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, speaking by your leave I will tell Your Highness and
the empress my idea. I see that the people in this notable city
are very sad and troubled for two reasons. The first is because
of the loss of the prince, your son. Your Majesty should not be
troubled, for he died in the service of God, upholding the holy
Catholic faith. Instead you should praise and give thanks to the
immense goodness of God, our Lord, because He gave him to you and
it was His wish to take him from you for His own good, and He has
placed him in the glory of paradise. The second reason they are
sad is because all the Moors are so nearby that they are afraid
of losing their possessions and their lives, and as a lesser evil
that they will become captives of the infidel. That is why Your
Highness and the empress must show smiling faces to everyone who
sees you: to console them in their grief so that they will gather
courage to fight against the enemy."
"The captain's advice is good," said the emperor. "It is my wish
and my command that men as well as women shed their mourning
immediately."
While the emperor was talking, Tirant's ears were attentive to
what he was saying, but his eyes were contemplating the great
beauty of Carmesina. As the windows had been closed it was very
warm, so her blouse was partly open, exposing her breasts like
two apples from the garden of Eden.
They were like crystal and allowed Tirant's eyes to gain
entrance, and they remained prisoners of this free person
forever, until death separated them. The emperor took his
daughter Carmesina by the hand and led her from the room. The
captain took the empress's arm, and they went into the other room
which was very nicely decorated and completely covered with works
of art depicting the following love-stories: Floris and
Blanchfleur, Thisbe and Pyramus, Aeneas and Dido, Tristram and
Isolde, Queen Guinevere and Lancelot, and many more whose loves
were displayed in very subtle and artistic paintings. And Tirant
said to Ricart:
"I never thought there could be as many wondrous things on this
earth as I am seeing."
By this he meant, more than anything, the great beauty of the
princess. But Ricart did not understand him.
Tirant took his leave of the others and went to his chambers. He
entered a bedroom and put his head on a pillow at one end of the
bed. It was not long before someone came to ask him if he wished
to dine. Tirant said he did not, and that he had a headache. He
was wounded by that passion that traps many. Diafebus, seeing
that he was not coming out, went into the room and said:
"Captain, please, tell me what's the matter. I'll be glad to
help you if I can."
"My cousin," said Tirant, "the only thing wrong is that the sea
air has left me with ardor."
"Oh, captain! Are you going to keep things hidden from me? I
have been the archive of all your good and bad fortune, and now
are you keeping secrets from me? Tell me, I beg you. Don't hide
anything from me."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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