The Project Gutenberg eBook of Amadis of Gaul, Vol. IV. of IV., by Vasco Lobeira.

CHAPTER 40.

Amadis said to King Perion his father, Sir, it would be well that you should send for my lady the Queen, and for Don Galaor my brother, for whom I have reserved Queen Briolania, with whom he will be happy. King Perion replied, I will write to the Queen, and do you send whom you please with the letters: at that uprose Don Bruneo and said, I will undertake this voyage with my brother Branfil, if it please you; but then Angriote of Estravaus cried, you shall not go without me: then said King Perion, I consent that Angriote and Branfil should go, but not you Don Bruneo; for he would not be your friend who should separate you from your mistress. Don Bruneo smiled and answered, Though this, sir, is the greatest of all the favours I have received from you, yet will I go to serve the Queen my lady; for from thence will come satisfaction to all others. Be it so then, quoth the King; and would to God my good friend that you may find your brother Don Galaor able to travel. Sir, cried Ysanjo, he is well: there came some merchants here from Gaul, on their way to Great Britain, being afraid of the war, and I asked them for Don Galaor, they told me that he had left his bed, and was able to go about, though still weak.

On the following day these three Knights embarked, and setting sail with wind at will, in short time they reached Gaul, where they were honourably welcomed by the Queen. But for Don Galaor, I tell you, so great was his pleasure when he saw them, that weak as he was he ran to embrace them, and the tears came into his eyes, and he said, O Sirs, and my great friends, when will it please God that I shall go again in your company, and bear arms once more? Be not grieved, Sir, quoth Angriote, God will fulfill your desire; but hear now the tidings of great joy which we bring. Then they related to the Queen and to him all that had befallen from the beginning, which when Don Galaor heard he was much disturbed, and said, Holy Mary! has King Lisuarte endured all this, and I not with him in the battle! now indeed, may I say that God in his signal mercy sent me this malady; for certes else I must have adventured myself to death in his service, though the King my father and my brethren were on the other side. Truly, if I had known this in my weakness I should have died for grief. Don Bruneo replied, it is better as it is, and more to the honour of all, that peace is made, as you will see; and you have gained fair Queen Briolania for your wife, who is now with Amadis: then they gave the letter to the Queen, which was to desire that she would come to join Queen Brisena and Oriana and all the great ladies, and be present at the nuptials. When the Queen had read this, being a noble lady and one who dearly loved her husband and her children, she blessed God for what had happened, and said, My son Don Galaor look at this letter and take courage, and go see thy father and brethren, and there you will find King Lisuarte with more honour to your lineage than he desired.

Queen Elisena now gave order to prepare ships for her voyage; eight days the Knights abode with her, and then they all put to sea. So as they went along with fair weather, on the third day they saw a ship coming up at night with sails and oars; and they sent one of Don Galaor's Squires in a boat to know who was there. They answered him courteously, that it was a Dame going in great haste to the Firm Island: tell her then, quoth the Squire, that this fleet is bound thither, and that she need not fear to join it; for it carries such persons that she may well rejoice to go in their company. When the Dame heard this, she put out a boat also, and sent a Knight to know if this were indeed true. He came up to the ship and said, Sirs, by the faith you owe to God, tell me if the Dame in yonder vessel may come up to you safely; she is going to the Firm Island, whither the Squire hath said ye also are bound. Angriote answered, the Squire said true and the Dame may come safely; not only shall she receive no harm, but she shall be aided against any who would wrong her. God be praised! quoth the Knight. I beseech you tarry for her; you are Knights and will have great sorrow to hear what hath befallen her.

