Arthurian Romances (20 page)

When they set out there was great racket and clamour in all the streets, for the high folk and the low were all saying: ‘Alas! knight, you have been betrayed by the very Joy you plan to achieve, when in fact you are going to your death and sorrow.' There was not one who did not say: ‘God curse this Joy, since so many good men have perished from it! This day without doubt it will bring greater sorrow than ever before.' Erec heard and listened attentively to what nearly all the people were saying: ‘Woe to you, fair, noble and upright knight! Surely it would not be right for your life to end so soon, for any misfortune to befall you, to wound or dishonour you.' He clearly heard the words and the talk, yet on he went. He held his head high and had nothing of the look of a coward. Regardless of what was said about it, he was impatient to see, learn, and know what it was that caused them such anguish, fright, and sorrow.

The king led him out of the town and into a nearby garden, and all the people followed, praying that God might let him emerge with joy from this urgent need. But it is not proper to pass on, though the tongue may be worn and weary, without telling you the truth about the garden according to the story.

Around the garden the only wall or palisade was one of air; yet by black magic the garden was enclosed on all sides with air as though it were ringed with iron, so that nothing could enter except at one single place. And there were flowers and ripe fruit all summer and all winter, and the fruit had the peculiar property that although it could be eaten therein, it could not be carried out: anyone who tried to take some away could never discover how to get out again, for he could not discover the exit until he put the fruit back in its place. And there is under heaven no bird, however pleasing its
song and its ability to gladden and delight a man, that could not be heard therein, and there were several of each sort. And the earth, however great its extent, bears no spice or medicinal plant of use in any remedy that was not planted therein, and there were plenty of them.

Through the narrow entry-way the crowd of people entered, first the king and then all the others. Erec rode along through the garden, his lance fewtered, delighting in the singing of the birds therein, emblematic of that Joy to which he most aspired. But he saw an astonishing thing that could frighten the boldest warrior of all those we know, be it Thibaut the Slav, or Ospinel, or Fernagu:
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in front of them on sharpened stakes there were bright and shining helmets, and beneath each circlet he saw a skull appear; but at the end of the row of stakes he saw one where there was nothing yet, apart from a horn. He did not know what this meant, but he was not at all worried and instead asked the king, who was beside him on his right, what this might be.

In reply the king recounted to him: ‘Friend, do you understand the meaning of this thing you see here? You should greatly fear it if you value your well-being: for this one stake set apart, where you see that horn hanging, has for a long time been waiting for a knight – we don't know whether it waits for you or another. Take care that your head is not placed there, for the stake stands for that purpose. I warned you fully of this before you came here. I do not believe you will ever leave here, other than dead and dismembered. Now you know this much: the stake awaits your head, and if it comes to be put there, as has been promised since the stake was put in place, another stake will be planted after this one, which will wait until someone else comes along. Of the horn I shall tell you only that no one has ever been able to sound it. Anyone who is able to sound it will establish his renown and his honour above all those of my land, and he will have achieved a deed of such repute that all will come to honour him and will consider him the best among them. Now there is no more to say of this matter; have your people withdraw, for the Joy will soon come and I think will make you suffer.'

Then King Evrain left him. Erec leaned towards Enide, who was greatly sorrowful at his side. And yet she kept silent, for sorrow to which one gives voice is worth nothing if it does not touch the heart. And he, well aware of her feelings, said to her: ‘Fair sweet love, noble lady, loyal and wise, I am well aware of what is in your heart; you are sorely afraid, I see it clearly, but you do not yet know why. Still, until you see my shield in pieces and myself wounded, or until you see the links of my white hauberk covered
with my blood, and my helmet smashed and broken, and me tired and defeated, no longer able to defend myself but obliged instead to wait and beg for mercy against my wishes, until then, you are distressing yourself for nothing. Then you can continue your mourning, which you have begun too soon. Sweet lady, you do not yet know what will occur, nor do I; you are upset for no reason. I assure you that if the only bravery in me was that inspired by your love, yet I would not fear to do battle, hand to hand, with any man alive. I act foolishly, boasting like this, yet I do not say this out of pride, but only because I wish to comfort you. Console yourself! Let it be! I cannot stop here any longer, nor can you go on with me, for by the king's command I must take you no further.'

Then he kissed her and commended her to God, and she in turn commended him, but it greatly troubled her not to follow and accompany him to the point where she might know and see what sort of adventure it would be and how he would fare. But she had to stay behind, sad and sorrowful, for she could follow him no further. And he went on along the path, alone without any company, until in the shade of a sycamore he found a silver bed covered by a sheet embroidered with gold, and on the bed a maiden. Her body was gracious and her face fair; endowed with every kind of beauty, she was seated all alone. I do not wish to describe her further, but anyone who had the opportunity to examine both her adornments and her beauty could say in truth that Lavinia of Laurenturn,
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who was so very beautiful and noble, never had a quarter of her beauty. Wanting to see her more closely, Erec approached and went to sit beside her.

At that moment a knight came along beneath the trees through the garden. Dressed in vermilion armour, he was astonishingly tall; had he not been excessively tall there would have been under heaven none fairer but he was taller by a foot, according to everyone's testimony, than any knight ever known. Before Erec had seen him, he shouted out: ‘Vassal! Vassal! You are mad, upon my soul, to go towards my damsel. By my word, you are not so worthy that you should approach her. This very day you will pay most dearly for your folly, by my head. Stand back!'

And he stopped and looked at him, but Erec stood firm. Neither moved towards the other until Erec had replied and had his say. ‘Friend,' he said, ‘one can speak folly as easily as wisdom. Threaten all you like, but I shall just keep silent, for there is no wisdom in threats. Do you know why? A man may think he has won the game and then lose it – therefore anyone who is overconfident and threatens too much is clearly a fool. For every one who flees there are many more who chase, but I do not fear you
enough to flee. No, I'm waiting, ready to defend myself if anyone wants to do battle with me, until I am forced to do so and cannot otherwise escape.'

