CHAPTER V. THE CASTLE OF THE LEPER.
The {071}knight had rode for great part of the day beneath the rays ofa most burning sun, and horse and rider both alike fatigued, when hebeheld a young and handsome squire running towards him at his greatestspeed. Rent was his garment even to his waist; and on he came, withmadness in his looks, tearing by handfuls his fair curling hair.
Scarce did he make out Jaufry from afar when he exclaimed:
"Fly, fly, brave knight, fly quickly from this spot, an that thouchoosest not to lose thy life!"
"And wherefore so, fair friend?" asked Dovon's son.
"Fly, for the love of God, say I; nor lose thou further time."
"Art {072}thou, then, shorn of sense," exclaimed the knight, "suchcounsel to propose, when I behold no foe?"
"Ah!" cried the squire then, "he comes; he's there; nor think I ina year to cure the fright that he hath caused me! He hath slain mylord,--a knight of price, who was conducting to his castle-home hislady-wife, a Norman count's most noble daughter. This wretch hath seizedthe bride; and to myself has caused such dire fear, that ev'ry limbstill trembles at the shock."
"And is't because _thou_ fearest," asked Sir Jaufry, red with rage,"thou counsell'st flight to _me?_ By holy faith, I hold thee fool, andworse."
As he spoke thus, a leper came in sight, who sped along, a child withinhis arms. Its wretched mother, with dishevelled hair, followed withpiercing cries. When she beheld the knight, she knelt down at his feet,and in a tone of agony exclaimed:
"Mercy, my lord; O, mercy! For the love of Heaven, grant me help, andget me back the child yon leper bears."
"Woman," responded Jaufry, "wherefore takes he it?"
"My {073}lord, because it is his wicked will."
"Had he no other cause?"
"No, by your glorious sire!"
"Since it is thus," quoth Jaufry, "he is wrong; and I will try to win itback for you."
He spurred at once his horse, she following; and cried aloud, with allthe strength he had:
"Halt, leprous, wicked wretch! and bring thou back the child!"
The leper turned his head and raised his hand, making the mark of scorn;which so enraged the knight, he swore the insult deeply to avenge. Thehideous leper answered with a laugh; for he had reached the threshold ofhis door. He darted in for refuge, followed full speed by Jaufry; who,dismounting from his horse, which with his lance he left to the poordame, dashed through the castle-gate with sword in hand and shield uponhis arm.
As he was traversing the castle through, which he found vast andsumptuous to the view, he came into a hall where a huge leper, frightfulto behold, had cast upon a couch a damsel in first youth, whose beautyin that age could scarce be matched. Her cheek was fresher than anopening rose at break of day, and her torn {074}vesture half-betrayeda bosom snowy white. Her eyes were bathed in tears; her words, despair,and sobs, moved Jaufry's soul: but when the leper rose and seized hisclub, such feelings changed to horror and surprise.
He was in height more tall than knightly lance, and at the shoulders wastwo fathoms broad: his arms and hands were huge, his fingers crookt andfull of knots, his cheeks were spread with pustules and with scales; abroken pupil, eyes without lids but with vermilion edged, blue lips, andyellow teeth, made up the portrait of this monster dread. Fiercer thanliving coal he flew on Jaufry, bidding him straight to yield.
"No, certes,' the knight replied.
"Say, who in evil hour sent thee here?"
"No one."
"And pray what seekest thou?"
"A child, that from its mother hath been torn by lep'rous hands, whichmust give up their prey."
"Vain fool, 'tis _I_ forbid,--I, by whose mace thy fate shall now besealed; better for thee thou hadst not risen the morn, since thou shaltnow for ever lay thee down."
His club he raised in uttering these words, and on the {075}shield ofJaufry then let fall so fierce a blow, the knight went reeling to theground. Again that club was raised; but Jaufry rose and fled. Certeshe had cause to flee the stroke he saw impending; for that huge massof iron as it fell made the vast hall to tremble. Then Jaufry, with abound, before the leper stood, and with firm hand dealt him in turn ablow which took a palm from off his raiment and the flesh behind. Seeinghis blood, which fast began to stream, the giant uttered first a fearfulcry, then ran at Jaufry, raising his knotted club with both his hands.
Scarce could the youthful knight evade the stroke and leap behind acolumn; the monster struck it with such dire strength, the massive ironcrushed the marble plinth, and all the castle groaned.
Meanwhile the damsel fervently prayed Heaven, as humbly on theblood-stained stones she knelt:
"O, mighty Lord, who in Thy image didst great Adam make; Thou who hastdone so much to save us all,--now save me from this wretch, and let yonknight withdraw me from his hands!"
