She said, “for I shall do everything
I can to assist you. It’s better
For a knight not to be afraid.
And I know you for a noble knight,
Seeing how little you're frightened. 1000
Understand me: I would do you honor,
I would serve you, if I could, as you
Have already done for me.
My lady once sent me to Arthur’s
Court with a message, and I suppose 1005
I was neither as wise nor as courteous
Nor in anything what I ought to have been
As a girl at the king’s high court.
And none of the knights would stoop
To exchange a word with me, 1010
Except you, who stand here now,
But you, out of kindness and mercy,
Were courteous and helped me. And for the honor
You did me then I offer you,
In exchange, this reward. I know 1015
There is nothing you've asked. I know.
But I knew you as soon as I saw you,
You're the son of King Urien, and your name
Is lord Yvain. And you
Can be certain, you can be sure, 1020
That trusting my words, you'll never
Be captured or hurt. Accept
This little ring, and if
You please return it to me
When it’s done its work, and you're free.” 1025
Then she gave him the little ring
And told him it had such power
That, just as bark hid the wood
Of a tree, and no one could see it,
So this ring would conceal anyone 1030
Who wore it, as long as the stone
Sat in his palm: there was nothing
To fear from anyone if he wore it
As she'd said, for no one could possibly
See him, no matter how keen 1035
Their eyes, any more than they saw
Through bark to the wood underneath.
And lord Yvain was happy.
And when she'd told him these things
She led him to a couch covered 1040
With cloth so rich that the Duke
Of Austria could never afford it,
And sat him there, and said
If he cared to eat she would fetch him
Food. And he said he would. 1045
And running into her room
The girl returned, as fast
As possible, with a roasted fowl
And a cake and a tablecloth
And a full jug of wine 1050
Made from good grapes, and a white
Goblet covering it, and invited him
To dine. And needing that food
He ate it gladly and with good will.
And when he had eaten and drunk 1055
Knights were hurrying through
The castle, hunting him,
For their lord, already lying
On his bier, wanted revenge.
And she said to him: “Friend! 1060
Do you hear? Everyone’s hunting you.
What a lot of noise they're making!
But no matter who comes or goes
Don't let their noise make you move,
For there’s no way they'll ever find you 1065
If you never move from this couch.
Oh, this room will be full of men
At arms, angry, fierce,
Just wanting to find you out,
And I suspect they'll bring the body 1070
In here, getting it ready
For burial, and they'll crawl under benches
And beds, seeking you. And you,
A man who feels no fear,
Ought to find it amusing, 1075
Seeing so many men
So blind, so desperate and defeated,
And all the time so deluded,
That they'll be half mad with rage.
I know nothing more to tell you, 1080
And I cannot stay here any longer.
But I'm grateful to almighty God
Who’s given me this chance
To do something that might please you:
It’s something I'd wanted to do.” 1085
And then she went on her way,
And after she'd turned and gone out
Everyone else swarmed by,
Rushing to the gates from both sides,
Armed with clubs and swords, 1090
A huge crowd pushing
And shoving, furious, savage.
And then they saw in front
Of the gate the horse cut in half.
And then they thought it was certain 1095
That once the gates were opened
They'd find him in there, the man
They wanted to kill. So they had
Those gates drawn up, those gates
That had killed so many men, 1100
And of course they set no trap
Nor primed the springs, but rushed
Across in a tumbling mob.
And they found the other half
Of the horse, dead, lying 1105
On the threshold, but none of them had eyes
Keen enough to see
Lord Yvain, though they'd cheerfully have killed him.
And he watched their fury, as they stormed
And screamed and ranted and roared. 1110
And they cried: “This is impossible!
There’s no window here, no door,
That anything could get through, except
A bird, which can fly, or a squirrel,
Or perhaps a woodchuck or a rat 1115
Or something as small or smaller,
For the windows are barred, and the gates
Were all of them shut, as soon
As our lord came through. His body
Has got to be here, dead 1120
Or alive, for there’s nothing out there.
There’s more than half the saddle
Out there, we see that, all right,
But there’s nothing to be seen of him
Except his cut-off spurs, 1125
Sheared away from his feet.
Now! Let’s hunt him in every
Corner, and stop all this blather,
For he’s got to be here, he’s got to,
Unless we're all bewitched 1130
Or the demons of hell have taken him.”
