Heroines of the French Epic

by Newth, Michael A. H. ;

  That he indeed was someone of great nobility.

  He told them he was one of the Monarch’s royal suite,

  And that he’d lost his bearings beneath the many trees!

  2780 They did him every honour when they had heard him speak,

  Then Pepin motioned Simon aside with him, for he

  Was keen to make inquiry of Bertha’s chastity,

  As one who had desired it so long and lovingly.

  THE MONARCH PEPIN stood, his face with valour gleaming,

  In Simon’s little house beside the leafy greenwood.

  When Simon saw the way the noble’s thoughts were leading,

  He called his wife at once to join them in their meeting.

  “My lady,” said the King, “inform me, if it please you,

  Just who this maiden is who’s led me here to see you.”

  2790 “My lord, she is a niece who’s lived with us for years now,

  And through her honest ways has won our hearts completely.

  God help me, my own girls are not as good as she is!

  But nor are you, it seems, who forced yourself, or nearly,

  Upon a helpless maid – which I consider evil!

  You’ve made her so upset that I can guarantee you,

  Upon my husband’s beard, if your indulgent liege lord

  Were other than the King, you’d pay for her mistreatment!

  If I would not be damned, I’d rather die, believe me,

  Than see you shame the name of such a blameless creature –

  2800 I’ve never seen before so virtuous a being,

  Nor anyone who loved our Lord as much as she does.”

  When Pepin heard this speech, he stared upon its speaker:

  “My lady,” he replied, “since we are speaking freely,

  This maiden stopped me short by telling me one detail,

  Which, if it is the truth, can only place me deeper

  In debt to you for all the time you’ve been her keeper:

  She told me that her name was Bertha, then proceeded

  To say she was the wife of France’s King and leader.

  Please tell me straightaway if this is truth or treason –

  2810 And please make very sure that you do not deceive me,

  Or you could find the debt you owe to me is deeper!”

  When Simon and his wife had heard his words, then neither

  Could hide the fear they felt, which dwelt upon their features:

  They’d said she was their niece – a lie that much aggrieved them.

  Good Simon said: “My lord, I beg of you to hear me!

  Since things have come to this, and for her own good reason

  She has revealed to you the Bertha she is really,

  Then we say ‘God be praised’ – we know at last her secret:

  We weren’t aware of this, I swear, by our Redeemer!”

  2820 Then Simon told his guest about the day and season

  He’d found her so distressed, with dawn of day appearing.

  He told him of her woes: how she was lost and weeping

  With hunger and with cold, her body blue and bleeding.

  He told him how she’d tried to hide her name and breeding,

  By saying that Alsace had been her native region,

  And that some sort of war had forced her then to flee it

  Until she could no more, when tempests shook the greenwood.

  “I tell you truly, lord – for truly I believe it –

  Her heart-beat would have stopped if we’d not kept it beating.

  2830 We’ve housed her ever since, and cared for her most dearly.

  We said she was our niece, and did so for this reason:

  We wanted every man and woman here to treat her

  With due respect and not to hold her honour cheaply:

  For I would have you know her character is peerless:

  So wise she is and good in deed and in demeanour

  That Pepin’s land contains no maid who is her equal.”

  On hearing this, the King was filled with happy feelings.

  “BY ALL THE FAITH,” said Simon, “I owe to you, sir knight,

  As being of the party of our beloved Sire,

  2840 I welcome you most gladly inside this house of mine –

  The more so since your tidings have brought me a delight

  That passes any other I’ve had in all my life!

  I swear that we’ve known nothing about it all this time!

  I still cannot believe it – yet Bertha would not lie.

  But if she’s who you’re saying, I see no reason why

  She would have tried to hide it – I’m truly mystified,

  For she’s so honest-hearted, so virtuous and wise.”

  “Good Simon,” said his stranger, “then here’s what I would like:

  Let all of us confront her and speak our honest minds.”

  2850 The warden answered swiftly: “We’ll do as you desire.”

  “MAY I SUGGEST this plan, my lord?” said worthy Simon:

  “There is a curtain here; if you could hide behind it

  While I go with my wife Constanzia to find her,

  We’ll talk to her alone, then, when her mind is quiet,

  We’ll bring her back in here, where you will be in hiding,

  And seek the truth of this; with trust she will confide it.

  This way’s the best I know, and so I would advise it.”

  The King said that to him it also seemed the wisest,

  And so, as he’d agreed, the matter was decided.

  2860 The warden found the maid, and, with his wife beside him,

  Her took her by the hand to where King Pepin bided.

  “Good mistress,” Bertha said, “If I might dare inquire it:

  What has become of him, that nobleman out riding,

  Who stopped me on my way from chapel and decided

  To harass me so much that I am still affrighted?”

