Parzival

by Wolfram von Eschenbach

  ‘My lady,’ said Gawan to the Duchess, ‘I know the man whose love you desired to be of such merit that had he chosen you to be his lover your worth would have suffered no loss from him.’

  Courteous Gawan and the Duchess of Logroys looked full into each other’s eyes.

  They were now riding so near that they were seen from the Castle in which Gawan had achieved the Adventure.

  ‘If I may request it, my lady,’ said he, ‘please withhold my name – the knight who rode off with Gringuljete named it. Do as I request, and if anyone asks you, say “I don’t know who my companion is, since he was never named to me!”.’

  ‘Since it is your wish that I should not name it,’ said she, ‘I shall gladly withhold it.’

  Gawan and the beauteous lady turned in towards the Castle. The gentle men diere had now heard that a knight had come, had endured die Adventure, overcome the lion, and later brought the Turkoyt down in regular joust. Gawan meanwhile was riding through the meadow towards die landing-stage and was now visible to those on the battlements. Then men mounted on swift Arab chargers came riding out from the Castle hot-pace, raising a great din, all displaying fine pennants. Gawan thought they meant to fight.

  Seeing them come from the distance, Gawan turned to die Duchess and asked, ‘Is that troop on its way to attack us?’

  ‘They are Clinschor’s company,’ she said, ‘and have awaited you scarce able to contain themselves; but now they have set out with joy to receive you. It must not incur your displeasure, since their happiness bids them do so.’

  Plippalinot and his proud and lovely daughter had now crossed in a pontoon. The girl walked a long way over die meadow towards Gawan and received him joyfully. He in turn saluted her, and she kissed his stirrup and foot and then welcomed the Duchess. She took die horse by the bridle and asked die man to dismount. Gawan and die lady went to the vessel’s bows where a carpet and quilt lay ready, and diere at his request die Duchess sat down beside him. The ferryman’s daughter was prompt to unarm him, and I have heard that she even brought her cloak – the one which had covered him that night when he had lodged with them – and indeed it was most opportune now. Thus Lord Gawan donned her cloak and his own surcoat while she took his armour away.

  Only now, as they sat side by side, could the lovely Duchess study his face.

  Sweet Bene brought in a brace of larks, a rummer of wine and two white wastel-loaves on a napkin white as could be. The fow! had been caught on the wing by the merlin you remember. They were able to serve themselves with water if they wanted to wash their hands, and indeed they both did so. It filled Gawan with joy that he was to dine with the woman for whose sake he was ready to suffer pleasure and hardship. When she presented the rummer which her lips had touched, the thought that he was to drink after her brought him new joy. His unhappy feelings began to lag behind as his high spirits raced ahead. The sight of her sweet mouth, her fair skin, chased him away from his cares at such a pace that the pain of his wounds was forgotten.

  The ladies were able to observe this entertainment from the Castle above. Many noble knights had come to the landing-place on the other bank and they performed their bohort with all punctilio. On this side, Gawan thanked the ferryman and his daughter for the meal they had so kindly provided, as did the Duchess for her part.

  ‘What came of the knight who delivered the joust yesterday as I was riding away?’ asked the thoughtful Duchess. ‘If someone defeated him did it end with his living or dying?’

  ‘I saw him alive today, my lady,’ said Plippalinot. ‘He was given me in exchange for a horse. If you want to free him, let me have Swallow, which belonged to Queen Secundille and was sent to you by Anfortas. If that Harp can be mine, the Duke of Gowerzin goes free!’

  ‘The man sitting here has power to bestow or withhold that Harp and other wares with his own hand, if he so wishes,’ she replied. ‘Let him decide. If ever I was so dear to him, he will ransom Lischois, Duke of Gowerzin, for me here and that other prince of mine, Florant of Itolac, who commanded my watch by night. I valued him so highly as my Turkoyt that I could never rest happy while he was sad.’

  ‘You shall see both of them free before nightfall,’ Gawan promised the lady. They then decided to cross to the farther bank, where Gawan again handed the fair Duchess on to her palfrey.

