The White Knight: Tirant Lo BlancMartorell, Joanot
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The White Knight: Tirant Lo Blanc
Martorell, Joanot
Adventure and adventurers -- Fiction; Adventure stories; Knights and knighthood -- Fiction
When they were at the square in front of the palace, the emperor
was at a window. Diafebus bowed deeply to him, and quickly went
up to his chambers to kiss his hand, and then did the same to the
empress and the princess. After he had embraced all the ladies,
he turned back to the emperor and gave him the good wishes Tirant
had sent. When the emperor had spoken at length with Diafebus,
he had the prisoners placed in the strongest towers they had.
When Diafebus had the opportunity, he went to the princess's
chamber and found her with all the maidens. When the princess
saw him, she got up to go to him. Diafebus hurried toward her,
and knelt and kissed her hand, saying:
"This kiss is from someone whom Your Highness has condemned to a
stronger prison than the one that the prisoners I have brought
are in."
As the maidens approached, he could say nothing further for fear
that they might hear him. But she took him by the hand and they
went to a window- seat. Then the princess summoned Stephanie,
and Diafebus said:
"Your Highness should not forget such a noble knight, and the
lack of liberty he has had since the moment he saw you."
Smiling, the princess answered:
"Oh Diafebus, my brother! I receive your words as the vassal of
your lord, and I return his wishes just as strongly, and even
more so."
As they were speaking, the emperor came in and saw Diafebus
deeply involved in conversation with his daughter, and he said:
"Upon my father's bones, what a wonderful sight to see how these
maidens like to hear of the exploits of these good knights."
And he told his daughter to leave the room and go out to the main
plaza in the market-place. Diafebus went with the emperor; then
he came back to escort the empress and the princess. When they
were in the market-place they saw a large cenotaph that the
emperor had made, entirely covered with cloth of gold and silk.
When all the ladies had been seated, the emperor commanded that
all the prisoners be brought out, and they were ordered to sit on
the ground, Moors as well as Christians.
Then the people were silenced, and the following proclamation was
read:
"We, Frederick, by divine grace Emperor of the Greek Empire of
Constantinople. So that it may be known and made manifest to the
whole world how these wicked knights and unfaithful Christians
have accepted payment from the infidel, and taking up arms have
united with them in waging war against Christianity. They are
deserving of great punishment, and of being removed from the
order of chivalry and disinherited by the nobility from which
they are descended. So that it may be a punishment for them and
an example for all others, we pronounce them traitors to all
Christians here present. And we sentence them to be dealt with
as all such traitors against God and the world."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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