by Beroul
My lords, news came to the king that his nephew had escaped through the chapel while he was being taken to be burnt. Mark’s face darkened with rage, he could scarcely contain himself for wrath. Angrily he sent for Yseut. She came out of the hall and there was tumult in the streets. When they saw how the lady was bound – it was shameful – they were very shocked. Who would believe what grief they showed for her, how they cried to God for pity:
‘Noble, honoured queen, what sorrow those who stirred up this affair have brought to the country! They will surely be able to put their gains in a very small purse. May great harm come to them for this!’
The queen was led towards the fire, where the thorns were burning. Dinas, the lord of Dinan, who loved Tristan greatly, fell at the king’s feet.
‘Sire,’ he said, ‘listen to me. I have served you truly and loyally for a long time. There is not a man in all this kingdom, not even a poor orphan or an old woman, who would give me a penny for the position of seneschal which I have held at your court all my life. Sire, mercy on the queen! You want to burn her without trial, but this is not rightful for the crime has not been proved. It will be a great shame if you burn her. Sire, Tristan has escaped. He knows the country well, the plains, the fields, the passes and the fords, and he is fierce. You are his uncle and he is your nephew: he would do you no harm. But if your barons fell into his power, would he not ill-treat them? Your land would be laid waste. For myself, sire, I would not deny that if even a squire was burnt or killed for my sake by anyone, if he were king over seven lands he would give them all to me as compensation before I was amply revenged. Do you think it would not cause Tristan the deepest grief to see the death of such a noble lady, whom he brought here from a distant kingdom? There would be great strife over this. King, give her to me as a reward for serving you all my life.’
The three who had caused all this had become deaf and dumb. They knew that Tristan had escaped and were in great fear that he might ambush them. The king took Dinas’ hand and swore angrily by St Thomas that he would not rest until justice had been done and she had been put on the fire. Dinas heard him and was very sad, it grieved him deeply. By his wish the queen would never have been put to death. He rose to his feet and kept his head bowed.
‘King, I am going to Dinan. By the Lord who made Adam, I would not see her burnt for all the gold and all the possessions that belonged to the richest men that have lived since the days when Rome was glorious.’
He mounted his charger and rode away with bowed head, vexed and sorrowing. Yseut was led to the fire. She was surrounded by people all crying and shouting and cursing the king’s traitors. Tears ran down her cheeks. The lady was clad in a tight tunic of dark grey silk, laced with a fine gold thread. Her hair fell to her feet, she had tressed it with gold thread. Whoever had seen her body and her face would have had an evil heart if he had not taken pity on her. Her arms were bound very tightly.
There was a leper in Lantyan, his name was Ivain and he was terribly infirm. He had hurried up to see what was going on. He had a good hundred companions with him, carrying their sticks and crutches. You never saw people so ugly or hunched or deformed. Each was holding his clapper. Ivain called hoarsely to the king:
‘Sire, you wish to do justice by burning your wife like this. It is a harsh punishment but, if ever I knew anything, it will not last long. That great fire will soon burn her and the wind will scatter her ashes. The fire will subside and all that is left of her punishment will be cinders. That is the punishment you are going to give her. But, if you would listen to me [I could tell you of a way to punish her so] that she would rather have been put to death than be still living in dishonour. Anyone who came to hear of this would think the more of you. King, would you like to do this?’
The king listened and said: ‘If you can tell me, without a trick, how she may live and be dishonoured, I shall be grateful to you. Take something of mine, if you wish. No manner of death is so grim and horrible that I shall not love for ever, by God the king, that man who today can choose the worst for her!’
Ivain answered: ‘I can tell you quickly what I have in mind. Look, here I have a hundred companions. Give Yseut to us and we will possess her in common. No woman ever had a worse end. Sire, there is such lust in us that no woman on earth could tolerate intercourse with us for a single day. The very clothes stick to our bodies. With you she used to be honoured and happily clad in blue and grey furs. She learned of good wines in your marble halls. If you give her to us lepers, when she sees our low hovels and looks at our dishes and has to sleep with us – in place of your fine meals, sire, she will have the pieces of food and crumbs that are left for us at the gates – then, by the Lord who dwells above, when she sees our court and all its discomforts she would rather be dead than alive. The snake Yseut will know then that she has been wicked! She would rather have been burnt.’
