Amadis of Gaul, Books I and II

Garci R. Montalvo, Edwin Place, Herbert Behm

• Verlag: The University Press of Kentucky
• Jahr: 2021
• ISBN:
  9780813184036
• Thema: Literatura
• Thema: Clásicos

In the long history of European prose fiction, few works have been more influential and more popular than the romance of chivalry Amadis of Gaul. Although its original author is unknown, it was probably written during the early fourteenth century. The first great bestseller of the age of printing, Amadis of Gaul was translated into dozens of languages and spawned sequels and imitators over the centuries. A handsome, valiant, and undefeatable knight, Amadis is perhaps best known today as Don Quixote's favorite knight-errant and model. This exquisite English translation restores a masterpiece to print.

INCIPIT

HERE BEGINS THE FIRST BOOK of the courageous and virtuous knight Amadis, son of King Perion of Gaul and of Queen Elisena, which was corrected and emended by the honorable and virtuous gentleman Garci-Rodríguez de Montalvo, Alderman of the noble town of Medina del Campo. He corrected the ancient originals which were corrupt and poorly composed in the antique style through the fault of diverse poor scribes, taking out many superfluous words and putting in others of a more polished and elegant style pertaining to chivalry and the deeds thereof.

Not many years after the passion of our Redeemer and Savior, Jesus Christ, there was a Christian king in Little Brittany by the name of Garinter, who being completely sincere was quite devout and well mannered. This king had two daughters by a noble matron, his wife. The elder was married to Languines, King of Scotland and was called the Garland Lady because the king her husband never would permit her to cover her beautiful hair except with a very rich garland, so pleased was he to gaze upon her locks. This couple were parents of Agrajes and Mabilia. Of the one as a knight and the other as a damsel much mention is made in this great narration. The second daughter, who was named Elisena, was infinitely more beautiful than the first. And although she was much sought in marriage by very great princes, it was not her pleasure to wed any of them. Rather, her devout and secluded way of life caused everyone to call her a confirmed bigot, for they held the opinion that for a person with such a high rank, endowed with such beauty, demanded in marriage by so many grandees, the adoption of such a style of life was not suitable.

At any rate this aforementioned King Garinter, being of sufficiently advanced age, in order to give repose to his mind, used to go hunting in the forest occasionally on horseback. On one such occasion, he set out one day from one of his towns which was called Alima, and having strayed away from the beaters and hunters, going through the forest saying his prayers, he saw at his left a fierce battle of a lone knight engaged in fighting two; he recognized the two knights as vassals of his, from whom because of their arrogance, evil ways, and the fact that they were relatives-in-law, he had received great annoyance. But the one whom they were fighting he could not recognize, and not trusting enough in the prowess of the one to dispel the fear that the other two would kill him, he stood apart from them and watched the fight. Finally, by the hand of the one, the two were overcome and killed. This done, the knight came over to the king, and as he saw him alone, said to him:

“My good sir, what land is this where knights errant are attacked in this manner?”

The king replied: “Do not be surprised at this, sir, for just as in other lands there are good knights and bad, so there are in this. And those of whom you speak not only have done great wrongs and outrages to many, but also to their very own king, their master, who is unable to bring them to justice; being related by marriage, they have committed enormous offenses, including some in this densely forested region where they were wont to take refuge.”

The knight said in reply: “Well, this king of whom you speak I have come from a distant land to seek out and to bring news of a great friend of his. And if you know where I can find him, I beg of you to tell me.”

The king replied: “Come what may, I shall not fail to tell you the truth: Know you then, with certainty, that I am the king you are seeking.”

Taking off his shield and helmet and giving them to his squire, the knight went and embraced the king, saying he was King Perion of Gaul, who very much wished to make his acquaintance.

Great was the delight of these two kings on having been thus brought together. And speaking of many things they went to the place where the hunters were, so that they might return to the town; but before this there appeared an exhausted deer that had slipped by the beaters. Whereupon both the kings went after it at top speed of their horses with the intent to kill it, but the affair turned out otherwise: emerging in front of them from a dense thicket, a lion overtook the deer and killed it; and having ripped it open with its very strong claws, it exhibited an ill-restrained ferocity to the kings.

And as King Perion saw it thus, he said: “You can’t be so enraged as not to leave to us a part of the game.”

And taking his arms he dismounted from the horse which, fearful of the strong lion, did not want to go forward; and holding his shield in front of him, sword in hand, he advanced toward the lion; for the great shouts that King Garinter uttered could not deter him. Likewise, the lion, leaving the prey, came toward him. And both joining in combat, and the lion having him beneath him and being on the point of killing him, the king, not losing his great strength, wounding it with his sword through the belly made it fall dead before him. Whereupon King Garinter, greatly surprised, said to himself, “Not without cause does he have that fame of being the best knight in the world.”

This done, the band of hunters being assembled, the king had the lion and the deer loaded on two palfreys and carried to the town. There the queen having been notified of their guest, they found the palace hall impressively and splendidly adorned and the tables set. At the highest table sat the kings and at another nearby, Elisena, Garinter’s daughter. And there they were served as was fitting in the house of such a great man. Then being in such contentment, as that princess was so very handsome and King Perion likewise, and the fame of his great deeds at arms published throughout the world, under such circumstances they gazed at each other, that her great modesty and exemplary life could not prevent her from becoming a prisoner of incurable and great love for him, and the king in like manner for her (for until then his heart he had kept free from subjection to anyone), in such wise that all during the dinner both of them were almost out of their senses. Then, the tables having been cleared, the queen wished to retire to her room, and on rising, Elisena dropped from her lap a very beautiful ring which she had removed from her finger in order to wash and because of her great confusion had not bethought herself to put it on again. She stooped to pick it up; but King Perion, who was beside her, sought to give it to her, and thus their hands met at the same time. And the king took her hand and squeezed it. Elisena blushed and looking at the king with amorous eyes, said softly that she was grateful to him for the service.