  Many noble knights received them here, and as they turned in towards the Castle their escort began to ride with zest, and to display such skill as did full honour to the bohort. What more can I say – other than that noble Gawan and the shapely Duchess were welcomed to Schastel marveile in a style that might well content them? You can account him a lucky man mat such good fortune ever came his way. Arnive now led him to his chamber to rest, and those who were skilled in such matters gave attention to his wounds.

  ‘I need a messenger, Ma’am,’ said Gawan to Arnive. A young lady-in-waiting was sent and she came back with a squire who was as manly and discreet as is given to a squire to be. The youth swore on oath that whether his mission turned out well or ill, he would not divulge the message to anyone there or in any other quarter than where he was instructed to deliver it. Gawan, son of King Lot, asked for ink and parchment. He wrote elegantly with his own hand. Into the Land of Löver he sent to Arthur and his Queen his humble duty and the assurance of his unflawed fealty, and went on to say that if he had won through to any renown this would perish, unless they helped him in his need by recalling the bond of loyalty and bringing their retinue to Joflanze together with a company of ladies; and that for his part he would come and meet them there to take part in a judicial combat in which his whole honour was at stake. He further informed Arthur that the terms agreed for the duel required the King to come with all due pomp. Lord Gawan then went on to ask the whole court, ladies and knights alike, to consider their loyalty towards him and advise the King to come – this would enhance their honour. He sent all those worthies his respects and told them of the straits his duel placed him in.

  This letter bore no seal. His own well-known hand was sufficient authentication.

  ‘Now delay no longer!’ Gawan commanded his servitor. ‘The King and Queen are at Bems-on-Korcha. Accost the Queen early of a morning and do whatever she tells you. And keep this well in mind: say nothing of my being Lord here. Nor must you let them know at all that you are a retainer here at court.’

  The squire was in haste to be gone. Arnive tiptoed after him and asked where he was off to and the nature of his errand.

  ‘I am to tell you nothing, Ma’am,’ said he, ‘if my oath informs me correctly. May God keep you, I must go.’

  He rode off in search of far-famed companies.

  Chapter 13

  ARNIVE was vexed that Gawan’s young man did not tell her where he had been sent to. ‘When that fellow returns, whether it be day or night, see to it that he waits for me till I have had a word with him,’ she told the Gate-keeper. ‘Use all your skill to achieve it!’ There was no denying she was angry with that squire. She then went in again to discover more from the Duchess, but the latter took good care not to let Gawan’s name pass her lips, since he had asked her not to. Thus she left his name and lineage unsaid. The sound of trumpets and other instruments rang out merrily up in the Palace, and they hung many tapestries as back-rests on the walls. They did not walk there on anything but finely woven carpets. – An impecunious host would have been alarmed! Everywhere round the walls in profusion settees had been placed with downy cushions and the whole bespread with costly quilts.

  After the toils he had endured, Gawan was still asleep at midday. His wounds had been bandaged so expertly that if a friend had lain beside him and he had enjoyed her love, it would have soothed him and done him good. He was more disposed to sleep than that night when the Duchess gave him so much ado. He awoke as it was drawing near to evensong. Nevertheless, in his sleep he had fought once more – in the lists of love with the Duchess. Now, so I am told, one of his chamberlains brought in clothes of shimmering brocade weighed
down with their gold thread.

  ‘Let us have more of these clothes,’ said my lord Gawan, ‘all of the same fine quality, and see to it that they are ready for the Duke of Gowerzin and handsome Florant, who has won distinction in many lands.’

  Gawan sent a message by a page to his host Plippalinot that he was to send Lischois along to him, and accordingly Lischois was sent up in the care of his lovely daughter. Lady Bene came leading Lischois by the hand from die good will she bore Gawan, and also for die reason that when Gawan had left her in tears on the day he had ridden away from her and his valour had won him fame, he had promised her father a fine gift. And now the Turkoyt too was there, and Gawan could be heard welcoming him in friendly fashion, after which they both sat down beside him and waited for their clothes to be brought. These turned out to be of unsurpassable quality and were brought for all three. There was a master-weaver named Sarant, from whom Seres* took its name, and he was of Triande. In Secundille’s country there is a place called Thasme, which is larger than Niniveh or spacious Acraton. Ambitious to earn fame as his reward, Sarant devised a cloth-of-gold called ‘saranthasme’† – his work brought great ingenuity to bear. Don’t ask if it makes a fine show – it fetches an extravagant price! Those two and Gawan donned these clothes and ascended to the Palace, where there were a throng of knights on one side and fair ladies on die other of whom a good judge would have said that die Duchess of Logroys was most lustrous. The host and his guests came and stood before the dazzling lady whose name was Orgeluse. Gawan freed die two courtly princes, Florant the Turkoyt and handsome Lischois, without conditions for the Duchess of Logroys’s sake, for which – innocent of deceit as she was wise in all that goes to make a woman’s glory – she thanked him.

