CHAPTER XIII: HALLBLITHE BEHOLDETH THE WOMAN WHO LOVETH HIM
But on the morrow the men arose, and the Sea-eagle and his damsel came toHallblithe; for the other two damsels were departed, and the Sea-eaglesaid to him:
"Here am I well honoured and measurelessly happy; and I have a messagefor thee from the King."
"What is it?" said Hallblithe; but he deemed that he knew what it wouldbe, and he reddened for the joy of his assured hope.
Said the Sea-eagle: "Joy to thee, O shipmate! I am to take thee to theplace where thy beloved abideth, and there shalt thou see her, but not soas she can see thee; and thereafter shalt thou go to the King, that thoumayst tell him if she shall accomplish thy desire."
Then was Hallblithe glad beyond measure, and his heart danced within him,and he deemed it but meet that the others should be so joyous and blithewith him, for they led him along without any delay, and were glad at hisrejoicing; and words failed him to tell of his gladness.
But as he went, the thoughts of his coming converse with his belovedcurled sweetly round his heart, so that scarce anything had seemed sosweet to him before; and he fell a-pondering what they twain, he and theHostage, should do when they came together again; whether they shouldabide on the Glittering Plain, or go back again to Cleveland by the Seaand dwell in the House of the Kindred; and for his part he yearned tobehold the roof of his fathers and to tread the meadow which his scythehad swept, and the acres where his hook had smitten the wheat. But hesaid to himself, "I will wait till I hear her desire hereon."
Now they went into the wood at the back of the King's pavilion andthrough it, and so over the hill, and beyond it came into a land of hillsand dales exceeding fair and lovely; and a river wound about the dales,lapping in turn the feet of one hill-side or the other; and in each dale(for they passed through two) was a goodly house of men, and tillageabout it, and vineyards and orchards. They went all day till the sun wasnear setting, and were not weary, for they turned into the houses by theway when they would, and had good welcome and meat and drink and whatthey would of the folk that dwelt there. Thus anigh sunset they cameinto a dale fairer than either of the others, and nigh to the end wherethey had entered it was an exceeding goodly house. Then said the damsel:
"We are nigh-hand to our journey's end; let us sit down on the grass bythis river-side whilst I tell thee the tale which the King would havethee know."
So they sat down on the grass beside the brimming river, scant twobowshots from that fair house, and the damsel said, reading from a scrollwhich she drew from her bosom:
"O Spearman, in yonder house dwelleth the woman foredoomed to love thee:if thou wouldst see her, go thitherward, following the path which turnethfrom the river-side by yonder oak-tree, and thou shalt presently come toa thicket of bay-trees at the edge of an apple-orchard, whose trees areblossoming; abide thou hidden by the bay-leaves, and thou shalt seemaidens come into the orchard, and at last one fairer than all theothers. This shall be thy love fore-doomed, and none other; and thoushalt know her by this token, that when she hath set her down on thegrass beside the bay-tree, she shall say to her maidens 'Bring me now thebook wherein is the image of my beloved, that I may solace myself withbeholding it before the sun goes down and the night cometh.'"
Now Hallblithe was troubled when she read out these words, and he said:"What is this tale about a book? I know not of any book that liethbetwixt me and my beloved."
"O Spearman," said the damsel, "I may tell thee no more, because I knowno more. But keep up thine heart! For dost thou know any more than I dowhat hath befallen thy beloved since thou wert sundered from her? and whyshould not this matter of the book be one of the things that hathbefallen her? Go now with joy, and come again blessing us."
"Yea, go, faring-fellow," said the Sea-eagle, "and come back joyful, thatwe may all be merry together. And we will abide thee here."
Hallblithe foreboded evil, but he held his peace and went his ways downthe path by the oak-tree; and they abode there by the water-side, andwere very merry talking of this and that (but no whit of Hallblithe), andkissing and caressing each other; so that it seemed but a little while tothem ere they saw Hallblithe coming back by the oak-tree. He wentslowly, hanging his head like a man sore-burdened with grief: thus hecame up to them, and stood there above them as they lay on the fragrantgrass, and he saying no word and looking so sad and sorry, and withal sofell, that they feared his grief and his anger, and would fain have beenaway from him; so that they durst not ask him a question for a longwhile, and the sun sank below the hill while they abided thus.
