses be taken ashore, where they put up a fine tent and two smaller tents on the seashore, but that night only the majordomo and some servants came to the shore to protect them.

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Chapter 71

How King Lisuarte went hunting with the Queen and their daughters, accompanied by many knights, and visited the mountain that held the hermitage of the holy man Nasciano, where he found a very fine childe with a strange history, who was the son of Oriana and Amadis, and who was well-treated by the King without knowing who he was.

[A gargoyle of a lion and a boy on the Torres dels Serrans, the northern monumental gate in the medieval wall of the city of Valencia. The towers were built between 1392 and 1398, and are used each year to announce the beginning of the Fallas festival. Photo by Sue Burke.] 
 
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For his own relaxation and for the pleasure of his knights, King Lisuarte decided to go hunting in the forest and to take with him the Queen, their daughters, and all their ladies and damsels. He ordered tents to be put up at the Spring of the Seven Beech Trees, which was a very pleasant location. And know ye that this was the forest where the hermit Nasciano dwelled, and where he was raising Esplandian.

After the King and Queen had arrived with their company, the Queen remained at the tents and the King and his hunters entered the thickest part of the forest, and since the land was protected, they had a fine hunt. And it happened that when the King was there with his beaters and dogs, he saw a very tired buck and thought to kill it, and chased it on his horse until they had entered a valley.

And there something odd happened. He saw a childe, a noble boy, coming down the other side of the valley, perhaps five or six years old, the most handsome boy he had ever seen, who led a lioness on a leash. When the boy saw the buck, he let her loose and shouted for her to take it. The lioness ran as fast as she could, reached it, threw it on the ground, and began to drink its blood. Then the childe arrived happily, and then another boy a little older arrived who had been following him, and they came to the buck with great cheer, took out their knives, and began to cut off the part the lioness was eating.

The King was in some bushes, amazed by what he saw, but his horse was frightened by the lioness, so he could not go near them. The childe blew on a little horn he carried around his neck, and two hounds came running, one yellow and the other black, and they fed on the buck. When the Lioness had eaten, they put her on the leash, and the older boy went with her over hill, and the childe followed him.

But the King, who was now on foot and had tied his horse to a tree, went after them and called to the handsome childe, who carried more meat, to wait for him. The childe stood still, and the King came and saw him so handsome that he was astounded, and he said:

“Good childe, may God bless you and keep you. Tell me where ye were raised and whose son ye are.”

The childe answered:

“My lord, the holy man Nasciano, the hermit, raised me, and I have him for my father.”

The King spent a while wondering how a man so holy and so old could have a son so young and so handsome, and in the end he did not believe it. The childe wanted to go, but the King asked him were the house of the hermit was.

“Up there,” he said, “is the house where we dwell.” He showed him a small and not much used path, and told him, “Ye may go there, and God be with you, for I wish to follow the boy who is taking the lion to a spring where we keep our game.”

And he left. The King returned to his horse, mounted it, and went up the path, and he had not gone far before he saw the hermitage between some beech trees and thick brambles. When he arrived, he saw no one to talk to, dismounted, and tied his horse below a portico. He entered and saw a man on his knees praying in front of a book, dressed in the habit of a holy order, and his hair was all white. The King also prayed. The holy man, when he had finished reading from the book, came to the King, who knelt before him and asked for a blessing. The holy man gave it and asked what he sought.

The King said:

“My good friend, I found a very handsome childe hunting with a lion on this mountain, and he told me that he was being raised by you. Because he seemed so unusual to me in his looks and bearing, and to be hunting with a lion, I came to ask you to tell me about him, and I promise as King that no harm will come to you or him for it.”

When the holy man heard that, he looked at him harder and recognized him, for he had seen him before. He knelt to kiss his hands, but the King rose him up and embraced him, saying:

“My friend Nasciano, I have come with a deep desire to learn what I asked you, and do not hesitate to tell me.”

The holy man took him out of the hermitage to the portico where his horse was, sat on a bench, and told him:

“My lord, I well believe all that ye have told me, and how as King ye will protect this boy, as God wishes him kept. And since I am so pleased that ye wish to know, I tell you that I found and raised him in very strange circumstances.”

Then he told him how he had taken the boy from the mouth of the lioness wrapped in rich fabric, and how he had fed him with the milk of the lioness and a sheep until he found a nursemaid, who was his brother Sargil’s wife.

“And that is the name of the other boy that ye saw with him.” He added, “Truly, my lord, I believe the boy is high born, and I wish you to know that he has the strangest thing I have ever seen, and it is that when I baptized him, I found on the right side of his chest some white letters in obscure Latin that said ‘Esplandian’ and so I gave him that name, and on the left side over his heart are seven letters as burning red as a fine ruby, but I could not read them because they are not in Latin or our language.”

The King said:

“Ye have told me the most amazing things I have ever heard, Father, and I think that since the lioness brought him to you as young as ye said, she must have taken him from somewhere near here.”

“I do not know anything about that,” the hermit said, “and let us not worry about knowing more than what our Lord God is pleased to have us know.”