Hearing this, that other ship made up to the Queen's vessel, which seemed the richest in its appearance, and a Dame came forth covered with a black mantle, from head to foot, and asked who went in that ship. Angriote answered, it was the Queen of Gaul going to the Firm Island. Sir Knight, said she, I beseech you by the virtue to which you are bound, devise how I may speak with her. That may presently be done, replied Angriote; come on board; she is a lady who will willingly speak with you, as she does with all who require it. When the Dame was before Queen Elisena, she courteously welcomed her, and asked who she was: at that she began to weep, and said, I was the wife of the King of Dacia, and in his company was I a happy Queen. By him I had two sons and a daughter; the daughter who was begotten for our evil fortune, we gave in marriage to the Duke of Suecia, a great lordship which borders upon our country. Now, the Duke being a young man and covetous of dominion, thought that as the King my husband was in years, and our sons but boys, the eldest not passing fourteen years, he might kill the King and seize them, and thus obtain the kingdom in his wife's right: and as he thought, so did he; for, coming under pretext of a visit to our court, and with a large train, as if to do us honour, the King my husband went out joyfully to meet him, and that traitor slew him with his own hand. It pleased God to save the boys; for they were behind upon their palfreys, and turned round and gallopped into the city and the greater part of their Knights with them, and there are they now besieged. At this season I was gone upon a pilgrimage to a very ancient church of our Lady, which stands upon a rock half a league out at sea; there was I informed of their unhappy fortune, and having none other remedy, I resolved to go to the Firm Island to a Knight called Amadis, who is there with many other Knights of great renown, and beseech them to have pity upon those young Princes, and not suffer them to be so wickedly slain; for if there were but some to encourage and lead the people, that traitor would not dare continue there.

When Queen Elisena heard this, she took her hand and made her sit beside her, and besought her pardon that she had not at first honoured her according to her deserts. Since God hath brought you here, said she, you shall go in my company to the Firm Island, and there you will find succour, as all have found it who are in need. I have heard, replied the Queen of Dacia, how Amadis rescued the daughter of King Lisuarte when her father had disinherited her for the sake of a younger daughter, and delivered her up to the Emperor of Rome against her will; and this made me seek that blessed Knight, who is the helper of all that are oppressed. But then Angriote and his companions knelt down and besought Queen Elisena that they might go and revenge the great treason; for they were now so near the Firm Island that they might safely depart: this they obtained; and taking with them the Queen of Dacia, who who would needs go herself with them, saying, that her presence would be of great avail, they parted company from Queen Elisena.

Queen Elisena and Don Galaor proceeded, and arrived safely at the Firm Island. When their coming was known, the King her husband, and his sons, and the Emperor took horse, and went with all the other Knights to receive her. Oriana also would have gone with all her company; but the King sent to request her not to take that trouble, saying, that he would presently bring the Queen to her. After Amadis had kissed his mother's hand, he embraced Don Galaor, and asked him how he fared; Better, quoth Galaor, and better I shall be, since the quarrels between you and King Lisuarte are at an end. So they proceeded toward the garden, and there Oriana was ready with the Queens and all her company in rich attire to receive her. When she went in, Oriana and the Queens Sardamira and Briolania hand in hand knelt down to her with that obedience which they owed to their true mother; and the Queen embraced them, and kissed them, and raised them up. Then came up Mabilia, and Melicia, and Grasinda, and all the other ladies, and kissed her hand, and led her to her apartment. When Don Galaor appeared, I cannot tell you the love which Oriana showed him; for, except Amadis, there was no Knight in the world whom she loved so well, both for his brother's sake, and because her father Lisuarte so truly loved him, and he had served the King so faithfully. Amadis took Queen Briolania by the hand, and said to him, Sir brother, I trust to you this fair Queen, whom you have seen heretofore. Don Galaor, without delay, received her, as one noways abashed at seeing women. Sir, quoth he, I hold it a great favour in you that you give her to me, and in her that she will accept me as her own. The Queen said nothing; but her face coloured, and became more beautiful. Galaor had not seen her since she went to Lisuarte's court to look for Amadis, when she was very young; but now she was in the perfection of her age and beauty; and so fair did she appear to him, that though he had seen and toyed with many women, yet his heart was never surrendered in pure true love to any but this fair Queen; and she on her part, knowing how excellent a Knight he was, transferred to him all the great affection she had once felt for his brother Amadis; so that they lived ever after the happiest and most honourable life that can be devised.

When Queen Elisena had been thus received and lodged with the other Dames and Damsels where only King Perion was permitted to enter; for so it was determined, till King Lisuarte should arrive and all the marriages be performed in his presence; the Knights went to such pastimes as they liked best, especially those who affected the chace, for about a league from the island, on the firm land, there were the goodliest trees and thickets, which, because the land was kept well, were all full of venison, and wild boars, and rabbits, and other wild beasts, whom they killed with dogs and nets, or from on horseback. For hawking also, there were hares, and partridges, and water fowl; so that it may be said that in that little corner were collected the flower of all the chivalry in the world, and all the beauty that could be found upon earth, and all fitting sports and pastimes whereof you have heard as well the natural ones, as what Apolidon had made by his enchantments.