Four Arthurian Romances
contact with the spring. In like fashion, beneath the gate there were
two springs connected with a portcullis up above, edged with iron and
very sharp. If anything stepped upon this contrivance the gate descended
from above, and whoever below was struck by the gate was caught and
mangled. Precisely in the middle the passage lay as narrow as if it were
a beaten track. Straight through it exactly the knight rushed on, with
my lord Yvain madly following him apace, and so close to him that he
held him by the saddle-bow behind. It was well for him that he was
stretched forward, for had it not been for this piece of luck he would
have been cut quite through; for his horse stepped upon the wooden
spring which kept the portcullis in place. Like a hellish devil the gate
dropped down, catching the saddle and the horse's haunches, which it cut
off clean. But, thank God, my lord Yvain was only slightly touched when
it grazed his back so closely that it cut both his spurs off even with
his heels. And while he thus fell in dismay, the other with his mortal
wound escaped him, as you now shall see. Farther on there was another
gate just like the one they had just passed; through this the knight
made his escape, and the gate descended behind him. Thus my lord Yvain
was caught, very much concerned and discomfited as he finds himself
shut in this hallway, which was all studded with gilded nails, and whose
walls were cunningly decorated with precious paints. [310] But about
nothing was he so worried as not to know what had become of the knight.
While he was in this narrow place, he heard open the door of a little
adjoining room, and there came forth alone a fair and charming maiden
who closed the door again after her. When she found my lord Yvain, at
first she was sore dismayed. [311] "Surely, sir knight," she says, "I
fear you have come in an evil hour. If you are seen here, you will be
all cut to pieces. For my lord is mortally wounded, and I know it is you
who have been the death of him. My lady is in such a state of grief, and
her people about her are crying so that they are ready to die with rage;
and, moreover, they know you to be inside. But as yet their grief is
such that they are unable to attend to you. The moment they come
to attack you, they cannot fail to kill or capture you, as they may
choose." And my lord Yvain replies to her: "If God will they shall never
kill me, nor shall I fall into their hands." "No," she says, "for I
shall do my utmost to assist you. It is not manly to cherish fear. So
I hold you to be a man of courage, when you are not dismayed. And rest
assured that if I could I would help you and treat you honourably, as
you in turn would do for me. Once my lady sent me on an errand to the
King's court, and I suppose I was not so experienced or courteous or
so well behaved as a maiden ought to be; at any rate, there was not a
knight there who deigned to say a word to me except you alone who stand
here now; but you, in your kindness, honoured and aided me. For the
honour you did me then I shall now reward you. I know full well what
your name is, and I recognised you at once: your name is my lord Yvain.
You may be sure and certain that if you take my advice you will never be
caught or treated ill. Please take this little ring of mine, which you
will return when I shall have delivered you." [312] Then she handed him
the little ring and told him that its effect was like that of the bark
which covers the wood so that it cannot be seen; but it must be worn so
that the stone is within the palm; then he who wears the ring upon his
finger need have no concern for anything; for no one, however sharp his
eyes may be, will be able to see him any more than the wood which is
covered by the outside bark. All this is pleasing to my lord Yvain. And
when she had told him this, she led him to a seat upon a couch covered
with a quilt so rich that the Duke of Austria had none such, and she
told him that if he cared for something to eat she would fetch it for
him; and he replied that he would gladly do so. Running quickly into the
chamber, she presently returned, bringing a roasted fowl and a cake, a
cloth, a full pot of good grape-wine covered with a white drinking-cup;
all this she offered to him to eat. And he, who stood in need of food,
very gladly ate and drank.
(Vv. 1055-1172.) By the time he had finished his meal the knights were
astir inside looking for him and eager to avenge their lord, who was
already stretched upon his bier. Then the damsel said to Yvain: "Friend,
do you hear them all seeking you? There is a great noise and uproar
brewing. But whoever may come or go, do not stir for any noise of
theirs, for they can never discover you if you do not move from this
couch. Presently you will see this room all full of ill-disposed and
hostile people, who will think to find you here; and I make no doubt
that they will bring the body here before interment, and they will begin
to search for you under the seats and the beds. It will be amusing for a
man who is not afraid when he sees people searching so fruitlessly, for
they will all be so blind, so undone, and so misguided that they will be
beside themselves with rage. I cannot tell you more just now, for I dare
no longer tarry here. But I may thank God for giving me the chance and
the opportunity to do some service to please you, as I yearned to do."
