The White Knight: Tirant Lo BlancMartorell, Joanot
General
The White Knight: Tirant Lo Blanc
Martorell, Joanot
Adventure and adventurers -- Fiction; Adventure stories; Knights and knighthood -- Fiction
He raised his encampment that was on the side of the kings and
had all the tents and carts placed inside the two castles with
all the pages. And Tirant held his men back until nightfall.
And before the sun had passed the columns of Hercules, Tirant
crossed the bridge to the side where he had first been, and he
had the foot soldiers climb a hill that was in line with the head
of the bridge. When the foot soldiers were up, he had the men
with weapons also go up, one squadron behind the other. The
sultan, who was on that side, seeing that almost all the men had
gone up the side of the hill to give battle, and that there were
only four squadrons remaining, went swiftly toward them and
attacked them, making them flee up the hill, and sixty Christians
were killed. Tirant retreated, battling all the time, and night
fell. The Turks came down to the foot of the hill and set up
their tents.
When Tirant went up the hill, he found all the knights and nobles
absolutely disconsolate. They were running here and there,
crying and moaning, with sad, woeful countenances. When Tirant
saw them acting that way, he called them all together and said:
"I only want to tell you that if you will put your effort into
this, with the aid of Our Lord and His Holy Mother, Our Lady, I
will make you victorious over your enemies within three hours."
Nearly all were consoled by the captain's words, except for the
Duke of Macedonia who, before the battles were finished, sent a
squire of his with instructions about what he should tell the
emperor. When he reached the city, he dismounted and left his
horse, indicating that he had fled the battle-site and that he
had tears in his eyes. When he was in the palace, he found many
people there, and he said:
"Where is that poor man they call the emperor?"
When he was informed that Albi, the Duke of Macedonia's squire,
had arrived, the emperor quickly came out of his chambers. When
Albi saw the emperor he fell to the ground, pulling his hair and
lowering his eyes and face, and he said mournfully:
"It has been your will to degrade your captains and vassals, and
to honor foreigners of ill repute, men who are known for no
deeds, and who wear shoddy tunics. Oh, Emperor! You are lost
and so are all your people, for it has been your wish to take
away the succession of the empire from that famous and
illustrious nobleman, the Duke of Macedonia, to give it to a vile
foreigner who has led himself and all the men in the camp to
their destruction, and has run away, and we don't know where he
is. This is what the person who was the emperor deserved! For
the Moors have them trapped on a small hill, and they have no
bread or wine, or even water for the horses. By now they must
all be dead. I am going to leave with my great pain, and you,
who were the emperor, must remain with your own."
"Oh, woe is me!" cried the emperor. And he went into his
chambers and fell upon his bed, lamenting.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account