The boy's Froissart : $b being Sir John Froissart's Chronicles of adventures, battle, and custom in England, France, Spain, etc.Froissart, Jean
History
The boy's Froissart : $b being Sir John Froissart's Chronicles of adventures, battle, and custom in England, France, Spain, etc.
Froissart, Jean
France -- History -- House of Valois, 1328-1589; Great Britain -- History -- 14th century; Hundred Years' War, 1339-1453
It happened that during the residence of the young king Charles at
Senlis, as he was sleeping in his bed a vision appeared to him. He
thought he was in the city of Arras, where until then he had never been,
attended by all the flower of knighthood of his kingdom; that the Earl
of Flanders came there to him, and placed on his wrist a most beautiful
and elegant pilgrim-falcon, saying, “My lord, in God’s name I give this
falcon to you for the best that was ever seen, the most indefatigable
hunter, and the most excellent striker of birds.” The king was much
pleased with the present, and said, “Fair cousin, I give you my thanks.”
He then thought he turned to the Constable of France, who was near him,
and said, “Sir Oliver, let you and I go to the plains, and try this
elegant falcon which my cousin of Flanders has given me;” when the
constable answered, “Well, let us go.” Then each mounted their horses,
and went into the fields, taking the falcon with them, where they found
plenty of herons to fly him at. The king said, “Constable, cast off the
falcon, and we shall see how he will hunt.” The constable let him fly,
and the falcon mounted so high in the air they could scarcely see him:
he took the direction toward Flanders. “Let us ride after my bird,” said
the king to the constable; “for I will not lose him.” The constable
assented; and they rode on, as it appeared to the king, through a large
marsh, when they came to a wood, on which the king cried out,
“Dismount, dismount! we cannot pass this wood on horseback.” They then
dismounted, when some servants came and took their horses. The king and
the constable entered the wood with much difficulty, and walked on until
they came to an extensive heath, where they saw a falcon chasing herons,
and striking them down; but they resisted, and there was a battle
between them. It seemed to the king that his falcon performed gallantly,
and drove the birds before him so far that he lost sight of him. This
much vexed the king, as well as the impossibility of following him; and
he said to the constable, “I shall lose my falcon, which I shall very
much regret; for I have neither lure nor any thing else to call him
back.” While the king was in this anxiety he thought a beautiful hart,
with two wings, appeared to issue out of the wood, and come to this
heath, and bend himself down before the king, who said to the constable
as he regarded this wonder with delight, “Constable, do you remain here;
and I will mount this hart that offers himself to me, and follow my
bird.” The constable agreed to it; and the young king joyfully mounted
the hart, and went seeking the falcon. The hart, like one well tutored
to obey the king’s pleasure, carried him over the tops of the highest
trees, when he saw his falcon striking down such numbers of birds that
he marvelled how he could do it. It seemed to the king that, when the
falcon had sufficiently flown and struck down enough of the herons, he
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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