“I ask you to come tomorrow to eat here in the forest at the Spring of the Seven Beech Trees,” the King said, “and there ye shall find the Queen and her daughters, and many other members of our company. And bring Esplandian with the lioness as I found him, and the other boy, your nephew, whom I must treat well because of his father Sargil, who was a good knight and served my brother the King well.”

When the holy man Nasciano heard this, he said:

“I shall do as ye order, my lord, and may God in His mercy be pleased to have it be at His service.”

The King, mounted on his horse, returned by the path he had taken, and rode so fast that he arrived at the tents two hours after midday. There he found Sir Galaor and Norandel and Guilan the Pensive, who had just arrived with two large bucks they had killed. He relaxed with them and laughed a lot, but he told them nothing about what had happened to him. When he asked that tables be set up to eat, Sir Grumedan came and told him:

“My lord, the Queen has not eaten, and asked for you to please, before ye eat, speak with her, and it is important.”

He immediately rose and went to her, and the Queen showed him a letter sealed with a very beautiful emerald and golden cords, and around it some letters said: “This is the seal of Urganda the Unrecognized.” She said:

“Know, my lord, that when I was coming down the road, a richly dressed damsel was seen there on a palfrey, and with her was a dwarf on a beautiful roan horse. Those who rode ahead of me arrived where she was, but she did not wish to say who she was, not even to Oriana or the other princesses who rode with her. When I arrived, she came to me and said, ‘Queen, take this letter and read it with the King today before ye eat.’ She immediately left with the dwarf behind her, spurring their horses so much and so fast that there was no way to ask her anything.”

The King opened the letter and read it, and it said:

“To the most high and honorable King Lisuarte: I, Urganda the Unrecognized, who loves you dearly, advise you that it would be to your advantage when the handsome childe appears, who was fed by three different foster-mothers, to love him deeply and protect him, for he shall give you great pleasure and defeat the greatest danger that ye shall ever face. He is of high lineage, and know, King, that the milk of his first foster-mother shall make him so strong and brave of heart that he shall overshadow all the valiant men at arms of his time. And the milk of his second foster-mother shall make him gentle, discrete, humble, and of great good will, able to suffer more than any other man in the world. And the care of his third foster-mother shall make him intelligent, wise, very Catholic, and well spoken. And in all things, he shall strive and be more outstanding than all others, loved and respected by good men, and no knight shall be his equal. His great deeds at arms shall be put to the service of the Most High God, and he shall despise those knights who often do things more for vainglory in the world than for what their good conscience tells them. His name shall always be on his right side, and his lady on his left. And I tell thee further, good King, that this childe shall be the cause to put peace between thyself and Amadis and his lineage, peace that shall last all thy days, which shall be granted to none other.”

When the King finished reading the letter, he crossed himself to see such things foretold, and said:

“The wisdom of this woman is beyond speech or writing.” And he said to the Queen: “Know that today I found the childe who Urganda speaks of.”

And he told her how he saw the boy with the lioness and how he went to the hermitage and what he learned about him, and how the hermit would come to dine with them the next day and would bring that boy. The Queen was very happy to hear that this odd childe would come and that she would be able to speak with the holy man about some things on her conscience.

The King left, telling her to tell no one about it, and went to his tent to eat, where he found many knights waiting for him. There he spoke with them about their hunting and told them that the next day, no one was going to hunt because he wanted to read a letter to them that Urganda the Unrecognized had sent. He ordered the huntsmen to take all the dogs they had to a different valley, and to spend the next day with them there. He did this to avoid frightening the lioness.

As ye hear, they spent the day resting in that field, which was full of flowers and very fresh green grass. The next day they all came to the King’s tent, and there they heard Mass. Then he took them all to the Queen’s tent, which was set up next to a spring in a very fresh field as was fit for that time of the year, which was May, and the tent had its sides raised, so all the ladies and princesses and other damsels of high estate could be seen on their estrados. Knights of great fame came there to speak with them.

When everyone was there, the King ordered Urganda’s letter read to them, which ye have heard, and when they had heard it, they were amazed that such a blessed childe would be there. But Oriana, who had paid even more attention to the letter than the rest, sighed for her lost son, thinking that by chance it might be him.

The King told them:

“How does this letter seem to you?”

“Truly, my lord,” Sir Galaor said, “I do not doubt that it shall happen as she says, for many other things said by Urganda have proven so true. Perhaps many will be pleased by the arrival of this childe when God has held it good to bring him to us, but I rightly ought to be more pleased than all others, since he shall be the means to bring about what I desire most, which is to see my brother Amadis and all his lineage in your love and service, as it was before.”

The King said:

“All that is in the hands of God. He shall do His will, and with that we shall be content.”

And as they were speaking, they saw the hermit coming with his boys. Esplandian came first, and his foster-brother Sargil behind him bringing the lioness on a very light leash, and behind them came two archers, the ones that helped raise Esplandian on the mountain, and they brought a packhorse carrying the deer the King had seen them kill and on another horse, two roe deer, and hares and rabbits that they and Esplandian had killed with their bows. Esplandian brought two hounds on leashes, and behind them came the holy man Nasciano.

