The Life of Saint Enimie. A 13th c text by Bertran de Marseille. Original Translation by Karena Akhavein. A reader's companion for the adventure novel Translatio
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virgin began to think
650.How could have returned
651.and for which reason
652.The sickness another time
653.And she said to herself while thinking:
654.“It could be that I did something
655.Against God without knowing it
656.Yesterday when I bathed
657.so that he would give back to me
658.The sickness a second time;
659.Nor did he do this
660.So that never in my whole life
661.For no reason in the world
662.I might leave the saintly fountain
663.And that I remain in that place.
664. I don’t know if He did it so that I would never leave.”
665.Then when she had thought thusly,
666.And that they had not gone far,
667.The sickness seized her another time,
668.And she was yet again completely consumed;
669.So still in that place
670.Where she was all consumed by the sickness
671.There are two mas, that the people call
672.Branede, for the burning sensation,
673.This place is on the path,
674.Where she questioned herself,
675.There is another mas that we call
676.Pessada, because she questioned herself there.
677.Denhas, Branede, and Pessada,
678.Those three mas are on the road
679.And are within a half league of each other
680.And anyone who wants to find them can know it.
681.Pessada is between the two other mas
682.Of Branede and Denhas.
683.Let us return to our story.
684.The damsel was sick
685.And her body was all afire
686.Just as I have told it to you
687.Because for nothing in the world
688.Did God, who had given her the sickness,
689.Wish for her to return to France,
690.To worldly joy.
691.So he wanted her to return
692.To Burla, the place you have visited
693.Where he had cured her well
694.And there she would remain her whole life
695.So that in order to see her kingdom
696.She not lose her rightly palace.
697.So then you would have seen the great sorrow
698.Of the knights in the company
699.And of the ladies also
700.Who cried and carried on,
701.Wrung their hands, tore out their hair,
702.They made the most lament that has ever been seen,
703.By their crying and by their wails,
704.They made the whole valley resonate.
705.When the virgin felt herself ill,
706.She pressed her hand on her cheek,
707.And had neither faith nor hope
708.That the sickness should ever leave her.
709.And then she complained and lamented herself
710.To God, for he tormented her thus.
711.But then she held the belief
712.That it did not please God
713.That she return to her country,
714.And for this reason he waged this war on her.
715.And she remembered this sermon,
716.That the ox can do nothing against the rod,
717.And she returned to Burla,
718.Her and her whole company.
719.Then she began her orations,
720.She and all her companions
721.“Lord, said she, glorious father,
722.You do not let me to my home
723.Return, and so you make me remain
724.In this place according to your pleasure.
725.But, Lord, of that which I have asked of you,
726.Because you know what I need,
727.Do not do that which is pleasing to me,
728.But do that which is your will.
729.And even if you wish that I should have
730.Forever this disease, that it torment me,
731.Lord, never would I be angry,
732.And never would I stop serving you.”
733.When she had finished her oration,
734.She bathed in the clear water.
735.There and then she became beautiful and pure;
736.God had cured her there.
737.Then they made no small praise
738.To God, our Lord,
739.The virgin and her companions,
740.For he had removed her from the harm,
741.And then she no longer had the desire
742.That she should return to her country;
743.but because of the concern
744.She had for her companions,
745.She had them come before her
746.And began to say to them:
747.“Great thanks, Barons, I give to you,
748.Because you never let me more than two feet away from you
749.Through the disease that you saw me contract
750.For this I owe you great thanks.
751.You know well how everything happened,
752.From my disease to my curing,
753.And how God tormented me
754.When I tried to return.
755.And as you have seen,
756.By the strength of Jesus Christ
757.I remain here in this land,
758.For I cannot wage war with God at all.
759.But I would have desired
760.To see my parents, if I could have;
761.But God wanted to keep me,
762.I must do according to his will.
763.And if there is anyone among you
764.Who would like to serve the Glorious king
765.With me, If it pleases you, remain,
766.And we will be good company for each other;
767.But for those who would like
768.To return, they can well do it.
769.When Enimie had spoken,
770.They all shouted with one cry
771.And promised the damsel
772.That in all times they would remain with her.
773.Then she gave thanks to Jesus
774.For she had made such a great conquest.
775.Enimie the saintly young girl
776.Was happy and joyful because of this
777.Because they were willing to remain with her
778.To perform God’s will.
779.But in the end there were some
780.To whom staying was not pleasing,
781.Who wished to return to France
782.To tell of the miracles,
783.Or they had perchance
784.In their lands their progeny
785.Which they still wished to see;
786.For this reason they did not wish to stay.
787.Enimie assembled them,
788.All those who wished to leave,
789.But there were not many of them,
790.Who were returning to their country.
791.“Barons, you will go to France,
792.And tell the tales
793.What happened to me, and in which manner,
794.In this place and on the road.
795.And you will beg the king my father,
796.When you have arrived, and my mother,
797.As well as my dear brother,
798.That they do not derive any chagrin from me,
799.Nor that they conduct themselves in an unbefitting manner;
800.For this I pray them dearly,
801.For I will always profit them
802.With the prayers that I will say for them.
803.And then you will say on my part
804.That I ask them to be merciful
805.And that be given to the poor
806.All that comes to me through inheritance.”
807.When she had finished her speech,
80
8.The damsel gave them a lot of money
809.And they were on their way
810.And in this way came after many days
811.To Clovis, the king of France
812.And they told him the true story
813.And the whole miracle tale
814.Of Enimie his daughter,
815.So that the king was amazed
816.Along with all the other people of France.
817.About the mother, you could well say
818.That she could display no joy nor laughter
819.When she came to learn
820.That her daughter had remained.
821.Let us speak of Enimie now,
822.Of how she remained there,
823.At the fountain about which you have heard,
824.Where she was cured of her sickness.
825.She searched up and down,
826.In the area around the fountain,
827.And then she climbed up a rock
828.That you would say touched the sky.
829.The rock is on the side of the setting sun,
830.On that side when the fountain is.
831.While she was circling the rock,
832.And was climbing on the heights,
833.She found a large cave
834.Which was in the middle of the rock.
835.Into the cave entered
836.The righteous virgin,
837.And found a small fountain
838.Where a small amount of water welled up,
839.But God made a large amount of water come
840.Out of love for her in this place.
841.When she had examined the cave
842.Completely, she was very happy with it,
843.And it became her heart’s desire
844.That in there she should make her dwelling,
845.And she kept by her side, to keep her company,
846.A god-daughter that she had,
847.Who was also called
848.Enimie, from the moment she was born.
849.she sent the others into the valley,
850.Around the Tarn, upstream and downstream,
851.And told each one what to do,
852.And how to comport themselves towards God,
853.And how they could well resist
854.Satan and his affairs,
855.And that everything that might happen to them,
856.They should come tell it to her daily,
857.In the cave where she was.
858.Then those throughout the wild valley
859.Went to build their huts,
860.According to the command of the virgin,
861.And afterwards each dwells
862.Like a hermit or a recluse
863.And they do the will
864.Of their lady entirely.
865.The virgin lived a saintly life
866.In the cave that she had discovered,
867.So much that the angels of our Lord
868.Came down there each day
869.To comfort the saintly damsel
870.And to praise Jesus Christ with her.
871.but afterwards, when it was heard
872.Through the Gevaudan about her life,
873.The people came in a great stream
874.To see the miracles of God,
875.For as Jesus said,
876.The light, even when it is down in a well,
877.Cannot be hidden by anything,
878.So that it does not manifest itself,
879.And so it