The king listened to him, stood up and said nothing for a long while. He had heard what Ivain had said. He ran to Yseut and took her by the hand. Yseut cried out:
‘Sire, mercy! Burn me here instead of giving me to them!’
The king handed her over to the lepers, and a good hundred crowded around her. Everyone who heard the noise and the shouting took pity on her. But whoever might be sorrowful, Ivain was happy. He led Yseut away along the sandy path. The other lepers – not one who did not have a crutch – went in a throng straight towards where Tristan was waiting in ambush. Governal saw them and shouted:
‘My son, what are you going to do? There is your love!’
‘God,’ said Tristan, ‘what good fortune! Alas, lovely Yseut, to think that you were to die for me and I for you! Those people that have got their hands on you can all be sure of this, that if they do not let you go straight away I shall make some of them sorry.’
He struck his horse and sprang out of the bush, shouting as loud as he could: ‘Ivain, you have taken her far enough. Let her go now or I will cut off your head with this sword!’
Ivain began to take off his cloak and shouted to the lepers: ‘Now, crutches in your hands! Now we shall see who is on our side.’
You should have seen those lepers panting as they took off their coats and their cloaks! Each of them was shaking his crutch, some threatening, others fighting. Tristan did not want to touch them or strike them on the head and wound them. Governal came out as the shout went up, holding a stick of green oak in his hand. He struck Ivain, who was holding Yseut, and the blood ran down to his feet. Tristan helped his master and grasped Yseut’s right hand. (Some story-tellers say they drowned Ivain, but they are fools and they do not know the story at all well. Beroul has a better memory of it: Tristan was too noble and too courtly to kill such people.) Tristan went off with the queen. They left the plain and all three went into the forest. Yseut rejoiced, she was suffering no longer.
5
THE FOREST OF MORROIS
THEY slept that night in the forest of Morrois on a hillside. Tristan was as safe now as if he had been in a walled castle. Tristan was a skilled archer and could make good use of a bow. Governal had taken one from a forester it belonged to and had also carried off two arrows with the tips and feathers already fitted. Tristan took the bow and went into the wood. He saw a roe-deer, fitted an arrow to the string, shot, and the arrow sank deep into the right side of the deer. With a cry it leaped up and then fell to the ground. Tristan picked up the beast and took it back. Then he made a dwelling place. With his sword he cut branches to make a leafy bower and Yseut covered the ground thickly with leaves. Tristan sat down with the queen. Governal knew how to cook and made a good fire from some dry wood. (Cooks have a great deal to do!) They had no milk or salt in this lodging. The queen was worn out on account of all that she had gone through; she felt drowsy and wanted to go to sleep with her head resting on her lover. My lords, they stayed for a long time deep in the forest, living like this. They were long in that deserted countryside.
6
KING MARK’S HORSE’S EARS
‘He has always found me faithful,’ said the dwarf, ‘in keeping a secret of his well hidden. I can see that you want to hear it, but I do not wish to break my word to the king. I will lead the three of you to the Gué Aventuros. There is a hawthorn bush there with a ditch by its roots. I can push my head into it and you will hear me speaking outside. What I shall say will be the king’s secret, which I am bound to keep.’
The barons went to the hawthorn with dwarf Frocin leading them. The dwarf was short with a big head. He soon reached the ditch and they pushed him in up to his shoulders.
‘Now listen, lord marquises! I am talking to you, hawthorn bush, not to the barons. Mark has horse’s ears!’
They heard quite clearly what the dwarf said. One day King Mark was talking to his barons after dinner, holding a bow of laburnum wood in his hand. The three to whom the dwarf had told the secret came up and said privately to the king:
‘King, we know your secret.’
The king laughed and said: ‘This affliction, that I have horse’s ears, happened to me because of that magician. I am resolved to make an end of him.’ He drew his sword and cut off the dwarf’s head. Many people were glad of this, for they hated the dwarf Frocin because of what he had done to Tristan and the queen.
