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
"My lord, there is only one element we lack, but I know that the
countess has it. When her husband, William of Warwick, was
alive, he had a great deal of it since it can be used for many
things."
The king said: "Then I want both of us to go to the countess now
to get it."
The king sent word to the countess that he wanted to speak with
her. When the countess came out of her room she saw the king and
the hermit.
"Countess," said the king, "by your grace and virtue, be so kind
as to give me a little sulfur, the kind which causes heat and
does not burn itself up, the kind that the count, your husband,
put into the torches so that no matter how much the wind blew
they would not go out."
The countess answered: "Who told your grace that my husband,
William of Warwick, could make torches like that with that kind
of flame?"
"Countess," said the king, "this hermit standing here."
And the countess quickly went to the weapons chamber, and she
brought back so much of it that the king was highly pleased.
When the king had returned to the great hall where the meal was
already prepared, he took the hermit by the hand and sat down at
the table, making the hermit sit at his side, honoring him as he
deserved. The king's courtiers were astonished at the great
honor the king was bestowing upon the hermit, and the countess
was even more astonished because she was accustomed to giving him
alms. And she said to her ladies:
"Oh, how angry I am at my great ignorance! Why did I not honor
this poor hermit much more? Now I see that he must be a man who
has led a very holy life."
Rising from the table, the King of England gave the hermit
permission to go and make the explosives. A few days later, when
they were finished, the hermit went to the king and said to him:
"Sire, if your grace will give me leave, I will carry out our
plan.
Your Excellency should have all the men get ready."'
The king said that he would. In the dark of night the hermit
changed into the Moorish clothing that was prepared for him. He
went out through a back door of the castle very secretly, and no
one saw him. Then he went into the Moors' camp.
When he thought the time right, he threw the explosives into the
camp, near the tent of a great captain who was a relative of the
Moorish king. And when it was almost midnight the fire broke
out, and it grew so great and so terrible that everyone was
astonished at the enormous flames. The king and the other Moors,
unarmed, hurried to where the fire was greatest in order to put
it out. But instead of being extinguished, the more water they
threw on it, the more brightly it burned.
When the King of England saw the huge fire, he went out of the
city, armed, and with the few men he still had he attacked the
Moors. And they brought such great destruction to them that it
was fearful, and they spared no one.
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account