And one of them’s a wonder – a youngster like a lion:
He clutched your son and clawed him and gnawed him till he died,
And now he paws your daughter, and adds her to his pride!”
On hearing this, the Pagan became a ghastly white,
And fell in such a swooning he couldn’t be revived
Till four of his most royal rushed up to help him rise.
610 “MY LORD EMIR,” they said, once they had helped him up,
“You’re wealthy and you’re wise, so why regret so much
The loss of one poor fort to France and evil luck?
Let us attack in France and seize a thousand such!”
“My lords,” said the Emir, “you speak with wisdom’s tongue.
I’ll muster all my men and summon to the front
Our rearguard that I left back home in Africa.”
Let’s leave a while the Moors, God curse them every one,
And turn our thoughts again to Flores and his sons,
As, riding side by side, they spied Fort Avenant.
620 Young Floovant rode to them, and then the victors hugged,
Before they sat to speak upon a satin rug:
“How goes it, my good friend?” King Flores said at once.
“Most well,” the youth replied, “thanks be to God above!
No counter-charge was made, no spear or arrow flung.
By dint of our prowess Fort Avenant was won:
We drove them to its gates, then took it with a rush!
The wealth that we have gained is countless in its sum:
Do what you will with all that God has given us!
Share what is won between yourself and your two sons,
630 And me, and every man who earned it by his pluck.”
“My lord,” said King Flores, “you’re born of noble blood!
I’ll give you land of mine, whatever is enough,
And fair Floretta’s hand, the daughter that I love.”
Young Floovant said: “My lord, much thanks, by God above!”
AN ARROW’S RANGE away from the captured castle’s right,
An orchard had been planted, with walls on every side.
And it was there the booty was shared among the knights
By Floovant and Sir Urban with liberal delight
Until there wasn’t any who wasn’t satisfied!
640 Fair Maugalie was watching from where she was confined,
And King Flores’s daughter was standing by her side.
The proud and pretty Pagan was first to speak her mind:
“If only good Mahomet, who governs all and guides,
Would make it that this Frenchman, whose face with valour shines,
Could marry me and make me his first and favoured wife!
The rich Emir, my father, would cherish him alike,
And give us land more wealthy than all Romagna’s pride.”
“My lady,” said Floretta, “you hold yourself too high!
For is it not the custom in Pagan law that wives
650 Lie only with their husbands until they get with child,
When he may bed three others until her term arrives?
A curse upon Mahomet and those who heed his lies!
The laws of your Mahomet are mockeries of Christ’s!”
On hearing this, the Pagan was filled with bitter spite:
“Upon my faith, my lady,” she said, “what jealous gibes!
It’s not a month, I’m certain, since you were otherwise.
I saw you at the court of my father, and your eyes
Were flirting with some fifty or hundred of our knights,
With any – like a harlot, a penny for a smile!”
660 Floretta said: “Your slander’s as vain as it is vile!
My honour is unsullied, my chastity survives!
When I was caught, by Pagans, I cursed them from my side
For three whole days, escaping upon the fourth at night.
Prince Fernagu, your brother, thought I was his to find,
But gallant hands defied him and slew him in my sight.
I also saw your lover leave life and you behind,
Prince Ercafor of Baudas – but not that you would mind –
You’d gladly wed his killer, or any thirty like!
A curse on any person deluded by your lies!”
670 With this and that and other their argument grew wild,
And had they not been parted, there would have been a fight.
Below, the king was talking to Floovant in this wise:
“Defend for me this fortress while I return to mine.
I swear to you my daughter will shortly be your bride.”
“My lord,” replied the Frenchman, “your wish is my delight.”
The king left with Floretta and booty he’d acquired,
And both his sons – who, sadly, had evil on their minds:
May God in Heaven curse them, and any of their kind!
Their jealousy was plotting against our hero’s life –
680 As you will hear, as long as the song and you abide!
4. How Floovant was imprisoned
MAUDARANZ AND MAUDARE were evil-hearted villains.
They walked off arm in arm, to talk aside in whispers.
Maudaranz said: “I swear I cannot keep it hidden:
I hate this knight of France, and have from the beginning.
He’s gallant and he’s brave, and given so to giving
That everyone’s his friend, the worthy and the wicked.
Both you and I will lose, if he should wed our sister.
Let’s visit the Emir and plot some planning with him
That lands this irksome man forever in their prison!”
690 “Good brother,” said Maudare, “I’m with you to the finish!
Floretta too must die – I’ll capture her and kill her,
And string up Richier, and Urban, on a gibbet!”
Attention, lords, I bid you! Attend me well, my lords!
