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
And he started out, so all the others felt they had to follow
him. When they reached the deserted village, the Turks on top of
the wall defended it bravely. There was a ditch there, and they
had to dismount and fight with lances, because they had no other
arms. While they were doing this, the forces of the sultan and
the Turk came out, some through one gate and some through
another, and they caught them in the middle. There was a great
slaughter, and they captured many of them. I can say about this
sad adventure that everyone who dismounted was killed or taken
prisoner, and only one knight was able to escape. With this
victory the Turks returned to the city of Bellpuig and put their
captives in strong prisons.
This news reached the emperor while he was in the hall waiting
for the ladies to come so they could go to the square for the
celebrations.
The emperor, in the presence of all who were there, cried:
"Oh, disconsolate widows, lament, tear out your hair, scratch
your faces, dress in mourning! For the flower of chivalry has
died, and it will never be recovered."
The crying, the wailing, was so great in the palace that it soon
spread throughout the city. And the festivities turned into
mourning and lamentations.
Then the emperor sent for Tirant to give him the sad news and
show him the letters he had received. When the chamberlain came
to Tirant's door, he heard him crying out:
"Oh, poor me! Oh, cruel fortune! Why have you done these things
to me? To think that that excellent lady would give herself to a
black Moor, the enemy of our faith. Would that I had never seen
such a thing--the woman I loved most in the world and hoped to
serve. Oh, you wicked Widow! I wish I had never known you, for
you will be the cause of my death and destruction!"
The emperor's chamberlain heard him talking and crying, but he
could not make out the words because the door was closed. But to
do the emperor's bidding, he called out:
"Oh, captain! The emperor is calling you and wishes to see you."
When the chamberlain returned to the emperor, he said:
"Sire, your captain already knows about the terrible things that
have happened. I heard him grieving piteously!"
The captain came to the chamber and saw the princess lying on the
ground with the doctors gathered around her. When he saw her
like this, he could not help but exclaim, "Why are you allowing
this lady to die without helping her? Even though her guilt
cannot be excused, I still pray God that she will live longer
than I."
The doctors didn't understand him, and thought he was bewailing
the bad news. And Tirant thought everyone was crying because of
the princess. Then he turned and saw the empress who had torn
all the veils from her head. At another side he saw the emperor
sitting on the floor, still as a statue. He had the letters in
his hand, and motioned Tirant over and gave them to him. When
Tirant read them, he said:
"It's worse than I thought."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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