“Ah, madam,” said he, “I hope it will not be the last, for my whole life will be employed in serving you.”

She withdrew in her mother’s wake so greatly agitated that she could scarcely see, from which it followed that this princess, not being able to endure that new pang that with such power had overcome the old resolution, divulged her secret to a maid of hers by the name of Darioleta whom she trusted, and with tears in her eyes and more in her heart, she begged her to advise her how she would be able to know whether King Perion loved any other woman and whether that amorous state that he had revealed to her had come upon him in the same way and as forcibly as in her heart she had felt it. The maid, startled by such a sudden change in a person so removed from relations of that kind, taking pity on such pitiful tears, said to her:

“Madam, well I see that according to the excessive passion that that tyrant Love has implanted in you, it has left no place in your judgment where advice or reason can be lodged; and for this reason, following not what I owe to you as a servant, but what I owe to your will and my obedience, I will do what you command by the most upright means that my poor discretion and great desire to serve you can find.”

Then leaving her, she went to the chamber where King Perion was housed and found his squire at the door with the apparel that he wanted to give him to wear; and she said to him:

“Friend, go do something else, while I stay with your master and take care of him.”

The squire, thinking it would be to his advantage, gave her the clothes and left. The damsel entered the room where the king was in bed; and when he saw her, he recognized her to be the one he had seen Elisena speak with more than with anyone else, since she trusted her more than any other person—and he believed that she had not come without some remedy for his mortal desires; and with a trembling heart, he said to her:

“Good maid, what is it that you wish?”

“To give you some clothing,” said she.

Said he: “This must be for my heart, which is quite stripped and bare of pleasure and joy.”

“In what way?” said she.

“In that coming to this land,” said the king, “with complete freedom, solely fearing the adventures at arms that could befall me, in some way or other on entering the house of your master and mistress I am wounded with a mortal wound; and if you, good damsel, procure some remedy for me, I shall reward you well.”

“Certainly, sir,” said she, “it would make me very happy to serve a person of such high degree and such a good knight as you are, if I knew how I might do so.”

“If you promise me,” said the king, “as a loyal maidservant not to reveal it except there where it is proper to do so, I shall tell you.”

“Tell me without fear,” said she, “for it will be kept quite secret by me.”

“Well then, my friend,” said he, “I say to you that at a crucial moment I beheld the great beauty of Elisena, your mistress, that tormented by strong desire and yearning I am at the point of death, which if I do not find some remedy cannot be avoided.”

The damsel, who knew the heart of her mistress completely in this matter, as you have already read, when she heard this, was very happy, and said,

“Sire, if you promise me as a king to guard the truth, as you are more than anyone else obligated to do, and as a knight who reputedly has endured many trials and perils in order to maintain it, and to take her for your wife, when it be time, I shall put you in a situation where not only your heart may be satisfied, but hers also, which as much as—or perchance more than yours—is in distress and pain from that same wound; and if you do not do this, you will not have her nor shall I believe that your words spring from a loyal and sincere love.”

The king, on whose will the permission of God was already imprinted for that to ensue which you will hear later, took the sword that he had near him and putting his right hand on its hilt, said, “I swear by this hilt and sword which I received with the order of knighthood, to do what you, damsel, ask of me, whenever it be demanded of me by your mistress Elisena.”

“Then now rejoice,” said she, “For I shall carry out what I said.”

And leaving him, she returned to her mistress, and relating to her the pact that she had made with the king, she brought great joy into Elisena’s heart.

The latter embracing her, said, “My true friend, when can I hold in my arms the one whom you have given me for master?”

“I will tell you,” she said. “You know, madam, how that room in which King Perion is lodged has a door that opens on the garden, through which your father sometimes goes out to take recreation. Now it is covered up with curtains, and for it I have the key. Well, when the king goes out from there I shall open it, and it being so late at night that those who dwell in the palace will be taking their rest, we shall be able to enter through it without anyone’s noticing. And when it is time to leave, I shall call you and return you to your bed.”

Elisena on hearing this, was so overwhelmed with joy that she was unable to speak at first. Then recovering her composure, she said to her:

“My friend, to you I entrust my whole affair. But how can what you say be carried out, for my father shares the room with King Perion, and if he should hear, we would be in great danger?”

“Leave that to me,” said the damsel, “for I shall take care of it.” With that they left off talking.

And the kings and the queen and the Princess Elisena spent the day dining and supping as before. And when it was dark, Darioleta took aside the squire of King Perion and said to him:

“Ah, friend, tell me if you are a well-born man.”

“Yes, I am,” he replied, “and even the son of a knight; but why do you ask?”

“I will tell you,” she said, “because I wanted to ascertain one thing from you, and I beg of you by the faith that you owe to God and to the king, your master, that you tell me.”

“By Holy Mary,” said he, “everything I know I shall tell you, if it be not such as would endanger my master.”

“This I swear to you,” said the damsel, “that neither shall I question you to his harm, nor would you be right to tell it to me. But what I wish to know is that you tell me who the damsel is that your master loves extremely.”

“My master,” said he, “loves all damsels in general, but certainly I don’t know anyone that he loves in the manner you say.”

At this moment King Garinter came up to where they were talking, and seeing Darioleta with the squire,...