There never was or will be such treachery henceforth
As Maudare and Maudaranz proceeded to perform,
Not even that of Judas, who, full of wicked thoughts,
Betrayed our true Redeemer and earned his due reward!
As soon as there was moonlight they left the fort on horse,
And taking no one with them, except two serving-boys,
700 They made their way to Basum, arriving with the dawn.
They found Galeen the fearsome, surrounded by the force
Of Pagans he had summoned from countries south and north
In hundreds and in thousands, beyond account in all.
Maudaranz and his brother, their faces to the floor,
Knelt down to clutch his ankles and kiss the shoes he wore.
The great Emir said clearly: “And who are you, my lords?”
And they replied: “Your Highness, we’ll tell you nothing false.
We are the sons of Flores, who’s shunned Mahomet’s Law
To be baptised for Jesus – a name that we abhor!
710 And what is more, our father has welcomed to his court
Two mercenary Frenchmen, the worse of whom outfought
Prince Fernagu and slew him two days ago, my lord.
He also took your daughter, as booty and reward,
Without the least intention to marry her henceforth,
And gave her to his servants for mockery and sport.
We hate what we have witnessed, and waiting there no more,
We’ve come to serve Mahomet and give you our support.”
“All praise to you, good princes!” t
he great Emir rejoiced.
“You will not lose a penny or any lands of yours –
720 Instead, I’ll give you gladly, in fief, some fifteen forts!”
ON SAYING THIS, he summoned one Pinar to his side
And said: “Bring forth Mahomet and set him in our sight.”
The wretch replied: “Your Highness, your wish is my desire.”
And soon, upon its dais, they’d brought the god inside.
How fat he was and flabby! How wide he was and high!
His body had been moulded of Arab gold refined,
And girt with heavy curtains, like women when confined,
Through which his face was showing like glowing candle-shine.
On bended knee, the princes crawled up to him and cried:
730 “Ah, mighty Lord Mahomet, so powerful and wise
That wind and hail without you would fail to leave the sky,
So we, without your favour, can never hope to thrive!
Our mortal father, Flores, has forced us both to fly
The creed he has adopted and all that it implies!”
On saying this and placing a rod of gold inside
The idol’s curtained carriage, the wretched traitors cried:
“Mahomet, take this token of faith and love alike:
Be merciful and guide us to do what’s good and right!”
Beside them stood a Pagan called Jacobi the wise:
740 A hundred years of learning had turned his whiskers white!
His knowledge of Mahomet was wonderful and wide,
As well as of the courses of every star and tide.
At yearly feasts and holy he preached about the lives
And teachings of Mahomet, Apollo, and the like,
Who’d come to earth to rescue its faithful anti-Christs!
“Attend to me, good barons!” this crazy creature cried,
“Mahomet is too noble to sell himself for bribes!
This token that you bring him should wait until his mind
Has judged you on your actions in two or three months’ time.
750 Bear witness with your service that you know wrong from right,
And he will lead you forward, in majesty and might,
To found a fitter kingdom, upon Montmartre’s heights,
Where both of you shall govern and wear the crown alike.”
The feckless pair responded: “We shall, without a lie!
If King Galeen will give us four hundred men in iron,
Then we shall give Mahomet, before tomorrow night,
Fort Avenant, together with everyone inside!
We’ll render him the Frenchmen to punish in their pride!”
The great Emir responded: “Take all the men you like!”
760 ATTEND TO ME, my lords, and shudder at the malice
Of King Flores’s sons, called Maudare and Maudaranz!
They gained from King Galeen four thousand hardy vassals
And rode throughout the night in moonlight at a gallop.
Arriving by the fort before the dawn, they gathered
The brigands they had brought and hid them in a valley.
Then, riding to the gates, both Maudare and Maudaranz
Harangued the keeper’s ears in curt, uncourtly language:
“Release the bridge at once, and let us in, you lackey!”
The porter was no fool, and he had seen the shadows
770 Of men in arms and steeds preparing for an ambush,
So speaking like a man, he answered them with valour:
“There is no entry here for rebels or their rabble!”
On hearing this, Maudare was driven wild with anger:
“Release the bridge, you wretch! I am Maudare, you blackguard,
The son of King Flores, and this is Prince Maudaranz!
We need to see at once our father’s French companions!
We’ve ridden through the night and gathered many landsmen.
Tomorrow we shall fight the great Emir at Basum
To win our father’s war in one decisive battle!”
780 The porter had no choice, although it proved a bad one:
He let them in, alas, and straightaway Maudaranz
Withdrew his flashing blade and instantly attacked him:
His severed head was flung across the bridge’s planking.