‘No,' he said, ‘God save me! Be assured you'll get a fight, for I challenge and defy you.'

Now you can be certain that reins were held in check no more. They did not have slender lances, but they were thick, well-planed, and well-seasoned, which made them stronger and more rigid. They struck one another with the heads of their lances with such force upon their shields that each one went six feet through the other's shining shield, but neither touched the other's flesh, and neither lance was broken. Each of them withdrew his lance as quickly as he could, and they came at each other again and returned to proper jousting. They jousted one against the other and struck with such violence that both lances shattered and the horses fell beneath them. Though still seated in their saddles, they were uninhibited in their determination; quickly they got to their feet, for they were bold and nimble.

On foot in the orchard they came at each other straight away with their good blades of Vienne steel,
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and they struck mighty and damaging blows on the bright and shining shields, so that they broke them all apart and their eyes glared. They did all they could to wound and injure one another. Each fiercely attacked the other with both the flat and the edge of his blade. They had so hammered each other's teeth and cheeks and noses and wrists and arms and more besides – temples and napes and necks – that all their bones ached.

They were in great pain and very weary, but they did not give up. They struggled on with the sweat blurring their vision, as did the blood dripping with it, so that they could barely see at all. Often their blows went astray, for they could hardly see to direct their swords at each other, though they did all they could; they could scarcely do any more harm to one another. Because their eyes were growing so dim that they were completely losing their sight, they let their shields fall and seized each other with great fury.

They heaved and pulled at one another so that they fell to their knees, and they fought on in this way for a long while, until the hour of nones was past and the tall knight grew weary and completely out of breath. Erec was able to manipulate him as he wished, and shoved and pulled him so that all the laces of his helmet were broken and he was forced to bow before him. He fell face down upon his chest, with no strength to rise again. With great reluctance he was forced to admit: ‘You have defeated me, I cannot deny it, but it is much against my liking. Nevertheless you may be of such condition and such renown that it will bring me only pleasure. I should very much
like to request, if it is at all possible, to know your true name, so that I may gain some comfort thereby. If a better man has defeated me I shall be glad, I promise you; but if it has happened that a lesser man has outdone me, then I can only regret it.'

‘Friend, you wish to know my name,' said Erec, ‘and I shall tell you before I leave here. But this will be upon the condition that you tell me without delay why you are in this garden. I want to know the whole story, to learn your name and about the Joy, and I am very impatient to hear it.'

‘I will tell you the whole truth, my lord,' he said, ‘and everything you wish to know.'

Erec concealed his name no more: ‘Did you ever hear tell of King Lac and of his son Erec?'

‘Indeed, my lord, I knew him well for I was at King Lac's court many a day before becoming a knight and if he had had his way I would never have left for anything.'

‘Then you must know me well, if you were with me at my father's court.'

‘By my faith, then it has truly happened! Now hear who has kept me so long in this garden: as you have ordered, I wish to tell everything however much it may pain me. That maiden, who is sitting there, loved me from childhood and I loved her. It was a source of pleasure to us both and our love grew and improved until she asked a boon of me without first saying what it was. Who would refuse his lady anything? He is no lover who does not unhesitatingly do whatever pleases his lady, unstintingly and neglecting nothing, if ever he can in any way. I promised I would do her will, and when I had promised her this she still wanted me to swear it on oath. Had she wished for more, I would have done it, but she believed me on my word. I made her a promise, but I did not know what until after I became a knight. King Evrain, whose nephew I am, dubbed me in the sight of many gentlemen within this garden where we are. My lady, who is sitting there, immediately invoked my oath and said that I had sworn to her never to leave this place until some knight came along who defeated me in combat. It was right for me to remain rather than break my oath, though I wish I had never sworn it. Since I knew the good in her – in the thing that I held most dear – I could not show any sign that anything displeased me, for if she had noticed it she would have withdrawn her love and I did not wish that at any price, no matter what the consequences.

‘Thus my lady thought to keep me for a long duration, since she did not think that any knight would ever come into this garden who could outdo
me. Thus she thought to keep me all the days of my life with her: completely in her power, in prison. And I should have committed a grievous fault in holding back and not defeating all those I could overpower: such a deliverance would have been ignoble. I can inform you in all honesty that I have no friend so dear that I would have held back in any way against him; I never wearied of bearing arms or fighting. You have seen the helmets of those I have defeated and killed; but the fault is not entirely mine, for anyone willing to see the whole truth: I had to do what I did if I did not want to be false and faithless and disloyal.

‘I have told you the facts of this, and I assure you it is no small honour that you have won. You have brought great joy to the court of my uncle and my friends, for now I shall be released from here. And because there will be rejoicing from all those who come to court because of this, those who awaited the joy of it called it the Joy of the Court. Those who awaited it for so long will first be granted it by you, who have contended for it. You have broken the spell and vanquished me, and it is only right that I tell you my name since you wish to know it: I am called Maboagrain; but I am not at all well-known or remembered in any place where I've been seen by that name, except in this land, for while I was a youth I never spoke my name or revealed it.

‘My lord, you know the truth of everything you asked me about, but I have still more to tell you. There is in this garden a horn, which I believe you clearly saw. I cannot leave this place until you have sounded that horn, for then you will have freed me from prison and then the joy will begin. Whoever hears it will let nothing stop him from coming to the court at once, the moment he hears the sound of the horn. Get up from here, my lord; go at once and swiftly take the horn, for there is no reason to delay. So do with it what you must!'