  “You won’t see him again,” Constanzia confided:

  “But something that he said both gladdened and surprised us –

  Indeed I am upset that you resolved to hide it!”

  Fair Bertha dropped her gaze, ashamed of her white-lying.

  2870 When Simon sat her down, beside him, she was silent.

  “I SWEAR, BY GOOD St Rémi,” said Simon straightaway,

  “The knight who has this moment just vanished from our gaze,

  Revealed a truth about you, for which the Lord be praised:

  That you were wife to Pepin, the King of our domains.

  You’ve kept this from us, always, and now we feel ashamed

  That we, not knowing better, dishonoured your estate.”

  “My lovely one,” his wife said, “don’t lie to us again,

  But please tell us the truth now, for our Redeemer’s sake.”

  On hearing this, what blushes beflooded Bertha’s face,

  2880 But nonetheless she answered directly and with grace:

  “Some time ago, good mistress, you questioned me the same!

  If I had been Queen Bertha, I would have told you straight:

  Indeed I would have told you upon the day I came.

  The truth is, I could think of no other way to gain

  The mercy of that courtier who courted me today:

  I think, had I not said it, he would have had his way.

  By this deceit I managed to save myself from shame:

  I said I was the daughter of Flor, of high estate,

  And had been wife to Pepin before I’d been betrayed.

  2890 This gallant knew the story of how a certain maid

 
Had tricked the royal Bertha and had her hauled away

  And left inside a forest to perish or be slain –

  And stopped his game as soon as he heard me tell my tale.

  I saw no other method of keeping him at bay.

  I used a ruse against him which, thank the Lord, prevailed.”

  SEE BERTHA IN the room, that slender, gentle maiden,

  With Simon and his wife, that tender-hearted matron!

  Young Bertha didn’t know that Pepin too was waiting,

  When she was asked to give a truthful explanation

  2900 Of all that she had said then contradicted later.

  But she had made a pledge to Mary and our Saviour

  To not reveal the truth – and trembled now to break it!

  Constanzia, at last, was moved enough to take her

  Away from this ordeal and to her daughters’ chamber.

  She then returned to where her husband was bewailing,

  And Pepin had appeared, in all of his frustration.

  She said to him: “My lord, I see your sorrow plainly.

  I don’t know what you think, but my confusion’s greater!

  In faith, if she were Queen, what purpose would it gain her

  2910 To veil the truth – in truth, it would be mad to veil it!

  I don’t know what to say, or what to do to aid you.”

  The King stood up to go, his face a mask of failure,

  Farewelling them in woe, without delay or waiting.

  Good Simon showed his guest the best way that would take him

  Directly to Le Mans and not across the Chases –

  In truth, his taste for stag had fully lost its savour.

  WHEN PEPIN AND good Simon were distant from the house,

  The Monarch hailed the warden, whose virtue was his crown:

  “You do not know me, do you? So I shall tell you now:

  2920 I am your monarch Pepin – and that’s the truth, I vow!”

  On hearing this, how happy the woodsman was! He bowed

  Directly, then, dismounted to kneel upon the ground.

  “My lord, a thousand welcomes,” good Simon cried aloud.

  “But I am so embarrassed, to learn it now, at how

  Not knowing this beforehand, my ignorance allowed

  Your honour to be wanting by such a want in ours.”

  “There is no want,” said Pepin, “This hour has done you proud –

  Although my search continues along a trail of doubt

  To find the heart I cherished and treason hunted down.”

  2930 King Pepin spoke of Bertha until he had unwound

  The heavy coil of sorrow in which his heart was bound.

  “GOOD SIMON,” said the King, “please carry out my counsel:

  When I am in Le Mans and you are with your household,

  Say nothing more of this to anyone around you.

  Except to your own wife you must keep mum about it,

  For I am still convinced, by how my heart is pounding,

  That Bertha is my wife – your Bertha – never doubt it!

  I can’t imagine why she wants to disavow it!”

  “Your Highness, so think I! Denounce me as a scoundrel

  2940 If that is not your wife inside my humble bower.

  How close to death she stood when in the wood I found her,

  Her bleeding body numb from cold and hunger’s hounding!

  Perhaps she made a vow, while still she had the power,

  To hide her name henceforth if she survived the hour.

  If such a vow were made, she’d never want to flout it

  For all the wealth of Rome – for it cannot be doubted,

  There never was a maid of virtue so astounding.”

  “Good Simon,” said the King, “your notion is a sound one:

  There is an answer here, and you, I think, have found it.

  2950 But I’ve been tricked before by what a woman vowed me,

  And so, to be assured, beyond all doubt about it,

  I shall inform King Flor, her father wise and doughty,

  And noble Blancheflor, forgetting neither’s bounty,

  That Bertha has been found – a claim itself well founded –

  And one of them, I’m sure, will hurry here to sound it!

