E-text prepared by Bethanne M. Simms, Diane Monico, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) Everyman's Library Edited by Ernest Rhys Romance AUCASSIN & NICOLETTE And Other Mediæval Romances and Legends. With an Introduction by EUGENE MASON * * * * * THE PUBLISHERS OF _EVERYMAN'S LIBRARY_ WILL BE PLEASED TO SEND FREELY TO ALL APPLICANTS A LIST OF THE PUBLISHED AND PROJECTED VOLUMES TO BE COMPRISED UNDER THE FOLLOWING THIRTEEN HEADINGS: TRAVEL · SCIENCE · FICTION THEOLOGY & PHILOSOPHY HISTORY · CLASSICAL FOR YOUNG PEOPLE ESSAYS · ORATORY POETRY & DRAMA BIOGRAPHY REFERENCE ROMANCE [Illustration] IN FOUR STYLES OF BINDING: CLOTH, FLAT BACK, COLOURED TOP; LEATHER, ROUND CORNERS, GILT TOP; LIBRARY BINDING IN CLOTH, & QUARTER PIGSKIN LONDON: J. M. DENT & SONS, LTD. NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & CO. * * * * * [Illustration: A ROMANCE, AND IT ME TOOK TO READ & DRIVE THE NIGHT AWAY CHAUCER] AUCASSIN & NICOLETTE and other Mediaeval Romances and Legends translated from the French by EUGENE MASON London & Toronto Published By J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd & in New York by E. P. Dutton & Co First Issue Of This Edition 1910 Reprinted 1912, 1915 INTRODUCTION The little tales brought together in this volume are drawn from the literature of the Middle Ages, and in many cases were written in France of the thirteenth century. I hope that they may be found interesting in themselves, but to appreciate them fully they should be considered in their relations to a definite historical background. Their conceptions of society, of religion, of politics, of humour--that precious gift which always dies so young--are not common to all of us to-day. They are of the thirteenth century, and we of the twentieth. We may not be better than our forefathers, but a great chasm of seven hundred years yawns between us and them. To enjoy their work without reserve it is necessary for a time to breathe the same air that was breathed--roughly speaking--by the subjects of St. Louis of France.