Then all trembling the damsel spake to the Sea-eagle: "Speak to him, dearfriend, else must I flee away, for I fear his silence."
Quoth the Sea-eagle: "Shipmate and friend, what hath betided? How artthou? May we hearken, and mayhappen amend it?"
Then Hallblithe cast himself adown on the grass and said: "I am accursedand beguiled; and I wander round and round in a tangle that I may notescape from. I am not far from deeming that this is a land of dreamsmade for my beguiling. Or has the earth become so full of lies, thatthere is no room amidst them for a true man to stand upon his feet and gohis ways?"
Said the Sea-eagle: "Thou shalt tell us of what hath betid, and so easethe sorrow of thy soul if thou wilt. Or if thou wilt, thou shalt nursethy sorrow in thine heart and tell no man. Do what thou wilt; am I notbecome thy friend?"
Said Hallblithe: "I will tell you twain the tidings, and thereafter askme no more concerning them. Hearken. I went whereas ye bade me, and hidmyself in the bay-tree thicket; and there came maidens into theblossoming orchard and made a resting-place with silken cushions close towhere I was lurking, and stood about as though they were looking for someone to come. In a little time came two more maidens, and betwixt themone so much fairer than any there, that my heart sank within me: whereasI deemed because of her fairness that this would be the fore-doomed lovewhereof ye spake, and lo, she was in nought like to my troth-plightmaiden, save that she was exceeding beauteous: nevertheless, heart-sickas I was, I determined to abide the token that ye told me of. So she laydown amidst those cushions, and I beheld her that she was sad ofcountenance; and she was so near to me that I could see the tears wellinginto her eyes, and running down her cheeks; so that I should have grievedsorely for her had I not been grieving so sorely for myself. Forpresently she sat up and said 'O maiden, bring me hither the book whereinis the image of my beloved, that I may behold it in this season of sunsetwherein I first beheld it; that I may fill my heart with the sightthereof before the sun is gone and the dark night come.'
"Then indeed my heart died within me when I wotted that this was the lovewhereof the King spake, that he would give to me, and she not mine ownbeloved, yet I could not choose but abide and look on a while, and shebeing one that any man might love beyond measure. Now a maiden went awayinto the house and came back again with a book covered with gold set withgems; and the fair woman took it and opened it, and I was so near to herthat I saw every leaf clearly as she turned the leaves. And in that bookwere pictures of many things, as flaming mountains, and castles of war,and ships upon the sea, but chiefly of fair women, and queens, andwarriors and kings; and it was done in gold and azure and cinnabar andminium. So she turned the leaves, till she came to one whereon waspictured none other than myself, and over against me was the image ofmine own beloved, the Hostage of the Rose, as if she were alive, so thatthe heart within me swelled with the sobbing which I must needs refrain,which grieved me like a sword-stroke. Shame also took hold of me as thefair woman spoke to my painted image, and I lying well-nigh within touchof her hand; but she said: 'O my beloved, why dost thou delay to come tome? For I deemed that this eve at least thou wouldst come, so many andstrong as are the meshes of love which we have cast about thy feet. Ohcome to-morrow at the least and latest, or what shall I do, and wherewithshall I quench the grief of my heart? Or else why am I the daughter ofthe Undying King, the Lord of the Treasure of the Sea? Why have theywro
ught new marvels for me, and compelled the Ravagers of the Coasts toserve me, and sent false dreams flitting on the wings of the night? Yea,why is the earth fair and fruitful, and the heavens kind above it, ifthou comest not to-night, nor to-morrow, nor the day after? And I thedaughter of the Undying, on whom the days shall grow and grow as thegrains of sand which the wind heaps up above the sea-beach. And lifeshall grow huger and more hideous round about the lonely one, like theling-worm laid upon the gold, that waxeth thereby, till it lies allaround about the house of the queen entrapped, the moveless unending ringof the years that change not.'
"So she spake till the weeping ended her words, and I was all abashedwith shame and pale with anguish. I stole quietly from my lair unheededof any, save that one damsel said that a rabbit ran in the hedge, andanother that a blackbird stirred in the thicket. Behold me, then, thatmy quest beginneth again amidst the tangle of lies whereinto I have beenentrapped."
The Story of the Glittering Plain Page 13