The Red Romance Book Part 12

'I will take you to her myself,' answered the emperor, who thought that he might show this small mercy to a man who was going to his death, and he led his guest down long pa.s.sages and through lofty halls, till they reached the princess's apartments.

'In five minutes my chamberlain shall come for you, and he shall show you the way to the garden,' said the emperor, 'and meanwhile I bid you farewell;' and, leaving Tirius to enter alone, he went to seek his ministers.

It would be hard to say whether the knight or the princess was most amazed as they stood gazing at each other--he at her beauty and she at his boldness, for never before had any man crossed her threshold. For a moment both were silent; then the knight, remembering how short a time was allowed him, aroused himself from his dream and spoke:

'Gentle damsel, help me now in my need, for I have been drawn hither by love. Full well I know that many have had this adventure before me, and have entered that garden and never returned from it. Without your aid my fate will be such as theirs, and therefore, I pray you, tell me what I should do so that I may win through without harm.'

Now the knight was a goodly man and tall, and perhaps the princess may have bewailed in secret the n.o.ble youths who had fallen victims to her father's pleasure. But, however that might be, she smiled and made reply:

'I am ready to marry any man on whom my father wishes to bestow me, and you say you have come hither for love of me. Still, you have asked of me a hard thing, for it beseems not a daughter to betray her father's confidence. Yet, as I am loth that any more fair youths should lose their lives for my sake, I will give you this counsel. You must first pa.s.s through a forest, which is the home of a lady who is known to all as the "Lady of Solace." Go to her, and she will give you the help you need to journey safely through the garden.'

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Lady of Solace]

The princess had scarcely finished these words when the voice of the chamberlain was heard without, bidding him withdraw, and, glancing gratefully at her, the knight bowed low and took his leave.

In the great hall the chamberlain quitted him, telling him to take his ease and rest till the emperor should return, but instead the knight waited till he was alone and then plunged straight into the forest.

He walked on for a little way till he reached a green s.p.a.ce, and there he stopped and cried, 'Where is the Lady of Solace?' Then he sat down on a stone and waited. In a short time he saw coming towards him two ladies, one bearing a basin and the other a cloth.

'We give you greeting, sir,' they said; 'the Lady of Solace has sent us to you, and she bids you first wash your feet in this basin, and then go with us to her palace.' So the knight washed his feet, and dried them in the white cloth, and rose up and went with the ladies to the palace, which was built of blue marble, and the fairest that ever he saw. The Lady of Solace was fair likewise and of a marvellous sweet countenance, and her voice was soft like the voice of a thrush as she asked him what he wanted with her. At that the knight told his errand, and how the princess had bade him come to her, for she alone could help him to win through the enchanted garden.

'I am called the Lady of Solace,' said she, with a smile which seemed made up of all the beautiful things in the world, 'and I give succour to all those who need it. Here is a ball of thread; take it and bind it round the post of the gate of the garden, and hold fast the thread in your hand, unwinding it as you go. For if you lose the clue, you will perish like those before you. And more. A lion dwells in the garden, who will spring out and devour you, as he has devoured the rest. Therefore, arm yourself with armour, and see that the armour be anointed thickly with ointment. When the lion sees you, he will take your arm or your leg into his mouth, and his teeth shall stick fast in the ointment, and when you sunder yourself from him his teeth shall be drawn out, and you shall kill him easily. But during the fight beware lest you let go the clue.'

And after the lion shall come four men, who will set on you and seek to turn you from their path; but beware of them also, and if you are in peril call to me, and I will succour you. And now return to the palace and put on your armour, and so, farewell.'

When the knight heard this he was right glad, and stole back to the palace, where he found that the emperor was still sitting at his council. He sat down in the great hall to await him, but the time seemed very long before his host entered.

'How have you sped?' asked he.

'My lord, now that through your goodness I have seen the princess,' said the knight, 'there can be but one ending to my journey. I go at once in quest of the tree, and I am content whatever fate may befall me.'

'May fortune be with you!' answered the emperor, who never failed to give good wishes to his daughter's suitors, as he felt quite sure that they would be of no use.

So the knight bowed low and left the hall, going straight to the gatekeeper's house, where he had put off his armour on arriving. On pretence of sharpening his sword, he borrowed a pot of ointment from the man, and, unseen by him, rubbed the paste thickly over his armour. After this he looked about to see that no one was watching him, and took the path that led to the garden.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE LADY OF SOLACE HELPS THE FALLEN KNIGHT]

A large iron gate supported by two posts stood at the entrance, and round one of these he firmly bound one end of the thread which the Lady of Solace had given him. Holding the other end in his hand, he advanced for a long while without seeing or hearing any strange thing, till a roar close to him caused him to start. The knight had just time to draw his sword and hold up his s.h.i.+eld before the lion was upon him; but, as he had been forewarned, the great beast dashed aside the s.h.i.+eld, and fastened his teeth in the arm that held it. The pain was such that the knight leaped backwards, but the lion's teeth were fixed fast in the ointment, and they all came out of his mouth, so that he could bite no more. And when he rushed at his enemy with his claws they stuck also, so that the knight with a blow of his sword was able to kill him with ease.

Mightily he rejoiced at seeing his foe dead before him, and by ill fortune he forgot that, had it not been for the counsel of the Lady of Solace, it was _he_ who would have been slain, and not the lion. He swelled with pride and conceit at the ease with which he had won the victory, and never noted that the clue of thread was no longer in his hands.

'Ah, lovely princess, I come to seek my reward,' cried he to himself, and turned his face towards the palace. But a little way on he spied seven trees, very fair to view, all covered with fruit that shone temptingly in the sun. He gathered a cl.u.s.ter that hung just above his head, and when he had eaten that, he thought that it tasted so delicious he really must have another, and another also.