7
THE HERMIT OGRIN. I
MY lords, you have heard how Tristan had leaped over the cliff on to the rocks, and how Governal had fled on horseback because he feared burning if Mark captured him. Now they were together in the forest where Tristan fed them on venison. They were a long time in thé wood. Each morning they had to leave the place where they had spent the night. One day they came by chance to the hermitage of Friar Ogrin. They were leading a rough and hard life, but they loved each other with such true love that neither felt any hardship because of the other. The hermit was leaning on his staff and recognized Tristan. Hear how he addressed him:
‘Sir Tristan, a proclamation has been made on oath throughout Cornwall that whoever gives you up to the king will be sure to receive a hundred silver marks in reward. There is no baron in this land who has not pledged his hand to the king to deliver you to him dead or alive.’ Ogrin went on in a kind voice: ‘Truly, Tristan, God will pardon the sin of a man who repents in good faith by making confession.’
Tristan said to him: ‘Indeed, sir, you do not know the reason for her love for me. It is because of a love potion that she loves me. I cannot part from her nor she from me. That is the truth.’
Ogrin answered: ‘And what consolation can be given to a man who is dead? For a man who lives in sin for a long time is dead if he does not repent. No one can give absolution to a sinner if he does not repent.’
The hermit Ogrin exhorted them and advised them to repent. He told them of the prophecies of Holy Writ, and often reminded them of their estrangement from the court. He said firmly to Tristan: ‘What are you going to do? Now think!’
‘Sir, I love Yseut so much. Because of her I cannot sleep nor even doze. My decision is soon taken: I would rather be a beggar with her and live on herbs and acorns than possess the kingdom of the rich King Otran. I beg you not to ask me to leave her, for I cannot do so.’
Yseut wept at the hermit’s feet, now blushing and now going pale. She implored his pity:
‘Sir, by Almighty God, he loves me and I love him only because of a draught that I drank and he drank. That was our misfortune. Because of this the king has driven us out.’
The hermit answered her: ‘May God who created the world give you true repentance!’
They stayed that night with the hermit, who put himself to great trouble for their sake. In the morning Tristan and Yseut departed. They remained in the wood and avoided the open country. They were troubled at being short of bread. Tristan killed many stag, hind and roe-deer in the wood. Where they made their abode they could make a big fire to do their cooking, but they could only spend one night in each place. My lords, hear how the king had issued a proclamation concerning Tristan – there was no parish in Cornwall where the news did not cause dismay – saying that whoever found Tristan should raise the cry.
8
TRISTAN’S DOG
ANYONE who would like to hear a story about the virtues of a good upbringing, listen to me for a while! You will hear me tell of a hunting dog so fine that no king or count had a dog to equal him. He was fast, always on the alert, quick and lively, and his name was Husdant. He was in Mark’s castle on a leash fastened to a block of wood. He looked all round him and was very upset because he could not see his master. He would not eat bread or paste or anything that was given to him. He scowled and pawed the ground with tears in his eyes. Many people felt pity for the dog. Everyone said:
‘If he were mine, I should let him off the leash. It would be a shame if he were to go mad. There was never a dog like Husdant, always so quick and now so sad for his master. There was never such a loving animal. Solomon spoke truly when he said that his dog was his friend. Husdant, you are the proof of this. Since your master was captured you would not eat anything. King, let him off the leash!’
The king thought the dog was going mad because of his master and said to himself: ‘This dog is certainly very intelligent. I do not think that in our time there has been a knight as valiant as Tristan in the land of Cornwall.’
The three Cornish barons addressed the king: ‘Sire, set Husdant free. Then we shall know for certain whether he is miserable because of his master. If he is mad, he will no sooner be untied than he will bite someone, beast or man; he will be slavering at the jaws.’
