Has led me to hunt you, all wearily,
Over many, many countries.
I've sought you so long that, God
Be thanked, I've finally found you.
And none of the misfortunes I've endured, 5065
None of the afflictions, are worth
Talking about or remembering.
It’s vanished, my limbs are lightened,
Sorrow stole away
The moment I met you. Yet none 5070
Of this is my own necessity.
I come to you from a woman
Better than myself, nobler
And braver. And if you fail her,
It will be your fame that betrayed her, 5075
For she has no one else to help.
This lady, deprived of her entire
Inheritance by her sister, hopes
To win her suit through you.
You're the only one she wants. 5080
Nothing could ever persuade her
That anyone else could help.
You’ll win the love of this friendless,
Cheated woman, and vastly
Increase your renown, if you win her 5085
Back what is rightfully hers!
She herself would have sought you,
Hoping for this kindness, and no one
Could have taken her place, except
That illness has kept her away, 5090
Forced her to take to her bed.
Now tell me, please, if you dare
To come as she asks, or if
You’ll choose to say no and do nothing.”
“No,” he answered, “saying 5095
No wins no man fame.
No more will I say no,
But follow you, sweet friend!
Gladly, wherever you please.
And if she for whom you've sought me 5100
Truly needs me, have
No fear. Anything I'm able
To do for her, I'll do.
May God give me the grace
And the great good luck to win her 5105
Back what is rightly hers!”
So riding along, side
By side, and chatting, they approached
The Castle of Infinite Misfortune.
They had no interest in passing 5110
It by, for the sun was setting.
So they rode up to the castle,
And the people who saw them come
Shouted and yelled at the knight:
“Curses on your coming, curses! 5115
Whoever showed you this lodging
Meant to harm you, and shame you.
An abbot could swear it’s the truth.”
“You foolish, vulgar people,”
He answered, “filled with evil 5120
And utterly empty of good,
Why attack me like this?”
“Why? Oh, you'll find out,
If you go a little bit farther.
But you can't find out here: 5125
You'll have to go in there,
You'll have to enter that castle.”
And at once he started toward the tower,
And all the people shouted,
All of them, at the top of their lungs: 5130
“Don't look for trouble! Where are you
Going? If you've ever known anyone
Who’s harmed you, and shamed you, that’s
What they'll do, there where you're headed,
And you'll never live to tell it.” 5135
“You shameless, wicked people,”
Answered Yvain, hearing them,
“Insolent, wretched: have you any
Reason for attacking me? What
Are you asking for, what is it you want? 5140
Why are you muttering at my heels?”
“My friend! There’s no reason for anger,”
Said a lady well on in years,
Plainly sensible and polite.
“Surely, there’s no harm in their words. 5145
They re only trying to warn you,
If only you'd try to understand,
That you ought not seek shelter there.
But they dare not tell you why.
They're simply warning and scolding, 5150
Trying to make you afraid.
They do this for every stranger,
All the time, to keep them
From ever entering the castle.
And it’s also our custom never 5155
To dare give lodging or shelter
To any noble gentleman,
To no one who comes here from anywhere
Else. It’s up to you.
No one will stop you from going. 5160
Go up, if you choose to—but my
Advice is: turn back.” “Lady!”
He said. “I suspect there is honor
And sense in your words, if only
I were able to do as you say. 5165
But I've no idea where else
I might find lodging for tonight.”
“Dear me!” she said. “I'll be still.
It’s really none of my business.
Go wherever you please! 5170
Still, I'd be more than happy
To see you come back from in there
Not too much disgraced. But that
Is simply too much to expect.”
“Lady!” he answered. “May God 5175
Be your saviour! But my foolish heart
Leads me on, and I obey my heart.”
And he went straight up to the gate,
He and his lion and the girl.
And then the porter called out, 5180
Saying: “Quick! Quick!
You're coming to a place that will well
And truly lock you up:
And may your coming be cursed!”
And after greeting him this way 5185
The porter hurried on up,
But the greeting was deeply insulting.
Yet my lord Yvain said nothing,
And went right on, and found
A great high hall, brand new, 5190
With a walled courtyard in front of it,
And a wall of great sharpened stakes,
And inside, behind the stakes,
He saw three hundred girls
All sewing away, some working 5195
With golden thread, some silk,
Working as hard as they could.