Then she turned away, and when she was gone all the crowd with one
accord had come from both sides to the gates, armed with clubs and
swords. There was a mighty crowd and press of hostile people surging
about, when they espied in front of the gate the half of the horse which
had been cut down. Then they felt very sure that when the gates were
opened they would find inside him whose life they wished to take. Then
they caused to be drawn up those gates which had been the death of many
men. But since no spring or trap was laid for their passage they all
came through abreast. Then they found at the threshold the other half of
the horse that had been killed; but none of them had sharp enough eyes
to see my lord Yvain, whom they would gladly have killed; and he saw
them beside themselves with rage and fury, as they said: "How can this
be? For there is no door or window here through which anything could
escape, unless it be a bird, a squirrel, or marmot, or some other even
smaller animal; for the windows are barred, and the gates were closed
as soon as my lord passed through. The body is in here, dead or alive,
since there is no sign of it outside there; we can see more than half
of the saddle in here, but of him we see nothing, except the spurs which
fell down severed from his feet. Now let us cease this idle talk, and
search in all these comers, for he is surely in here still, or else we
are all enchanted, or the evil spirits have filched him away from us."
Thus they all, aflame with rage, sought him about the room, beating
upon the walls, and beds, and seats. But the couch upon which he lay was
spared and missed the blows, so that he was not struck or touched. But
all about they thrashed enough, and raised an uproar in the room with
their clubs, like a blind man who pounds as he goes about his search.
While they were poking about under the beds and the stools, there
entered one of the most beautiful ladies that any earthly creature ever
saw. Word or mention was never made of such a fair Christian dame, and
yet she was so crazed with grief that she was on the point of taking her
life. All at once she cried out at the top of her voice, and then fell
prostrate in a swoon. And when she had been picked up she began to claw
herself and tear her hair, like a woman who had lost her mind. She tears
her hair and rips her dress, and faints at every step she takes; nor can
anything comfort her when she sees her husband borne along lifeless
in the bier; for her happiness is at an end, and so she made her loud
lament. The holy water and the cross and the tapers were borne in
advance by the nuns from a convent; then came missals and censers
and the priests, who pronounce the final absolution required for the
wretched soul.
(Vv. 1173-1242.) My lord Yvain heard the cries and the grief that can
never be described, for no one could describe it, nor was such ever set
down in a book. The procession passed, but in the middle of the room a
great crowd gathered about the bier, for the fresh warm blood trickled
out again from the dead man's wound, and this betokened certainly that
the man was still surely present who had fought the battle and had
killed and defeated him. Then they sought and searched everywhere, and
turned and stirred up everything, until they were all in a sweat with
the trouble and the press which had been caused by the sight of the
trickling crimson blood. Then my lord Yvain was well struck and beaten
where he lay, but not for that did he stir at all. And the people became
more and more distraught because of the wounds which burst open, and
they marvelled why they bled, without knowing whose fault it was. [313]
And each one to his neighbour said: "The murderer is among us here, and
yet we do not see him, which is passing strange and mysterious." At this
the lady showed such grief that she made an attempt upon her life, and
cried as if beside herself: "All God, then will the murderer not be
found, the traitor who took my good lord's life? Good? Aye, the best of
the good, indeed! True God, Thine will be the fault if Thou dost let him
thus escape. No other man than Thou should I blame for it who dost hide
him from my sight. Such a wonder was never seen, nor such injustice, as
Thou dost to me in not allowing me even to see the man who must be so
close to me. When I cannot see him, I may well say that some demon or
spirit has interposed himself between us, so that I am under a spell. Or
else he is a coward and is afraid of me: he must be a craven to stand in
awe of me, and it is an act of cowardice not to show himself before
me. Ah, thou spirit, craven thing! Why art thou so in fear of me, when
before my lord thou weft so brave? O empty and elusive thing, why cannot
I have thee in my power? Why cannot I lay hands upon thee now? But how
could it ever come about that thou didst kill my lord, unless it was
done by treachery? Surely my lord would never have met defeat at thy
hands had he seen thee face to face. For neither God nor man ever knew
of his like, nor is there any like him now. Surely, hadst thou been a
mortal man, thou wouldst never have dared to withstand my lord, for no
one could compare with him." Thus the lady struggles with herself, and
thus she contends and exhausts herself. And her people with her, for
their part, show the greatest possible grief as they carry off the
body to burial. After their long efforts and search they are completely
exhausted by the quest, and give it up from weariness, inasmuch as they
can find no one who is in any way guilty. The nuns and priests, having
already finished the service, had returned from the church and were gone
to the burial. But to all this the damsel in her chamber paid no heed.
Her thoughts are with my lord Yvain, and, coming quickly, she said to
him: "Fair sir, these people have been seeking you in force. They have
raised a great tumult here, and have poked about in all the corners more
diligently than a hunting-dog goes ferreting a partridge or a quail.
Doubtless you have been afraid." "Upon my word, you are right," says he:
"I never thought to be so afraid. And yet, if it were possible I should
gladly look out through some window or aperture at the procession
and the corpse." Yet he had no interest in either the corpse or the
procession, for he would gladly have seen them all burned, even had it
cost him a thousand marks. A thousand marks? Three thousand, verily,