Heroines of the French Epic
Page 33
With no one there to help me, my life was his to take.
Instead he taught me knighthood and girt me with its blade.
1360 And now he’s done his utmost, dear mother, for your sake:
With men one hundred thousand and more, of Pagan race,
For love of you he’s ventured his life upon the waves,
To save you and protect you, your person and estates,
Against the evil scheming of Miles, the jealous knave!
Because of this, sweet Lady, I ask you in the name
Of all the love that courses for me within your veins,
To come and speak with Ganor and all his baronage,
And thank him for the virtue his actions have displayed.”
“My gallant son,” she answered, “I’ll willingly obey.
1370 May Jesus born of Mary bless any man, I say,
Whose weapon sends the body of Miles towards its grave!
His devilry has ruined so much of my domains.
Though I should own all Paris, I’d give the town away
For vengeance on the killer of my lord Garnier.”
“My lady,” Gui responded, “put any doubts away,
For I and all my clansmen are planning what you crave,
As is the noble Ganor. God bless the Moor, I say,
For any man who helps us deserves our thankful praise!”
“MY LADY,” said Sir Gui, “please do as I commend:
1380 I bid you come with me to Ganor and his men
And thank the king himself for all of his noblesse:
For all the love he’s shown to me your son, as well
As all the courtesy you know he practised when
He took you to his tower, the strong-walled Aufalerne:
He never used you once for any shameful end,
But treated you with grace, affection and respect.
So come and speak with him and thank him now yourself.
And do one further thing for him and me, I beg:
If in the fight to come King Ganor is so blest
1390 As to bestow the blow that renders Milon dead
And brings about the fall of all his evil friends
Who’ve planned to take your land and plotted your distress,
Then will you grant to him the very first request
He makes you in return for all his noble help,
And grant it in full part with all your heart and head?
If love for me endures, you surely will assent.”
“Most willingly I will,” replied the fair duchess,
And went to change her robes and put on nobler dress:
A silk with pretty birds depicted in its threads
1400 And sewn with precious stones that glowed around the hem.
Upon her head she wore a golden coronet
With emeralds that shone and shimmered right and left.
When Aye was thus adorned and beautifully dressed
Her beauty had no peer, I’d say, for fifteen realms!
An ambling mule was brought; they saddled it, and then
The duchess mounted up, attended, as she left,
By four domestic counts esteemed above the rest,
By Gui, and every Peer of whom you’ve heard me tell,
His uncles and their kin who’d joined them in the quest,
1410 And rescued him before from danger and from death.
Together thus they rode towards the Pagan tents.
When Ganor heard the news, he quivered with content
And, mounting straightaway a palfrey chestnut-red,
He went in fine array to meet the fair duchess.
When Ganor saw her there, the crest of beauty’s best,
He’d never known before such thrilling joyfulness.
With noble grace he rode, and when they came abreast,
He made a gracious bow towards her and addressed
This greeting, word for word, with ardour and respect:
1420 “In Jesu’s name, the God in Whom your Faith is set,
And that of every saint you honour in His stead,
May Lady Aye herself, and all her friends, be blest!”
“Your Highness,” answered Aye, “I welcome you, as well
As every man you’ve brought to help in my distress.
The courtesy you’ve shown to all of us commends
My loving thanks to you, which gladly I express.”
4. How Aye was married to King Ganor
SAID LADY AYE: “Your Highness, I welcome you most warmly,
For you have more than guarded my noble son from slaughter –
I know you could have killed him at any time you sought to –
1430 Instead, you’ve loved him dearly, you’ve cared for him and taught him.
If I retain my power, I give you my assurance
That anything you’d welcome with which I could reward you,
However rich the item, however great the portion,
There’s nothing I’d deny you – indeed, I would rejoice at
The chance to give you something your liking made a choice of.”
On hearing this, the Pagan had never felt so joyful,
But held his tongue from telling the real reason for it!
Dismounting at his war-tent, they sat with much rejoicing
1440 On golden mats and carpets beneath its canvas awnings.
The seneschal of Ganor approached them when he saw them,
And, coming to his master, he greeted him according
To Pagan ways, invoking Mahomet’s mighty glory:
“In Cahu’s name, your Highness, shall I bring in the water?
The food and drink are ready, the choicest, I assure you.”
“That’s welcome news,” said Ganor, “for we are ready also!
Delay yourself no further, but bring the tables forward.”
The man replied: “With pleasure, your Highness, now and always.”
And yet, before they’d tasted the smallest drop or morsel,
1450 They’d hear such evil tidings as I shall tell you shortly,
The truth of which resulted in such a crop of corpses,
So many lances shattered on shields and tattered hauberks,
So many bulwarks battered, so many castles fallen –
As you will learn on hearing the ending of my story:
A messenger came spurring with every speed towards them,
And, seeing first Sir Sanson, with ringing voice he called him:
“Catastrophe, Sir Sanson! Am I the first to warn you?