But their wretched poverty was such
That they sat there bareheaded, many
So poor that they wore no sash, 5200
And their dresses were torn at the breast
And out at the elbows, and their shifts
Were dirty around the neck.
And their necks were thin, and their faces
Pale with hunger and misery. 5205
He saw them, and they saw him,
And they bowed their heads, and they wept,
And for a long, long time did not move,
Knowing there was nothing to be done,
Unable to raise their eyes 5210
From the ground, so bent with sorrow.
And after watching them a while
My lord Yvain turned
And headed back toward the gate,
And the porter jumped in front of him 5215
And cried: “You’re wasting your time:
There’s no way out, good sir!
You’d rather be out than in,
But by my head it’s no use!
First you'll have your fill 5220
Of disgrace—more than you'll think
You can bear. It wasn't terribly
Intelligent, coming in here,
For now there’s no way out.”
“Good brother, I've no wish to leave! 5225
But tell me, by your father’s soul:
These ladies I see in the courtyard,
Weaving cloth of silk
And brocade, where are they from?
Their work i
s excellent, it pleases me, 5230
But it makes me distinctly unhappy
To see how their faces and their bodies
Are so thin and pale and wretched.
It seems to me they'd be graceful
And lovely, if they had the sort 5235
Of things they'd like to have.”
“And I will tell you nothing,”
He said. “Find someone else!”
“I shall, since I've nothing better.”
And then he looked for the door 5240
Of that courtyard where the girls were working,
And went in among them, and greeted
Them all, and saw tears
Falling from their eyes, streaming
Down from their eyes, all of them 5245
Sitting and weeping together.
And he said: “May it please our Lord
That this sorrow, whatever it comes from,
Be taken from your hearts and turned
Into joy!” And one of them answered: 5250
“May the God you've prayed to hear you!
Nor will we conceal who
We are and where we're from.
I assume that is your request?”
“That,” he said, “is why 5255
I came here.” “My lord! Long ago
The King of the Island of Virgins
Went hunting gossip and stories
In many courts and in many
Countries, travelling like a fool 5260
Till he stumbled across this dangerous
Place. What an unlucky hour!
For the shame and misery we've known,
We miserable prisoners that you see,
Was nothing we'd ever deserved. 5265
And believe me, you can expect
Exactly the same for yourself,
If they won't let you be ransomed!
But be all that as it may,
Our king came to this castle, 5270
Owned by two sons of the devil—
And that’s not nonsense, believe me!
They'd been born of a woman and a demon.
And these two were ready to fight
With the king, who was frightened silly, 5275
For he was barely eighteen
And they could have cut him in half
Like a soft and juicy lamb.
So the king, consumed with terror,
Escaped as best he was able, 5280
Swearing that every year
He'd send them thirty young girls,
While the agreement lasted. And paying
This tribute set him free.
And the terms he swore to provided 5285
That this tribute should last as long
As this pair of demons lived,
Except that on the day
They were beaten in battle the tribute
Should end for ever, and all 5290
Of us would be freed, who now
Are bound to live in shame
And sadness and misery. None of us
Will ever know pleasure again.
For I spoke like a child and a fool, 5295
Speaking as I did of freedom.
None of us will ever leave.
We'll spend our days weaving
Silk, and wearing rags.
We'll spend our days poor 5300
And naked and hungry and thirsty,
For they'll never pay us what we earn,
Let us buy better food.
We've only a bit of bread,
Some in the morning and less 5305
At night. Our work doesn't pay
Any of us even as much
As four pennies in a single day.
And that’s not enough to feed us
Or put clothes on our backs. Even 5310
Earning twenty sous
A week, we're still miserable,
We never escape it. It’s true:
There isn't one of us here
Who doesn't earn twenty or more— 5315
And that’s as rich as a duke!
And yet we're miserably poor,
And the ones we work for are rich
Because of what we produce.
We work most nights, and we work 5320
All day, just to stay alive,
For they threaten to cut off our arms
And legs if we rest. No one
Dares to rest. But why
Go on telling you these things? 5325
We've so much misery and shame
I couldn't tell you a fifth of it.
And what makes us wild with grief
Is seeing the death of so many
Rich and worthy knights, 5330
Who come to fight these demons.