And so they all of them, wild
With rage, hunted him all over
The room, beating on everything—
Walls and couches and chairs— 1135
But their blows never touched the couch
Where Yvain lay resting, so nothing
Hurt him. But they banged and smashed
About so furiously, bashing
Everywhere, fighting immense 1140
Battles like blind men in the dark,
Pounding as blind men pound
When they hunt what they cannot see—
And then, suddenly, as they searched
And searched again, under beds, 1145
Under stools, there appeared a woman
As lovely as any creature on earth.
No one had spoken a word
Of so splendid a lady, and yet
Her grief was so intense 1150
She seemed ready to take her own life.
And then she cried out so loudly
That she seemed to have exhausted herself
And dropped to the ground, unconscious.
And when they lifted her up 1155
She began to tear at her clothes
Like a woman gone mad, and she pulled
At her hair, and ripped it out,
And she tore at her dress, and at every
Step fell in a faint, 1160
And nothing could relieve her pain,
For she saw her lord carried
In and laid on his death bed,
And all her happiness was e
nded,
And so she cried and wailed. 1165
Holy water and the cross
And uplifted candles were carried
In front, by the nuns from a convent,
And then came the Holy Word
And incense and priests, the stewards 1170
Of eternal absolution, which miserable
Souls are always seeking.
And lord Yvain listened
To that weeping beyond description,
Which no words can describe, which never 1175
Can be written in a book. And the solemn
Procession went by, but then
In the middle of the room a crowd
Milled around the bier,
For fresh red blood began 1180
To run from the corpse’s cold wounds,
And this was positive proof
That whoever had fought their lord
In battle, and beaten him, and killed him,
Was surely still there. And everyone 1185
Hunted and searched again,
And ransacked the room, and turned it
Upside down, till they all
Were sweating in confusion and pain,
And all of it caused by that blood 1190
Trickling down in plain sight.
And this time blow after blow
Fell on my lord Yvain,
Where he lay, but he never moved.
And the crowd grew wilder and wilder 1195
As the wounds stayed open, and bled,
For no one knew why they bled
Or who was responsible. And this one
Said to that one, and babbled:
“The murderer is here, he’s here, 1200
And no one can see him, no one.
This is a wonder, it is witchery.”
And such pain and sorrow afflicted
The lady that she left her senses
And shrieked like a mad wild creature: 1205
“God! God! Can't they find
The murderer, the traitor, who killed
My dear sweet lord? Good?
Oh, he was better than good!
It will be Your fault, it will, 1210
My God, if You let him escape.
I accuse no one but You
For stealing him out of our sight.
No one has ever known
Such violence, and such wrong, as You do me, 1215
Not even allowing me to see
This man, who must be so near.
And surely, seeing nothing,
I claim that some phantom, some demon,
Has placed himself between us, 1220
And I am completely bewitched.
Or he is a coward, and afraid.
What a coward he must be, to fear
My tears, a coward of cowards
Not to dare show me his face! 1225
Ah demon, cowardly creature,
Why tremble and shake at the sight
Of me? You were brave with my lord!
Cheating, empty thing,
If I only had you in my power! 1230
Let me lay my hands on you!
And how could a creature like you
Ever kill my lord, except
By treachery and tricks? My lord
Could never be beaten by you, 1235
No, not if he saw your face.
For neither God nor man
Ever knew any man like him,
And no one like him is left.
Had you been merely mortal 1240
You’d never have dared oppose him,
For there was no one like him, no one.”
And so the lady struggled,
Fighting with everything, and herself,
And so she tormented and tore 1245
At herself. And they all renewed
Her grief, which couldn't have been greater,
Until the body was borne off for burial.
And after beating about, and hunting,
And shouting, her people were so tired 1250
That they'd given up, in weariness,
Finding no one they could see, no one
They could blame. And all the nuns
And priests finished their service
And left, some returning 1255
To their church, some praying
At their lord’s new tomb. —But the girl
In her room had no interest in any
Of this, her thoughts were only
Of lord Yvain, and coming 1260
To him as quickly as she could
She said: “Good sir! These people
Have been hunting you in crowds. They've raised
An enormous racket in here,
Beating about in every 1265
Corner with more zeal than hounds
Barking after partridge or quail.
