The Tales of the Heptameron, Vol. 1 (of 5)Marguerite, Queen, consort of Henry II, King of Navarre
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The Tales of the Heptameron, Vol. 1 (of 5)
Marguerite, Queen, consort of Henry II, King of Navarre
Love stories, French -- Translations into English; Tales -- France -- Translations into English
She was not, indeed, so superstitious as to think that the glorious
Virgin would leave her seat at her Son’s right hand to come and dwell
in a desolate country, but she was desirous to see the hallowed spot
of which she had so often heard, and further she was sure that if there
were a means of escaping from a danger, the monks would certainly find
it out. At last she arrived, after passing through places so strange,
and so difficult in the going up and coming down, that, in spite of her
years and weight, she had perforce gone most of the way on foot But the
most piteous thing was, that the greater part of her servants and horses
were left dead on the way, and she had but one man and one woman with
her on arriving at Serrance, where she was charitably received by the
monks.
There were also among the French two gentlemen who had gone to the baths
rather that they might be in the company of the ladies whose lovers
they were, than because of any failure in their health. These gentlemen,
seeing that the company was departing and that the husbands of their
ladies were taking them away, resolved to follow them at a distance
without making their design known to any one. But one evening, while the
two married gentlemen and their wives were in the house of one who was
more of a robber than a peasant, the two lovers, who were lodged in a
farmhouse hard by, heard about midnight a great uproar. They got up,
together with their serving-men, and inquired what this tumult meant.
The poor man, in great fear, told them that it was caused by certain
evil-doers who were come to share the spoil which was in the house of
their fellow-bandit. Thereupon the gentlemen immediately took their
arms, and with their serving-men set forth to succour the ladies,
esteeming it a happier thing to die for them than to outlive them.
When they reached the house, they found the first door broken through,
and the two gentlemen with their servants defending themselves
valiantly. But inasmuch as they were outnumbered by the robbers, and
were also sorely wounded, they were beginning to fall back, having
already lost many of their servants. The two gentlemen, looking in at
the windows, perceived the ladies shrieking and sobbing so bitterly
that their hearts swelled with pity and love at the sight; and, like two
enraged bears coming down from the mountains, they fell upon the bandits
with such fury that many of them were slain, while the remainder,
unwilling to await their onset, fled to a hiding-place which was known
to them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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