He was still eating when three men pa.s.sed by, and asked him what he was doing there. The knight was so puffed up that he did not answer them civilly after his manner, but gave them rude words, for which in return he received buffets. In the end, the men dragged him away from the tree and flung him into a ditch that was full of water, and his armour weighed him down, so that he could not get out. Then at last he remembered his clue, and felt for it, but it was not there, and his pride broke down, and he saw that he had brought his ruin on himself.

And in despair he lifted up his voice and cried, 'O Lady of Solace, help me, I beseech you, in my great need, for I am nigh dead.' He shut his eyes for very misery, but opened them again in a moment, for a lady stood by him, and she said:

'Did not I tell you that if you lost the clue you could never more find your way out of the garden? I will lift you out of the ditch, but, for the clue, you must seek for it yourself till you find it.' And with that she vanished.

Not that day did the knight find the clue, nor the next, nor the next.

Faint and weary was he, but he dared not eat of the fruit that was around him, some hanging from the boughs of trees and some growing on the ground. At length he wandered back to the spot where he had fought with the lion, and there, covered with blood, lay the clue he had so long sought. By its help he was led to the tree with the golden fruit, which stood at the far end of the garden, and plucking one of the boughs he turned to retrace his steps, wondering, now that he held the thread, at the shortness of the way.

'Here is the branch, O Emperor! and now give me the princess,' he said, kneeling and laying the bough down on the steps of the throne. And the emperor could not gainsay him, but bade his officers fetch his daughter, and after they had been married she went with her husband into his own country, where they lived happily till they died.

[From the _Gesia Romanorum_.]

UNA AND THE LION

Once upon a time there lived a king and queen who had only one child, a little girl, whom they named Una, and they all lived happily at home for many years till Una had grown into a woman.

It seemed as if they were some of the fortunate people to whom nothing ever happens, when suddenly, just as everything appeared going well and peacefully with them, a fearful dragon, larger and more horrible than any dragon which had yet been heard of, arrived one night, seized the king and queen as they were walking in the garden after the heat of the day, and carried them prisoners to a strong castle. Luckily, Una was at that moment sitting among her maidens on the top of a high tower embroidering a kirtle, or she would have shared the same fate.

When the princess learnt what had befallen her parents, she was struck dumb with grief, but she had been taught that no misfortune was ever mended by tears, so she soon dried her eyes, and began to think what was best to do, and to whom she could turn for help. She ran quickly over in her mind the knights who thronged her father's court, but there was not one amongst them to whose hands their rescue could be entrusted. One spent his days in writing pretty verses to the ladies who were about the queen, another pa.s.sed his time in putting on suits more brilliant than any worn by his friends, a third loved hawking, but did not welcome the rough life and hard living of real warfare; no, she must seek a champion out of her own country if her parents were to be delivered out of the power of the dragon. Then all at once she remembered a certain Red Cross Knight whose fame had spread even to her distant land, and, ordering her white a.s.s to be saddled, she set forth in quest of him.

It were long to tell the adventures Una met with on the way, but at last she found the knight resting after a hard-won fight, and told him her tale.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Sudden DEPARTURE of UNA'S PARENTS]

'Right willingly will I help you, princess,' said he, 'only you must ride with me and guide me to the castle, for I know nothing of the countries that lie beyond the sea;' and Una heard his words with joy, and called softly to her a.s.s, who was cropping the short green gra.s.s beside her.

'Let us go forth at once,' she cried gaily, and sprang into her saddle.

The knight hastily fastened on his armour, and, placing a blood-red cross upon his breast, swung himself on to his horse's back. And so they rode over the plain, a trusty dwarf following far behind, and a snow-white lamb, held by a golden cord, trotting by Una's side.

After some hours they left the plain and entered a forest, where the trees and bushes grew so thick that no path could they see. At first, in their eagerness to escape the storm which was sweeping up the plain behind them, they hardly took heed where they were going; and besides, the beauty of the flowers and the sweet scent of the fruit caused them to forget the trouble they would have to find the road again. But when the sound of the thunder ceased, and the lightning no longer darted through the leaves, they were startled to perceive they had wandered they knew not whither. No sun could they see to show them which was east and which west, neither was there any man to tell them what they fain would know. At length they stopped, for before them lay a cave stretching far away into the darkness.

'We can rest there this night,' said the Red Cross Knight, leaping to the ground, and handing his spear to the dwarf; 'and first, you, lady, shall remain, here, while I enter and make sure that no fierce or loathsome beasts lurk in the corners.' But Una turned pale as she listened.

'The perils of this place I better know than you,' she answered gravely.

'In this den dwells a vile monster, hated by G.o.d and man.' And the voice of the dwarf cried also, 'Fly, fly! this is no place for living men.'

They might have spared their warnings; when did youth ever heed them?

The knight looked into the cave, and

Forth into the darksome hole he went.

His glistening armour made a little glooming light, By which he saw the ugly monster plain, Half like a serpent horribly displayed, The other half did woman's shape retain.

It was too late to turn back, even had he wished it; but indeed it was the monster who looked round, as if to find a way to flee. Before her stood the knight, his sword drawn, waiting for a fair chance to plunge it into her throat. Escape there was none, and she prepared for battle.

The knight fought valiantly, but never had he met a foe like this. The monster was so large and so scaly that he could not get round her, while his sword glanced, blunted, from off her skin. Blow after blow he struck, but they only served to increase her fury, till, gathering all her strength together, she wound her great tail about his body, pressing him close against her h.o.r.n.y bosom.