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
The foot soldiers threw away their shields, others their lances,
and others their crossbows, to run after their Christian enemies.
The men on horseback threw off the coverings so that their horses
could run more swiftly. From time to time Tirant turned and saw
all the men coming, wave after wave, in confusion, and so he was
unconcerned about anything except for his troops to continue
moving in a very orderly way. And the Moors with good horses
came close enough to throw their lances at their backs.
When the emperor, who was up in the tower, saw his men fleeing,
he believed that the battle was lost. All that night the maidens
did not take off their clothes, and prayed earnestly, begging the
Conqueror of Battles and His Holy Mother to give the Christians
victory.
When Tirant saw the foot soldiers falling far behind, and that
they had passed the place where Diafebus was, Tirant raised the
banner he was carrying and they all stopped. Then each squadron
drew a stone's throw apart from the one next to it. When the
Turks saw them stop, they realized they had been tricked. Tirant
ordered the Duke of Pera to attack first, and he charged into the
enemy. When Tirant saw the enemy coming with reinforcements, he
had the Marquis of Saint George lead an attack, then the Duke of
Sinopoli. And so many men were killed that it was an astonishing
sight to see.
Tirant saw that half his men had been involved in the attacks,
and they were still winning. Then, in the melee, he saw the King
of Cappadocia killing many Christians (He recognized him by his
coat of arms: a gold lion with a banner), and he took a lance and
spurred toward him. When the king saw him coming he did not turn
his back, but waited for him in anticipation. And when they met,
it was with such force that both they and their horses fell to
the ground. They both got up bravely, and slashed at each other
with their swords. But so many men were fighting aground them
that they could not fight well. Then the Turks helped their king
mount again. Pyramus went in front of the king so Tirant could
mount, and the others surrounded him, defending him until the
squadron of Count Plegamans could attack. This squadron came to
where the captain was, and they helped him mount behind Lord
Agramunt who took him out of the thick of battle. Since many
horses had lost their riders and were running loose, they caught
one and gave it to their captain, and he quickly went back into
the fray.
The captain commanded all the squadrons to attack, some on the
right and some on the left. Then they saw helmets falling to the
ground, and many knights from both sides were being killed or
wounded. It was a startling sight to see. Tirant attacked too,
first in one place, then in another. And he did not fight in
only one place, but in many, helping wherever he was needed.
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