When the people at the tents saw them come, and the lioness so big and frightening, they rose up as one to place themselves before the King to protect him. But he lifted his scepter and had them remain in their places, saying:

“He who has the power to bring the lioness shall protect us from her.”

Sir Galaor said:

“That may be, but it seems to me that the hunter who brings her will provide little protection if she becomes angry, and it is an amazing thing to see.”

The boys and archers waited for the holy man to pass them, and when he had neared, the King said:

“My friends, know that this is the holy man Nasciano who lives on this mountain. Let us go to him and he will give us his blessing.”

Then they knelt before him, and the King told him:

“Beloved servant of God, bless us.”

He raised his hand and said:

“In His name receive it, from a sinful man.”

Then the King took him and went with him to the Queen, but when they saw the lioness they were very frightened, for it looked fiercely at each one of them and ran its scarlet tongue over its lips, showing strong sharp teeth. The Queen and her daughter and all the women received Nasciano well, and they were all very amazed by how handsome the childe was. He came before the Queen with the animals they had hunted and said:

“My lady, we bring you this game.”

The King came to him and said:

“Good childe, divide it as ye will.” He said this to see what he would do.

The child said:

“The game is yours, and ye may do as ye wish.”

“Still,” the King said, “I want you to divide it.”

The child felt embarrassed, and a color like a rose came to his face, and he said:

“My lord, take the buck for yourself and your companions.”

He went to the Queen, who was speaking with his foster-father Nasciano, knelt, kissed her hands, and gave her the roe deer. And he looked to his right and it seemed to him that after the Queen there was no one more worthy of being honored, by her appearance, than Oriana, his mother, although he did not know it was she. He came to her, knelt, and gave her the partridges and rabbits, and told her:

“My lady, we hunted no other game with our bows than this.”

Oriana told him:

“Handsome childe, may ye have Godspeed in all your hunting and everything ye do for Him.”

The King called him, and Galaor and Norandel, who were near him, took him and embraced him again and again, since his shared family roots naturally attracted them. Then the King ordered everyone to be quiet, and told the holy man:

“Father, friend of God, now before everyone tell what ye know about this childe, as ye told me.”

The holy man told them how, when he left his hermitage, he saw how the brave lioness brought that childe in her mouth wrapped in fine fabric to feed him to her cubs, and how by the grace of God she put him at his feet, and how she gave him her milk, as did a sheep he had who had just given birth, until he gave him to be raised by a foster-mother. And he told them all the things that had happened while he raised him, and left out nothing, as this book has told.

When Oriana, Mabilia, and the Damsel of Denmark heard this, they looked at each other, and they trembled with pleasure to know that he was truly that boy, son of Amadis and Oriana, whom the Damsel of Denmark had lost, as ye have heard. But when the hermit told how he had found the white and red letters on his chest, and showed them to everyone, they knew for certain that their suspicion was true, which put great joy in their spirits beyond recounting, especially in the beautiful Oriana when she fully recognized that boy as her son, whom she had thought she had lost.

The King very insistently asked the holy man Nasciano for the two noble boys to raise, and he, seeing how God had made them more for that life than the one he could give them, although he would feel very lonely, agreed, but with great pain in his heart because he deeply loved Esplandian.

When the King had them, he gave Esplandian to the Queen to serve her, and she quickly gave him to her daughter Oriana, which pleased her since she had given birth to him. And so as ye hear, this child came under the care of his mother, who had thought she had lost him, as ye have heard, borne away in great fear, and then taken from the mouth of the very fierce lioness and raised on her milk.

These are the wonders that powerful God, who protects us all, can do when it is His will. Other children of kings and great lords are raised amid rich silks and gentle and delicate surroundings, with great love from those who raise them in such comfort and care, forsaking sleep and rest for them; but with a small accident or minor illness, they are taken from this world. As God is just in all things, He wishes it to be thus, and it should be accepted as proper by fathers and mothers, giving thanks because He wished to do His will, which unlike our own can never err.

The Queen confessed with the holy man, and Oriana as well, by which he learned all the secrets of her and Amadis, and how that boy was their son and by what means he was lost, which until then she had not spoken of to anyone in the world except those who already knew about it, and she asked him to keep the boy in his prayers. The holy man was very amazed by such love in a person of such high standing, who much more than any other woman ought to be a good example for others, and he reprehended her, saying that she should cease to err, for if not, she would not be absolved and her soul would be put in danger.

But she told, weeping, how when Amadis had rescued her from Arcalaus the Sorcerer, when she first knew him, he gave her his word that he could and would be her husband. When the hermit heard this, he was very happy, and this was the reason that many people were saved from the cruel deaths that awaited them, as the fourth book shall say farther on. Then he absolved her, gave her the appropriate penance, and went to the King.

He took Esplandian with him, embraced him, weeping, and told him:

“Child of God, who was given to me by Him to raise, may He keep you and protect you and make you a good man in His holy service.”

He kissed him, blessed him, and gave him to the King. He bid farewell to the King and Queen and everyone else, and with the lioness and the huntsmen, he returned to his hermitage, and the story shall make great mention of him farther on. The King and his company returned to the town.

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