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
"My Lord, tell the ambassadors to go and pay reverence to the
king before they speak with you."
Philippe told them, and the ambassadors replied that they had
been instructed by their lord, the King of France, his father, to
go to the king and give him the letters they were bringing after
they had paid obeisance to him. And Philippe again told them
that above all they should go to the king before speaking with
him.
"Since Philippe wishes it," said the ambassadors, "we will do as
he commands."
When the king reached the palace with all the people, the
ambassadors from the King of France went to pay him reverence,
and they gave him the letters. The king received them very
warmly, and paid them great honor. Then they went to Philippe
and honored him, as was their duty, because he was the son of
their own ruler. Philippe regaled them, and there was great
rejoicing.
After the celebration for the king's arrival was over, the
ambassadors explained their mission, which had three parts.
First, that the King of France was very pleased to have his son
Philippe marry the infanta Ricomana, as Tirant had arranged.
Second, that if the King of Sicily had a son, he would give a
daughter of his to him as his wife, together with one hundred
thousand crowns as a dowry. Third, that he had asked the pope,
the emperor, and all the princes of Christianity to send him aid,
because he had decided to march against the infidel, and all
those to whom he had sent word had offered to help him. And on
behalf of their lord, the King of France, they were asking him
to give assistance, and if his lordship decided to send an armada
he should make Philippe captain and send him too.
The king's reply was that as far as the marriage was concerned he
was very pleased, but as to the rest he would hold counsel.
When the infanta learned that her father had consented to her
marriage with Philippe, she said to herself:
"If I can find some defect in Philippe that shows that he's
gauche or avaricious, he will never be my husband. From now on I
intend to devote every moment to discovering the truth."
And while the infanta was deep in thought, a maiden in whom she
had complete confidence came into her chambers, and said to her:
"Tell me, my lady, what is Your Highness thinking about that
makes you look so disturbed?"
The infanta answered her:
"I'll tell you. My father, the king, has given his consent to
the ambassadors from France for the wedding, and I have a deep
suspicion that Philippe is gauche, and that he may even be
avaricious. And if he is, in the slightest, I wouldn't be able
to stay in the same bed with him for an hour; instead I would
become a nun or go into a convent. I've done everything I could
to get to know him, but because of that traitor, Tirant, fortune
hasn't been with me. Yes; I Pray God that I'll see him boiled
and fried because that day when the bread was cut I would really
have known Philippe if it hadn't been for him."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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