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
When they saw Tirant come in they all stood up and welcomed him;
then they made him sit with them, and they talked of many things.
Then the empress came out, and she took Tirant aside and asked
him about his illness. Tirant told her that he was much better
now. It was not long before the princess came out.
Tirant took the empress's arm because, as captain, he held
precedence over the others. There were many counts and marquis
there, men of high position, and they went to the princess to
take her arm, and she said:
"I want no one at my side except my brother Diafebus."
They all left her, and he took her arm. But God knows that
Tirant would much rather have been near the princess than near
the empress. As they went to the church, Diafebus told the
princess:
"Look, Your Highness, how spirits attract."
The infanta said:
"Why do you say that?"
"My lady," said Diafebus, "because Your Excellency has on a
sequined dress, embroidered with large pearls, and the
sentimental heart of Tirant brings what it needs. Oh, how
fortunate I would feel if I could place that cloak over this
dress!"
As they were very near the empress, he pulled Tirant's cloak.
When he felt his cloak being tugged, he stopped, and Diafebus
placed the cloak over the princess's dress, and said:
'My lady, now the stone is in its place."
"Oh, wretched me!" said the princess. "Have you gone mad, or
have you lost your senses?" Are you so shameless that you say
these things in front of so many people?"
"No, my lady," said Diafebus. "No one hears or notices or sees
anything, and I could say the Pater Noster backward and no one
would understand me."
"You must," said the princess, "have learned about honor in
school, where they read that famous poet, Ovid, who speaks of
true love in all his books. If you knew what tree the fruits of
love and honor are plucked from, and if you knew the customs of
this land, you would be a very fortunate man."
As she was saying this they reached the church. The empress went
behind the curtain, but the princess did not want to go in,
saying that it was very hot. The truth was that she did not go
in so that she could observe Tirant at her pleasure. He went
near the altar where there were many dukes and counts, and they
all gave him the honor of being first because of his station. He
said mass on his knees, and when the princess saw him kneeling on
the ground, she took one of the brocade pillows that had been
placed there for her, and gave it to one of the maidens to give
to Tirant. The emperor saw his daughter performing that
courteous act, and he was very pleased. When Tirant saw the
pillow that the maiden was giving him to kneel on, he stood up
and then, with his cap in his hand, he bowed deeply on one knee
to the princess.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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