Without the hand of Heaven, and Jesus in His glory
To help us, then the evil that’s coming will destroy us!
When yesterday at dawning I left Guiaire on horseback,
1460 I sighted Miles, the villain, who comes with mighty forces –
Count Ganelon’s foul clansmen, who’ve journeyed here to join him,
And mercenary soldiers in numbers so enormous
There must be forty thousand, all iron-clad and sporting
The finest shields and lances, astride the finest horses–
They’ve gathered here to humble the duchess Aye for always.
Before the dawn tomorrow we’ll have them here before us.
Without the hand of Jesus to aid us and support us,
The Lady Aye, I’m certain, will not survive the morning.
1470 The moment I departed their battle-ranks were forming,
And Miles was pledging Heaven –I heard the villain roaring –
That he would burn the duchess and slaughter her supporters.
He swore alike that no one, the bearded nor the balding,
Among the common people, would be exempt from torture.
No wealth, he said, would save them – not all King Arthur’s fortune.”
“They will be saved, God willing,” the gallant duke retorted.
IN ROYAL GANOR’S presence the envoy told his message
; To Aye herself, so noble and comely of complexion,
Beside the hoary Sanson, whose courage was intrepid:
1480 How Miles and all his kinsmen were gathering against them
With more than forty thousand to humble them forever,
And how he’d pledged his vengeance before them and to Heaven,
And how, whoever heard it, could tell how much he meant it!
Duke Sanson, first to answer, responded to the envoy:
“By all the saints of Carthage, my gallant friend, I tell you
That if Sir Miles is coming with infamous intention,
You can be very certain that we shall deal the felon
Such punishment and ruin as he has never met with!
Before you is King Ganor, who’s left his land together
1490 With men one hundred thousand and more, to come and rescue
The Lady Aye, so noble and comely of complexion,
And Gui, her true successor, whose courage knows no measure.
If Miles were made aware of the forces here against him,
I think he’d halt his progress – unless he’s lost his senses.”
THE NOBLE-HEARTED Pagan, King Ganor, spoke his mood:
“My worthy lords, I’ll tell you what I think we should do:
Your enemy’s approaching, if what we’ve heard is true,
With Ganelon’s own clansmen, those buds of bitter root!
Well, by my god Mahomet, let’s nip them ere they shoot
1500 To sour our future hours with fruit and seed anew!
We’ll don our shining hauberks, when we have taken food,
And when our gallant soldiers are fed and ready too,
We’ll split the fighting forces we’ve gathered into two.
Within the nearby forest that’s long and wide we’ll group
One half of them, well hidden from anybody’s view.
Sir Gui shall bear my banner and wait there with these troops,
For so I do command him in front of all of you,
Until Sir Miles the traitor has led his villains through
To reach my waiting forces – and then we both shall move!
1510 Let Lady Aye be taken inside her lofty rooms,
From where to watch in safety the melee that ensues,
And give the prize for valour to whom she thinks it due!”
The rest replied: “Your Highness, we heartily approve
Your plan and will perform it as best we can and true.”
AT THIS THE KING commanded his seneschal Luteez
To bring them forth some water before they sat to eat.
The Lady Aye and Ganor were first to wash, then each
And everyone attending, the princes and the Peers.
Upon a golden carpet, ornate with vivid scenes
1520 Of little birds and fledglings, the couple took their seats,
Where they were served directly by ready hands and feet:
The duchess was attended at table by Sir Gui,
Who wore a silk of purple adorned with fleurs-de-lys.
Before the king his cousins cut up the monarch’s meat
And served him in abundance with many tasty treats.
Some six or seven dishes were offered at the meal,
And when they all were empty, the diners were replete!
Our heroine asked Ganor if he would grant her leave
To go, and he assented both loath and willingly –
1530 For he had longed to see her and loved what he had seen!
In no land had he ever beheld as fair as she:
Her lovely skin was whiter than lilies of the field,
Her cheeks, like budding roses, were flushed a blushing cream,
Her eyebrows were exquisite, her every feature neat,
Her every limb so lovely, her hands so slim and sleek.
The Pagan king beheld her as one who to the lees
Has drunk the cup of passion, and all that he can see
Or think of is his lover when waking or asleep.
“Ah mighty god Mahomet,” he sighed, “ah trinity
1540 Of Margot, Jove, Apollo, I beg you, give to me
This most divine of mortals through your divinity!
The paradise she offers is all I truly seek,
And truly I shall gain it, if I can rid her fief
Of those malicious traitors who’ve treated her like beasts,
Who slew their rightful master, Duke Garnier, in greed
And grossest treason, the father of young Gui.