The king called a squire to set Husdant free. All the onlookers climbed on seats or on their saddles for they were afraid of which way he might turn at first. They all said Husdant was mad. But the dog paid them no attention. As soon as he was set free he ran through the rows of people without hesitating. He went out through the door of the hall to the lodging place where he could usually find Tristan. The king and the others who were following saw this. The dog barked and growled and showed his grief. Then he picked up his master’s scent. Tristan did not take a single step after he had been captured and was being led to the fire that the dog did not follow. Everyone urged him on. Husdant went into the room where Tristan was treacherously captured, then left it and ran, jumping and barking, to the chapel. People were still following the dog, but once he was let off the leash he did not stop until he reached the church built high on the cliff. The nimble, swift Husdant entered by the chapel door, jumped on to the altar, could not see his master, and left by the window. He scrambled down the cliff, scratching his leg, put his nose to the ground and barked. Husdant paused for a moment at the place where Tristan had waited in ambush at the flower-strewn edge of the wood. Then he went on and ran into the forest. No one saw him who did not take pity on him. The knights said to the king:
‘Let us stop following the dog. He might lead us to somewhere it would be difficult to get back from.’
They gave up chasing the dog and turned back. Husdant came upon a cart-track and was glad to find a pathway. The whole wood rang with the sound of his barking. Tristan was deep in the wood with the queen and Governal. They heard the noise and Tristan listened intently.
‘By my faith,’ he said, ‘I can hear Husdant.’
They were startled and alarmed. Tristan leaped up and drew his bow, and they retired into a thicket. It was King Mark they were afraid of, for they said in dismay that he would be coming with the dog. The dog knew the path and it was not long before he reached them. When he saw Tristan he recognized him as his master and shook himself vigorously, wagging his tail. Whoever had seen the dog was all wet with joy could have said that he never saw such joy! He ran up to Yseut the Fair
and then to Governal. He greeted them all joyfully, even the horse. Tristan felt very sorry for the dog.
‘God,’ he said, ‘what a pity this dog has followed us. A dog who does not keep quiet in the wood is no good to a man who has been banished. We are in the wood and the king hates us. He is hunting us, my lady, in the fields and in the forest. If he found us and captured us he would have us burned or hanged. We have no need of a dog. You may be certain of one thing: if Husdant stays with us we shall be afraid and anxious. Better for him to be killed than for us to be captured because of his barking. I regret very much that he will have to die, for he is a fine animal. It was his greatness of heart that led him here. But how can I get out of it? I certainly regret that I have to kill him. Help me, give me your advice. We must protect ourselves.’
Yseut said to him: ‘Have pity on him, my lord! A dog barks when it is hunting, both by its nature and by habit. I heard a story once, soon after Arthur was made king, that a Welsh forester owned a hound which he had trained in a special way. If he wounded a stag with an arrow and it bled, the dog would bound after it whatever track it fled along and however close to its prey the dog was it never barked or made any noise. It would be a good thing if we could train Husdant not to bark when he was out hunting and pursuing his prey.’
Tristan stood listening. He was full of pity. He thought a little, then said: ‘If I could train Husdant by my efforts to be silent instead of barking I should be very glad to have him. And I shall try to do this before the week is out. I should be very sorry to kill him, but I am greatly afraid of the dog’s bark. For I might be somewhere with you and Governal, and if the dog barked he would have us captured. Now I will try to teach him to hunt game without barking.’
Then Tristan went into the wood to hunt. He made ready and shot a deer, which started to bleed. The dog barked. The wounded deer leaped away, lively Husdant barked loudly and the wood resounded with the noise. Tristan struck the dog hard. Husdant came to a halt beside his master, stopped barking and gave up the chase. He looked up at his master, not knowing what to do. He dared not bark and he stopped following the deer. Tristan bent down to push the dog and cleared a way ahead with a stick. Husdant wanted to bark again. So Tristan began to teach him. Before a month had passed the dog was trained to follow his prey on the moor without barking. He never let a beast get away, on snow, grass or ice, however fast and nimble it was. The dog became a great help to them and did them a great deal of good. If he took a roe-buck or a deer in the wood he hid it well and covered it with branches. If he took his game on the open moor, and it happened that he took many there, he threw grass over it and returned to his master to lead him to where the beast was. Dogs are very useful creatures!