You must have been afraid.”
“By God!” he said. “You're right!
I never expected such fear. 1270
And still, if possible, I'd like
To watch through some crack in a wall
Or some window, and see the funeral
Procession, and the corpse.” And yet
He was interested neither in funeral 1275
Nor corpse; he'd gladly have watched
As both of them burned, if it cost him
A thousand marks. A thousand?
More likely three thousand, by God!
It was the lady of that castle he wanted 1280
To see, it was she he spoke of.
And the girl put him in front of
A tiny window, repaying him
As well as she could the honor
He had once done her. And from 1285
That window my lord Yvain
Could watch the beautiful lady,
Who said: “Good sir! May God
Surely have mercy on your soul,
For never have I known of a knight 1290
Anywhere who was your equal,
In anything as worthy as you!
Your honor, my beloved good lord,
Was never equalled by any
Knight, nor your courtesy. Kindness 1295
And openness were your friends, and courage
And bravery rode at your side.
May your soul join the company
Of saints, my good sweet lord!”
Then she beat at herself, and tore 1300
At everything her hands could reach.
And lord Yvain suffered
Such pain, it was hard, no matter
What happened, to keep from running
To grasp her hands. But the girl 1305
Begged him, and counselled him, and scolded him,
Though always gracefully and in good taste,
To keep from foolish things,
And she said: “You're well off right here.
Let nothing take you away 1310
Until this sorrow has eased
And all these people have gone,
As soon they must. Behave
As I urge, exactly as I
Urge you to do, and many 1315
Good things may come to you.
And the best thing will be to stay
Where you are and watch these people,
Inside and out, going
Their ways, and none of them seeing 1320
You, and everything for the best.
But guard your tongue, keep it
In control, for violence and passion 1322a
And impulse only cause trouble, 1322b
If you give them the chance, and I call that 1322c
Wicked and cowardly, not brave. 1322d
Be careful, if you think of being
A fool, to do nothing at all.
The wise man hides his folly 1325
And lets the good go to work,
If he can. Behave like the wise,
Who keep their heads out of danger—
They'd take no ransom for that head
Of you
rs! Be careful of yourself, 1330
And remember my advice! Be calm
And wait for my return,
For I dare not stay here longer.
If I stay on here with you
Perhaps they'll begin to suspect me, 1335
Not seeing me there with the others,
Milling in that crowd down there,
And I might be severely punished.”
So off she goes, and he stays,
Not knowing what he ought to do. 1340
He sees them about to bury
The corpse, and he’s had no chance
To snatch some trophy for himself,
Something to prove beyond doubt
That he'd conquered and killed the man. 1345
Without some evidence, some proof,
He might be utterly disgraced.
For Kay is so savage, so spiteful,
So full of insults, so mean,
He could never hold him off, 1350
And Kay would go on, forever
Sniping and insulting, exactly
As he'd done the other day.
Those taunts had never left
His heart, still beat there, fresh, 1355
And yet a new love had softened
That rancor with its sugar and honey,
A love that had hunted in his heart
And completely conquered its prey.
His enemy had captured his heart, 1360
He loved the creature who hated
Him most. Not suspecting a thing,
The lady had avenged her lord’s death.
She'd managed a greater vengeance
Than anything she could have accomplished 1365
By herself, without Love’s assistance,
Who came to him so gently
That it struck his heart through his eyes.
And this is a longer-lasting
Wound than a sword or a spear 1370
Can inflict, for a sword-blow is healed
And well once a doctor has cared for it,
And the wounds of Love grow worse
The nearer they are to their cure.
And thus lord Yvain is wounded 1375
And can never again be cured,
For Love itself has conquered him.
Places she has always avoided
Are places Love sometimes seeks;
She longs for no lodging, no landlord, 1380
But this one, and the proof is that nothing
Can be bad, or too low, so long
As Love finds herself there.
Everywhere else is empty,
She searches so hard. How shameful 1385
For Love to act this way,
Picking the worst of all places,
The lowest, the most base, as readily
As the best, though this time she’s chosen
The best of all possible homes. 1390
Love is most welcome, here,
And here she'll be, shown great honor,
And here she'd do well to stay.
And so Love should, a creature
Of such nobility that it seems 1395
Incredible she could dare descend
Yvain Page 4