Their lodging is exceedingly costly,
As yours will be, tomorrow,
For whether you like it or not
You'll have to fight them, alone 5335
And singlehanded, fight
And then lose your fame to those demons.”
“May God, who is heavenly truth,
Protect,” said my lord Yvain,
“And give you back honor and joy, 5340
If so He wishes it to be!
But now I'm obliged to go see
The people who live in this castle,
And find out how they'll receive me.”
“Go then, my lord! May He keep you, 5345
Who bestows all goodness and blessings!”
And then he went to the hall
And found no one, good or evil,
Who could say a word. So they went
All through the house, till they found 5350
Themselves in a garden. No one
Had ever spoken of stabling
Their horses: not a word had been said.
Did it matter? They were very well stabled
By those who thought they now owned them. 5355
It’s not my place to judge:
The horses' owners were still healthy
And well. But the horses had oats
And hay and straw right up
To their bellies. And Yvain went into 5360
The garden, and the girl and the lion
Went after him. And he saw a gentleman,
Propped up on his elbow, lying
On a silken cloth, and a girl
Was reading him from some romance, 5365
I have no idea about whom.
And in order to hear this romance
A lady had come to lie there
With them. She was the girl’s
Mother, and the gentleman her father. 5370
And both of them were right to rejoice
At seeing her and hearing her read,
For she was their only child,
Not yet quite seventeen
And so beautiful, graceful, and lovely 5375
That the God of Love would have bound
Himself to her service, if he'd seen her,
And never let her fall
In love with anyone but him.
And he would have become a man, 5380
And set aside his godhood,
And struck his own body with that dart
Whose wound never heals
(Unless some unfaithful doctor
Cures it). But no one should ever 5385
Be cured, except by unfaithfulness.
And anyone cured by anything
Different was never truly
In love. I could tell you so much
Of this wound, if you wanted to listen, 5390
That I couldn't finish my story
Today. But there'd surely be someone
Saying I was talking nonsense,
For people are no longer lovers,
And can't love as they used to love, 5395
And don't want to hear it talked of.
So listen, now, and hear
How Yvain was welcomed, what greeting
He got, and how it was given.
Every
one there in that garden 5400
Leaped to their feet when they saw him.
As soon as they saw him they cried
With one voice: “This way, good sir!
Whatever blessings God
Can pronounce or bestow, may they come 5405
To you and anyone you love!”
I haven't the faintest idea
If they lied, but they welcomed him happily
And seemed to be pleased that he
Could be lodged with them, and lodged well. 5410
Even the lord’s daughter
Served him with honor, behaving
As one should to a worthy guest.
She helped him off with his armor,
Nor was that the least she did, 5415
For she washed his face and his neck
With her very own hands. And the lord
Of the house insisted that every
Honor be shown him, and so
It was. She took a pleated 5420
Shirt from her storage chest,
And white stockings, and a needle
And thread to sew on the sleeves,
And did so. He was dressed: God keep
This service from becoming too costly! 5425
And she gave him a good coat
To wear over his shirt,
And a red furred cloak, fashionably
Cut, to wrap round his neck,
And was so attentive in every 5430
Way that he grew embarrassed.
But the girl was so open and courteous,
So plainly kind and good,
That she thought she had done very little.
And further, she knew perfectly 5435
Well that her mother wished nothing
Undone that might possibly please him.
That night they brought him so much
To eat that he could not eat everything.
The men at arms who carried 5440
The dishes must have been angry.
And at bedtime they served him with such
High honor that he lay down in comfort,
And no one dared to come near him
Once he had taken to his bed. 5445
The lion lay at his feet,
As he always did. And in
The morning, when God lit up
His light, for the world to see with,
Yvain got out of bed 5450
As quickly and quietly and early
As he could, without disturbing
The household, and he and the girl
Went to the chapel and heard
Mass, which the priest said 5455
At once, to the Holy Ghost’s honor.
And after the Mass my lord
Yvain was given bad news,
Thinking the time had come
To leave, and nothing would stop him. 5460
But it did not go as he wished.
He said to his host: “Lord,
I shall leave you, with your permission.”
And the lord of the house answered:
“My friend! I cannot grant it, 5465
Not yet. And I have a reason.
An exceedingly cruel and devilish
Yvain Page 14
