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
"There's no one who doesn't know how you hurt your leg, but
because of their situation they don't want to offend you or make
you angry, and because of the war they hide their feelings and
pretend not to know anything. If they were certain there would
be peace, Carmesina would be the first to throw you into
everlasting and bitter grief. Are you so blind that you can't
see the dishonest things that are plotted and carried out in this
palace? It all seems so vile and abominable to me that I won't
agree to any of it. That's why they don't like me. I know for a
fact that you're not highly regarded the way you should be. Tell
me, wouldn't it be better for you to love a woman who was expert
in the art of loving, and very honest, even if she weren't a
virgin? She would follow you across the sea and over land, in
war and in peace. She would serve you in your tents both night
and day, and would never think of anything but how to please
you."
"Tell me, my lady," said Tirant, "who is the woman who would
perform such remarkable services for me?"
"Oh, wretched me!" said the Widow. "Why are you trying to make
me suffer more than I already do? Haven't I said enough? Don't
pretend that you don't understand what's so clear. I've tried to
find a time when we wouldn't be interrupted by anyone to reveal
my pain to you. It seems to me that I've made my intention known
to you very clearly, and the knight who is so graciously offered
such a gift can feel very fortunate."
Tirant did not hesitate to reply:
"To satisfy you, I'll answer your kind words. It makes me angry
that I can't do what you are asking because your words are filled
with so much love. But my free will is captive, and even if I
wanted to, my five senses would not allow it."
"Everything I've told you was only to test your patience, and to
show you, Lord Tirant, how much I want to serve you. I think you
should be aware of all the things you don't know. I don't want
you to be deceived by the princess's actions: she no longer has
any honor, and she has none of her father's or her mother's honor
either. She could have satisfied her appetites honestly with a
valiant and virtuous knight like you, or with many others who are
in love with her, but the sky, the earth, the sea and the sands
abominate the sin she has committed (and still commits daily).
Only Our Lord would permit such an abominable crime of adultery
without punishing her! If you knew what I know you would spit in
her face.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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