Now he and his dear mother have promised and agreed
That when I have defeated their wicked enemies,
The first request I make them when this has been achieved
1550 Will willingly be granted – and I’d be mad indeed
To not request the duchess, fair Aye, to be my queen!
Since both the son and mother have pledged their word to me,
I beg of you, Mahomet, to sanctify my plea!”
FAIR AYE, SO BRIGHT of eye, so radiant of carriage,
Turned round to ride away and took her leave of Ganor.
The monarch told his men to arm themselves for battle,
And, handing to young Gui Majorca’s battle-standard,
He put beneath his charge one half of all his vassals.
With both his cousins’ help Gui led them through a valley:
1560 They knew as well as he the area exactly,
And quickly reached the wood wherein they hid in ambush.
They stayed there through the night, beyond the hour of matins
Until the hour of prime, as silently as statues.
One man among them climbed the highest he could clamber
In all the wood – an oak, from which his eyes examined
Sir Miles’s land, to know the moment and the manner
He saw the villain’s host approaching his companions.
They’d armed themselves at dawn, both confident and happy,
And crossed the fields, convinced that they would win the battle.
1570 But they were unaware of Ganor and the galleys
Of gallant men he’d brought – they couldn’t have imagined
The truth of what they faced, no word of it was carried
By any mortal soul. They wouldn’t know what happened
Until they’d crossed the wood and noticed, looking backwards,
That they had been cut off by half of Ganor’s clansmen,
And Gui, to whom the king had handed his gonfalon!
The man who’d climbed the oak, the moment that he managed
To see, atop his tree, Sir Miles’s streaming banner,
Called out at once to Gui, in ringing tones and rapid:
1580 “Our enemies are here, in name and number matching
The villains who have caused this countryside such damage!
As soon as they have passed beneath this leafy passage,
Let’s hurry them, my lord, as merlins harry magpies,
To Ganor’s waiting host, who’ll welcome them most gladly!
We’ll pay them back today for all their deeds of malice!”
Gui of Nanteuil replied: “How right you are, companion!”
Sir Miles’s men advanced in merry mood and manner
And passed the wood before mid-morning, with a swagger.
They hadn’t even seen one human shape or shadow
1590 Of thousands in the wood, well hidden by their captain.
When he beheld his prey, and proper time for action,
Young Gui advanced his troops without delay to trap them!
As soon as news was brought by messenger to Ganor,
He told his men to arm and be prepared for battle.
Sir Miles had crossed the land with arrogant abandon,
But soon he’d understand, with ever-growing sadness,
He couldn’t carry on, or turn around, unchallenged!
SIR MILES AND all his men were stricke
n with alarm
When, gazing at the coast, from open fields, they marked
1600 A host of foreign boats upon the ocean’s marge,
In which the Pagan king had brought his men to France.
They saw so many sails, so many glowing masts,
In my opinion, friends, no Pagan in the past
Had such a noble fleet as Ganor to command!
At once the villain Miles called halt to their advance
Upon the town and hailed the captains of his march,
Sir Gondri and Acart, Sir Floart and Morant,
And Pinabel’s eight sons he’d summoned from Sorence,
A dozen counts in all, a family-in-arms,
1610 With forty thousand men and more beneath their charge.
The villain stalled them all and called the twelve apart:
“My lords, attend to me, and keep your men on guard:
Before we take the town of Avignon apart –
Which has, for love of Aye, so long oppressed my heart–
We must discover who and whose these forces are
That need, so help me God, a fleet of ships so vast!”
At this he called his spy and told him to depart:
“Discover who they are, without delay!” he barked.
The spy replied: “I will, most willingly and fast!”
1620 Proceeding to the shore, he warily remarked
That they were sloops of war with Pagan troops on guard!
But when he learnt from one that Ganor was in charge,
Who in his haste had steered by daylight and the stars,
The spy was greatly cheered and very nearly danced
His way across the fields as merry as a lark.
On seeing Miles’s face, he called as he advanced:
“My lord, I have good news! Your joy shall have its chance!
I’d say the Lady Aye will hurry to your arms!
So help me God, the craft and crews who’ve disembarked
1630 Are King Ganor’s, the Moor who plagued her in the past!
He’s sailed across the seas by daylight and the stars
To capture her again and take her land from Charles!
This Ganor murdered Gui, her son, a decade past,
In Africa to where he kidnapped him from France.
His army, even now, like us is on the march!”
On hearing this, Sir Miles rejoiced with all his heart:
“By Heaven,” he exclaimed, “what luck attends our task!
Today the Lady Aye shall come to me at last!
Lord God and all His saints can’t save her from this pass!
1640 With happy heart or not, she’ll do what I demand!”