Her orison scarce o'er, Jaufry stepped out, and ere the giant couldagain his heavy club let fall, he with his trenchant blade had severedhis right arm. Being thus {076}lopped, the monster in his wrath andagony so loudly groaned, the palace trembled to its very base and shookthe outer air. In vain did Jaufry dodge his falling mace, it struck himto the ground; so that from nostrils, eyes, and mouth, the purple streamburst forth. The mace, in falling on the marble flags, now brake intwain, which Jaufry seeing, he uprose in haste, and newly struck theleper; at the knee-joint he aimed; the monster reeled, then fell likesome great tree.
Prone as the leper lay, Jaufry ran up, his sword in air, and said:
"Methinks that peace will soon be made 'twixt you and me."
Then letting fall his sword with both his hands, he clove the monster'shead e'en to the teeth. In the convulsions of his agony still fiercelystrove the wretch, and with his foot hurled him so madly 'gainst thedistant wall, Sir Jaufry fell deprived of sound and sight. His tremblinghand no longer clutched his sword; like ruby wine, from nostrils andfrom mouth burst forth his blood, and motion made he none.*
* E l'mezel a si repennat, Que tal cop l'a del pe donat,
For {077}an instant's space the damsel thought her champion was gone. Ingrief she hastened to undo the straps which bound his polished casque.The freshness drawing from his breast a sigh, she ran for water, andhis face she bathed. His senses half-re-turned, he staggered up, andthinking still to hold his trusty blade, he struck the damsel,--deemingher the foe,--to such effect that both rolled on the ground. Like madmanthen he sped around the hall, and ran behind a column, where he crouchedand trembled 'neath his shield.
'Twas there the damsel came; and in a voice of dulcet tone, she said:
"Brave knight, come, ope again those manly eyes, and see who 'tis thatspeaks. Forget ye what is due to chivalry, of which you are a lord? yourcourage and your fame? Recall yourself, and lower that bright shield;behold, the leper's dead!"
C'a ana part, lo fas anar E si ab la paret urtar Que l'auzer li tolc e l'vezer Et anet a terra cazer E l'sanc tot yin clar e vermeil I eis per lo nas e la bocha.....
Ms. fol. 28 verso, verse 2461.
Jaufry {078}recovered at this heart'ning speech, and finding his headbare,--
"Damsel," he asked, "who hath removed my casque, and taken my goodsword?"
"Myself, good lord, whilst you were in a swoon."
"The giant, what doth he?"
"Bathed in his blood and at your feet he lies." Jaufry looked up, andwhen the corpse he saw thus shattered and quite still, he slowly rose,and sat him on a bench until his senses were again restored; then, whenthe dizziness had fled his brain, he thought upon the mother and thechild, and straightway ran from hall to hall to search the infant out.But though he sought and ran and called aloud, neither the leper nor thechild appeared.
"I will yet search and search," he then exclaimed; "or here or out thedoor they must be found; for I'll not hold me at a denier's worth tillto the mother her poor child's restored, and I've had vengeance for thatleper's scorn."
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With such resolve, he strode towards the door; but though the portal wasthrown open wide, he could not pass it through. Spite of his will, hisefforts, and his strength, {079}his feet seemed stopped before an unseenbar.
"Good Heaven," he said, "what! am I then entranced?"
He drew him back, and gathering for a spring, with wond'rous force hebounded to the door. Still all was vain, he could not cross the sill.Again and yet again he tried, till deep discouragement iced o'er hisheart. Then tears broke from his eyes, and murmuring:
"Alas, good Lord," he said, "Thou gav'st me strength to kill yon wickedwretch; what boots it, if I here must captive be?"
'Twas as he thus bemoaned his adverse fate, there broke upon his earfrom some nigh place a sound of infant tongues, which sadly cried:
"Save us, O, save us, mighty lord!"
Swift at the sound he roused his spirit up, and running, found at oneend of a hall a close-shut door fast bolted from within. Jaufry calledout, and struck it with great noise; yet answer none was made: enragedat this, he burst it in with force, and with his naked blade entered agloomy vault. There was the leper found, with knife in hand, whoseven infants had just put {080}to death. Some thirty more there stillremained alive, whose bitter cries went through the softened soul.
Touched at the frightful sight, Jaufry struck down the wretch, whocalled his master's help; and then in wrath exclaimed:
"Thy master, villain, can no answer make; his soul this earth hath fled:and thou, for erstwhile making mock of me, shalt now thy meed receive."
Raising meanwhile his arm, the leper's hand he severed at a blow. Thewretch upon the blood-stained pavement rolled; then crawling to hisfeet, he humbly cried:
"Mercy, good knight; in God's name, pity me, and take not quite my life!'Twas by constraint and force I killed these babes. My lord, who soughtto cure his leprosy, bade me, with awful threats, each day prepare abath of human blood."
"Thy life I'll grant," quoth Jaufry to him then, "an that thou give memeans to leave this place."
"I can," the leper said; "but had you now deprived me of my life, notknowing of the spell, a hundred thousand years had rolled their course,and yet not seen you free."