  Meanwhile Gawan had glimpsed four queens standing beside die Duchess and courteously asked die two princes to stand forward and then bade the three younger ladies bestow die kiss of welcome on them. Now Lady Bene too had accompanied Gawan to die Palace and here she was very well received.

  His lordship was disinclined to go on standing. He asked die two to go and sit among the ladies as they chose, and to be requested to do so did not displease them overmuch.

  ‘Which is Itonje?’ noble Gawan whispered to Bene. ‘She must let me sit beside her.’ The lovely girl pointed her out, since Gawan wished it.

  ‘The one with the red lips, brown hair and bright eyes. If you wish to speak with her in private be discreet,’ said decorous Lady Bene, who knew of Itonje’s languishings and that die noble King Gramoflanz was paying homage to her heart with die utmost chivalrous devotion.

  Gawan sat down beside the maiden – I am telling you as I was told – and embarked on what he had to say with discretion of which he was a master. For her part too young Itonje was possessed of decorous ways fully appropriate to her young life. The question he had taken it upon himself to ask her was whether she was already apt for love.

  ‘My lord, whom should I love?’ was die girl’s wary answer. ‘Since the day I opened my eyes there has been no knight to whom I ever spoke a word, except what you yourself have heard today.’

  ‘Nevertheless,’ replied my lord Gawan, ‘reports could have reached you by which you would have learnt of high fame won by courage in knightly pursuits, and of who, from his strength of heart, can offer service for love’s reward.’

  ‘No word has been said to me of serving for love,’ answered the lovely girl, ‘only that many courtly knights serve the Duchess of Logroys both for love and for her hire. No few of them have had jousting here close enough for us to watch it. Yet not one came so near as you have come to us. Your victorious battle much enhances this distinction.’

  ‘Against whom are the Duchess’s company of so many picked knights campaigning?’ he asked the comely girl. ‘Who is the man that has lost her favour?’

  ‘Roys Gramoflanz has done so,’ she replied, ‘die man who wears the very garland of high merit by common accord. This is all I know about it, sir.’

  ‘You shall have better acquaintance of him,’ said my lord Gawan, ‘since he is hard on the tracks of fame and pursues it zestfully. I have heard from his own lips that, driven by an inward urge, he has come to offer his service, if you would deign to accept it, and is seeking help to console him through your love. That a king should receive love’s pain from a king’s daughter is as it should be. Madam, if your father was called Lot, you are the one he dotes on and for whom his heart is weeping! And if your name is Itonje, it is you who are the cause of his suffering. If you have a true heart inside you, you must make an end of his sorrows. I will be the go-between. Take this ring, madam. – The handsome fellow has sent it you. I shall manage this in your best interest, take heart and leave it all to me.’

  She changed colour so that her whole face was as red as her lips, and then suddenly turned pale. She stretched out her hand in shy confusion to take the ring, and knew it at once…

  ‘It is now quite clear to me, sir,’ she said, ‘if I may so speak in your presence, that you have come from the man for whom my heart has so strong an urge. If your manners are not wanting, they will inspire you to secrecy. This gift was sent me once before from the noble King’s own hand, the ring is his true token, since he had it from my hand. I am altogether innocent of his sufferings, for I have granted him, in thought, whatever he asked of me, and this he would quickly learn, could I ever pass beyond these walls. I have kissed Orgeluse, who seeks to encompass his death in the way you know. That was a Judas kiss, of which one still hears much today. It was utterly faithless of me when, under compulsion, I kissed Florant the Turkoyt and the Duke of Gowerzin! I shall never be fully reconciled with those who bear unrelenting hatred towards King Gramoflanz! Say nothing of this to my mother and my sister Cundrie,’ Itonje then begged Gawan. ‘My lord, you asked me to receive Orgeluse’s kiss on my lips – though I have not forgiven her – and it has wounded me to the heart. If the King and I are ever to know happiness, the remedy lies in your hands. He loves me above all women for sure, and I intend that he shall have the benefit of it. – He has my favour beyond all other men! May God inspire you with help and counsel so that you leave us happy at last!’