  The envoy who shall go to make them this announcement

  Will know his task tonight and by the morn be mounted.

  You’ll see me here again, as soon as time allows it,

  But while I am away, don’t breathe a word about it.

  2960 Commend me to your wife – for I commend her roundly –

  And honour my true wife, fair Bertha, more profoundly

  And soundly than before – your love for me accounting.”

  Said Simon: “Sire, I will – most willingly and proudly.”

  Again they took the road and wandered up and down it

  Until they saw his hounds and many of his houndsmen.

  The warden left at once, to Pepin’s duty bounden,

  Who blessed him as he left most sweetly and devoutly.

  The warden reached his house, called ‘Home among the Flowers’,

  And told his wife the truth of Pepin and their ‘foundling’.

  2970 On hearing it, her joy and praises were unbounded:

  She kissed her husband’s cheeks, she flung her arms around him,

  As Pepin reached Le Mans and straightaway dismounted.

  Without a rest or pause he reach the hall and shouted

  His private chaplain forth, with parchment, ink and powder,

  To set his message down and with his seal endow it.

  That very day it lay inside the envoy’s pouches:

  God guide him on his way, Whose majesty surrounds us!

  THE MESSENGER departed at once, with every speed,

  For noble-hearted Pepin impressed on him the need,

  2980 And pledged, on his returning, to make him rich indeed.

  The King himself departed, returning to his seat

  Of Paris, with Duke Naimon, for whom his love was deep,

  And whom he honoured greatly, with all his men of liege.

  The messenger continued until at last he reached

  And found inside his palace the king of Hungary,

  With Blancheflor beside him, that paragon of queens.

  The messenger approached them and, falling to his knees,

  He gave them Pepin’s greeting with every courtesy,

  Then handed them the parchment for both to see and read.

  2990 The king himself unrolled it, unfastening its seal,

  And hadn’t finished reading before he called the queen

  In tones of great excitement: “Attend to this, my sweet,

  And give the Lord your praises for tidings such as these,

  Which rightly will delight you and everybody here!”

  He read from start to finish, omitting naught between,

  How everything had happened and what had intervened:

  How Pepin had gone hunting, and how he’d chanced to meet

  Fair Bertha in a forest where she had been for years.

  Then why, when having found her, he’d left and let her be –

  3000 Although he was convinced of her true identity –

  Until King Flor could come there, or Blancheflor, and see

  This Bertha to assure him that it was truly she:

  They’d come if they loved Bertha one half as much as he:

  At this the royal couple could neither move or speak.

  They looked at one another, with joy bereft of speech.

  The tears of Flor were flowing, from joy and pity each; />
  The queen fell in a fainting, her heart was so replete.

  Her husband’s arms enclasped her and helped her to her feet.

  As soon as she’d recovered she said that she would leave,

  3010 And that no town or village would give her two nights’ sleep

  Until she’d kissed her daughter upon the mouth and cheek.

  She didn’t doubt one moment this maid’s identity:

  Her mother’s heart assured that this was truly she.

  “My lady,” said her husband, “don’t fret again to hear

  That someone must go with you, and that this man – who leaves

  At light of dawn tomorrow – is no one else but me!”

  On hearing this, how happy and thankful was the queen!

  King Flor, without delaying, commanded all to be

  Prepared for their departure as soon as dawn appeared.

  3000 Before the whole assembly the messenger received

  A mother’s hug and kisses from Blancheflor the queen.

  The morrow, bright and early, saw Flor upon his steed

  And leading forth a bevy of barons through the streets.

  So steady was their progress, so ready was their zeal,

  That soon they came to Paris, where Pepin and his Peers

  Received them very warmly, with every joy and cheer

  And honour that befitted such regal royalty.

  WITH EVERY HONOUR’S grace and favour Pepin greeted

  The worthy Magyar pair, King Flor the hoary-bearded

  3030 And Blancheflor his wife, whose character was peerless.

  They talked of many things before the queen entreated:

  “King Pepin, in the name of Jesus, I beseech you

  To speed us to the spot which is our journey’s reason!”

  “My lady,” he replied, “there’s nothing more would please me!

  Tomorrow, with the dawn, God willing, we’ll be leaving.”

  And so, they only stayed one night before proceeding

  Upon their way so well they reached the Mansel region

  At dinner time that day, or so the record teaches.

  The queen was so on edge, for Bertha’s sake, her feelings

  3040 Would not let her partake in drinking or in eating:

  She simply wouldn’t rest until she knew, by seeing,

  If they had truly found her daughter in the greenwood.

  While she was in this mind, good Simon came to meet them.