"Haste {081}thee, then, now," quoth Jaufry, eagerly. "Sir knight," theman with shining face replied, "you still have much to bear. Such is thefashion of this castle's spell, my lord alone could power grant to suchas hither came to cross the threshold; but never did they pass it inreturn save dead or maimed."
"How, then, wilt thou succeed?" said Jaufry.
"Spy you, on top of yonder casement high, a marble head?"
"Yea, by my faith! And then?"
"Lo, reach it down; and break it fair in twain; you'll thus destroy thecharm: but first your armour carefully put on; for when the spell iso'er, these castle-walls will crumble into dust."
Trusting not wholly to the lep'rous wretch, Jaufry then bound him by thefeet and arms, and to the damsel thus confided him:
"If he hath lied," said he, "spare not his life." Then he resumed hishelm, took down the marble head, whose shape was fair and cunninglydevised, and setting it near him on a wooden bench, discharged on'twith his sword so great a blow, he clove it dean in twain. Suddenit shrieked, it moaned, it bounded up, hissing and growling as athunderbolt; whilst the vexed {082}elements at once unchained, and beamand stone at war with frightful din came crushing over Jaufry. Vainlyhis shield was raised to guard his head; Heaven's face was darkenedo'er; an awful storm, where wind and lightning strove, bursting withruin, 'mid the ambient air had borne the knight away, but for his orisonto heaven's King. Huge clouds of dust rose upwards to the skies; while afierce wind, in passing, swept away the last memorial of the magic work:of castle naught remained.
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Bowed down, and scarce himself, did Jaufry move his limbs. Bowed downand bruised and tottering, dragged he some steps, then fell. The maid,the slave, and mother with her child, who had sought refuge 'neath ahuge rock's vault, found him at length outstretched upon the turf, hisstrength exhausted and quite motionless.
"Say, then, good knight," the damsel smiling spoke, "how fares it withyou now?"
"I have no bruise that's perilous, nor mortal wound," replied theknight; "but such this latter strife, I find, indeed, I sadly lackrepose."
The damsel then embraced him with her arms, and pressed her lips uponhis eyes and mouth. When Jaufry saw the mother,--
"Woman," {083}he said, "hast thou regained thy child?"
"I have, my lord; thanks, be it told, to you."
"An it be so, proceed then to Carlisle, with this fair damsel, babes,and leper,--all. There I must beg you go, King Arthur thank, fromJaufry, Dovon's son, and tell him of this fight."
Thus speaking, he uprose; drew to his fancy his good horse's girths;and having consigned his friends to Heaven's care, resumed his quest ofTaulat: albeit 'twas now with measured steps and slow; for this dreadbattle had worn out his strength.
Having obtained her mantle and her horse, the maid set out from thenceat the like hour, and with her went the leper and the rest; nor stayedshe on the way, but only stopped when she had reached fair Carlisle'slofty towers.
There all regarded her with wonderment.
"Whence can proceed," they said, "this strange cortege? whence comethese people? and what want they here?" The curious crowd followed thatdamsel fair up to the castle-gates, and there the knights, who nobleescort made, led her with all her troop before the king.
There {084}bended she her knee, and as a dame of gentle breeding spoke:
"May He, the Lord of all and of all things, who in His hands doth justlyhold the keys of good and ill, increase your fame, and keep in glory theknights of your Round Table!"
"And," said the worthy king, "may Heaven save you, sweet damsel, who arefair and good as courteous and well-bred!"
"Sire, from Jaufry, Dovon's son, I come, to thank you for my life; whichto his mighty valour do I owe. I am the daughter of the Count Passant,whose name perchance hath reached your royal ear. A knight of highesteem, who sought adventure to display his worth, brought me fromNormandy to these fair shores. For seven long months, by valley and byhill we wandered on, full many a snare escaping, and without check fullmany a weary fight. This land did hold, alas, a giant dread, of hideousaspect, and of awful strength, eaten with leprosy and fearful sores,whose thought doth make my very soul to heave. Before us suddenly thiswretch appeared; and taking from his neck a monstrous club, struck atmy lord with force so terrible, he stunned him with the blow. Like as achild {085}then, clutching at his arm, against a rock he fractured everybone; whilst me he seized from off my palfrey's back, and to his magiccastle quickly bore. There I had lost my life, yea, more than life, butthat high Heaven, whose justice I implored, in mercy sent Sir Jaufry tomy aid. This doughty knight at length the monster slew; but ne'er canI with greater truth aver, such battle never did these eyes behold, orblows so great e'er given and received."
The mother and the handless leper told their tale in turn. But whilstthey thus their message each relates, we will to Jaufry go, who onwardstill his course doth slowly take, without he yet a single soul descriedwho could give tidings of the man he sought.
Jaufry the Knight and the Fair Brunissende: A Tale of the Times of King Arthur Page 8