  ‘Tell me how, my lady,’ said Gawan. ‘He has you out there, you have him here: and yet you are apart. If there is any loyal service I could do for you from which your noble lives could profit, I would undertake it without fail.’

  ‘You shall dispose of the noble King and me,’ she answered. ‘May your help and God’s blessing take charge of our love so that I, wretched woman, can bring his sorrows to an end. Since all his happiness depends on me, and as I am a faithful woman, the desire in my heart must always be to grant him my love.’

  Gawan heard from what the young lady said that her thoughts were running on love and that she felt a lively animosity towards the Duchess. She thus cherished both love and hate. Yet on his side he was guilty of a greater fault towards the innocent girl who had told him of her troubles, for he had not mentioned it to her that one mother had borne the two of them, as indeed they both had Lot for father. He offered the girl his assistance, and she thanked him with a secret nod for uttering words of comfort.

  But now the time had come to bring up to the Palace into the presence of many ladies sheet upon sheet of table-linen, white as white could be, together with bread. A separation had been decreed whereby knights had a wall to themselves away from the ladies. Lord Gawan saw to the seating. The Turkoyt sat at Gawan’s table, Lischois shared a platter with Gawan’s mother, the handsome Sangive, the radiant Duchess shared with Queen Arnive, and Gawan asked his two comely sisters to join him, and this they duly did.

  Unversed in the culinary art, I could not name half the dishes that were brought in with all ceremony. Fine-looking maidens served the host and all the ladies. Opposite, along their wall, the knights were waited on by men-at-arms in number. Restraint inspired by respect held these young men back from jostling with the young ladies: they had to be seen decorously apart, whether
they were bearing viands or wine. The knights and ladies might well call it a feast, for such a thing had never come their way since Clinschor had subdued them with his spells. They had remained unknown to one another despite their living behind one and the same Gate, with the result that they had never so much as exchanged a word. Gawan now made it possible for this company of knights and ladies to meet, and this afforded them much pleasure. Gawan was not without his own pleasure either, but he had to steal glances at the dazzling Duchess who held his heart in thrall.

  The day now began to stumble so that its brightness was all but laid low and you could see Night’s harbingers – innumerable stars – hastening through the clouds to claim quarters for her. Then swiftly behind Night’s banners, Night herself came up.

  Many fine chandeliers hung all over the Palace, most elegant to see. They were soon set with their candles, and quite apart from this, candles were brought in fantastic numbers to all the tables. The story goes on to say that the Duchess shed such brightness that even if no candles had been furnished, there would have been no night near her! I heard it said of the sweet woman that her radiance of itself shed daylight!

  Unless you intend to malign him you must grant that you have never seen a host so joyful. – Joy was universal there. Glances fraught with zestful longing passed to and fro, thick and fast, between knights and ladies. If any who had shrunk back from strangeness grew more intimate, I will not take them to task.

  Gluttons apart, and by your good leave, they have had their fill there. The boards were all removed. My lord Gawan then asked if there were any good fiddlers at hand. There proved to be many worthy squires there well versed in string-music. Yet however great their skill, they had to play old dances – no new dances were ever heard there like the many that have come here from Thuringia! Now thank the host: he did not thwart their enjoyment. Bevies of handsome women passed before him. Their dance had thus decorative pattern – knights ‘let in’ among ladies! Their aim was to fend off sadness. You could also see fine knights footing it there with a lady on either hand. And you could also detect the pleasure of those knights who had a mind to offer service for love – a request that was allowable – and who, poor in cares as they were rich in joy, passed the time with talking with sweet lips, of which there were no few there.