THE PORTER HAD no choice. He opened up the gate
And lost his head, by God, before it shut again!
Maudaranz and Maudare rode in with all their knaves
And battered down the doors that led them to the place
Where Floovant lay asleep, and noble Richier.
They rushed Sir Floovant first and clutched him where he lay
790 So strongly even he had no hope of escape.
They bound his wrists with cord that cut him to the veins.
THEY BATTERED DOWN the doors, I say, to where they slept,
And rushed Sir Floovant first with overwhelming strength.
They seized him in a band, and in their wild contempt
They bound his hands with cord that cut him till he bled.
Young Richier, beyond, was in a curtained bed,
But when he saw his lord, it woke his fierce prowess,
And seizing forth a pike that lay beside his head,
He struck a Pagan king, who’d run to him, so well
800 He split him clean in two, right through from spike to belt,
Then slew another Moor, a fierce and foolish wretch.
But when he saw the sum of those he stood against,
He took in hand Joyeuse, lain also by his head,
And, racing to the walls, he clambered down and fled.
He had to hide that night beneath a leafy hedge.
HE HAD TO HIDE that night beneath a leafy tree.
Maudaranz and Maudare and one called Maucaree,
Threw royal France’s heir upon a sumpter-beast,
His hands tied up, above, his feet bound underneath.
810 The villains’ joy was full on finding Maugalie,
And so, with her in tow, they turned around to leave.
As Floovant lurched along, his visage wan and bleak,
His sorrow overflowed. He shed so many tears
They wet his ermine cloak and tunic underneath.
He sighed and cried, inside, with every breath he breathed:
“Good father, you were wrong so long to banish me!
We’ll never meet again, unless God intervenes!
Ah, Richier, fine son of Jocerain the Peer,
You saved me once before, but nevermore, I fear!”
820 The Pagans journeyed back, rejoicing, till they reached
The gates of Basum town, dismounting on the green.
His mantle in their fists, they forced the Frenchman’s feet
Up every marble step that led to the Emir.
MAUDARANZ AND Maudare, that princely pair of villains,
Bestrode the marble steps that led inside the building
Where King Galeen the Moor, the great Emir, was sitting.
“My lord Emir,” they cried, “lift high your mourning visage:
We have the Frenchman tied whose pride has proved so wicked!
Your Highness, take revenge! Let’s make a noose and lynch him!”
830 On hearing this, Galeen shook off his brooding spirit
And looked towards the sky, with hand and voice uplifted:
“Mahomet, mighty lord, your power knows no limit!”
On saying this, he turned and told the soldiers with him:
“Erect upon that hill, at once, a sturdy gibbet,
And when our meal is done, we
’ll set the Frenchman swinging!”
When Maugalie heard this, her heart was filled with pity
For him who’d eased her plight when she had been imprisoned.
And so she said: “Emir, my dearest father, listen!
Allow two weeks to pass before these princes kill him,
840 And summon in that time your proud rearguard division:
A thousand knights should see the justice you deliver!”
“Good daughter,” said Galeen, “ you are so wise, and pretty,
I never can deny your counsel or your wishes!”
When this was said they led our hero to a prison
As deep as they could find, with toads and vipers in it
As wild as rabid dogs, their bile and venom spitting,
Their foaming jaws agape to feed on what they’d bitten.
Our hero fought them off – he found a pointed pickaxe
The Moors had left behind, forgotten or relinquished.
5. How Richier the squire was tested
850 Let’s leave our hero there, a while, in his affliction,
And find out what his squire was doing and was thinking.
All night, as you recall, he’d slept beneath a thicket,
Until the light of dawn lit up the leafy spinney.
The gallant youth arose, though heavy was his spirit
At having been the dupe of those pernicious princes,
And knowing that his friend and master’s life was finished.
He wrung his hands in woe, he hung his head in pity,
And almost wished to end his own aggrieved existence.
HE’D HIDDEN IN the greenwood, until the dawn had come,
860 And seen the fortress burning, its citadel lit up.
He wandered now through meadows and, turning one by one
The corpses that he found there, he sought the lord he loved.
Not finding him, he wondered at what the Moors had done.
Among the rest lay Urban, the German lord, whose blood
Was pouring from a goring two mighty spears had cut.
When Richier beheld him, his tears began to run.
He asked the dying hero: “Where is my lord Floovant?”
“The Pagans took him with them,” replied the Aleman,
And, saying this, fell backward, his mortal duties done.
870 Good Richier commended his soul to God above,
Then went at once to Belfort, wherein he entered just
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