The Romance of Tristan: The Tale of Tristan's Madness (Classics) (8 page)

‘Are you bringing news in such a hurry? You look like a man running with
dogs that are pursuing their prey. Do you want to make a complaint here about
someone? If you want something tell me your message. Has someone refused to give you
your money, or chased you out of my forest?’

‘Please listen to me, king, for a moment. It has been proclaimed in
Cornwall that if anyone finds your nephew he should either risk his life to take him
prisoner or come to tell you. I have found him, but I fear your anger. If I tell you
will you kill me? I can lead you to where he is asleep with the queen. I saw him a
short while ago, I believe they were fast asleep. I was very frightened when I saw
them.’

The king heard him and sighed deeply, for he was dismayed and very angry. He
whispered to the forester: ‘Where are they? Tell me!’

‘In a bower in the Morrois. They are sleeping in each other’s
arms. Come quickly and we shall be avenged on them. King, if you do not take a cruel
vengeance, you have beyond doubt lost your right to rule this land.’

The king said to him: ‘Go outside. As you hold your body dear, tell no one,
stranger or friend, what you know. At the Croiz Rouge, at the side of the road near
the cemetery, you are to wait for me without stirring. I shall give you as much gold
and silver as you want, I promise you.’

The forester left the king and went to the Croiz where
he sat down.
(May he be blinded, for he tried so hard to harm Tristan! It would have been better
for him if he had taken himself off for he afterwards died a wretched death, as you
will hear later in the story.) The king went into his chamber and sent for all his trusted men. He forbade them to come one step after him. They all said:

‘King, is this a jest, to go somewhere alone? There has never been a king
who has not always taken great care of himself. What news have you heard? Do not go
anywhere on the word of a spy.’

The king replied: ‘I have received no news, but a girl has sent for me to
come quickly. She expressly asks me not to take a companion. I shall go quite alone
on horse without a companion or a squire.’

They said: ‘We are sorry to hear this. Cato ordered his son to avoid
solitary places.’

‘I know this well enough. Leave me now to do what I want to.’

The king had his horse saddled and girded on his sword. He lamented
Tristan’s wickedness in taking from him the beautiful Yseut, with whom he
had now become a fugitive. The king thought menacingly that he would not fail to do
them harm if he found them together. The king was determined to kill them; this was
a terrible wrong. He went out of the city saying to himself he would rather be
hanged than not take vengeance on those who had caused him so much disgrace. He came
to the Croiz where the forester was waiting and told him to go on quickly and lead
him straight to where they were. They entered the wood in the shade of the trees.
The spy went in front and the king followed him, trusting to the
sword at his side with which he had struck many good blows. He was acting too
presumptuously, for if Tristan were to wake up and the nephew were to fight the
uncle, the battle could not end before one was dead. King Mark told the forester he
would give him twenty silver marks if he led him quickly to the place where he
intended committing this folly. The forester – may he be shamed!
– said they were nearing their destination. The spy made the king dismount
from his good Gascon horse and ran to the other side to hold the stirrup. They tied
the horse’s reins to a branch of a green apple-tree. They went a little
further and saw the bower they were heading for. The king undid the clasps of fine
gold on his cloak; with his cloak off he had a fine body. He drew his sword from its
scabbard and went forward angrily, saying to himself that he would die if he did not
kill them now. He entered the bower with his sword in his hand. The forester
followed him in and hurried after the king, but the king motioned him back. In anger
the king raised his sword, but then his anger left him: the blow was never to fall
on them, and it would have been a great sorrow if he had killed them. For he saw
that she was wearing her tunic, that there was a space between them and their mouths
were not joined. And he saw the naked sword between them which kept them apart and
the trousers that Tristan was wearing.

‘God,’ said the king, ‘what can this be? Now I have
seen their way of life so clearly that, by God, I do not know what to do, whether to
kill them or draw back. They have been here in the wood for a long time. I can well
believe, if I have any sense, that if they loved each
other
wickedly they would certainly not be wearing clothes and there would be no sword
between them. They would be lying together quite differently. I was intent on
killing them, but now I shall not touch them, I shall curb my anger. They have no
mind for a wicked love. I shall not strike either of them. They are asleep: if I
laid my hands on them I should be doing them too great a wrong. And if I wake this
sleeping pair and he kills me or I kill him, there will be ugly talk. I shall give
them a sign before they wake up so that they will know for certain that someone
found them asleep and took pity on them, and that neither I nor anyone in my kingdom
is in any way seeking their death. I can see the precious emerald ring on the
queen’s finger which I gave her, and I have one here which was hers. I
shall take mine from her finger. I have a pair of fur gloves with me which she
brought from Ireland. I shall cover up the ray of sunlight shining on her face, I
think it is burning her. When I come to leave I shall take from between them the
sword which split Morholt’s head.’

The king unfastened his gloves and looked at the sleeping pair. With the gloves he
kindly shielded Yseut from the ray of sunlight. He saw the ring on her finger and
drew it off so gently that the finger did not move. Formerly it had been hard to put
on, but now her fingers were so thin that it slipped off easily. The king slid it
off very carefully. He gently took the sword from between them and put his own in
its place. He went out of the bower, came to his horse and leaped on its back. He
told the forester to take himself off and they both departed. The king went away and
left them sleeping. This time he
did nothing else, and went back to
his city. Several people asked him where he had been for so long. But he lied in
answer and no one knew where he had gone nor what he had done.

But now hear of the two lovers whom the king had left sleeping in the wood. The queen
dreamed that she was in a richly hung tent in a great forest. Towards her came two
lions who wanted to devour her. She wanted to call for mercy but the lions, both
famished, each took her by the hand. In her fear Yseut cried out and woke up. The
white fur gloves fell on to her breast. Tristan woke up at the cry he heard, his
whole face flushed. In his fright he leaped up and snatched his sword. He looked at
the blade and could not see the notch. Then he saw the gold pommel and knew that it
was the king’s sword. The queen saw on her finger the ring she had given
him and knew that hers had been taken from her finger. She cried:

‘Mercy, my lord! The king has found us here!’

He answered: ‘My lady, it is true. We did him a great wrong and now we
shall have to leave the Morrois. He has taken my sword and left me his own. He could
surely have killed us.’

‘Truly, my lord, I think so too.’

‘My love, there is nothing for it now but flight. He has gone away, hoping
that will deceive us. He was alone and he has gone back for more men. I am sure he
intends to capture us. My lady, let us flee towards Wales, I am beginning to feel
faint.’

Tristan went pale. Their squire came back and led the horse in. He saw that his
master was pale and asked what was the matter:

‘By my faith, master, King Mark found us here while we
were asleep. He left his sword and has taken mine away. I fear he is plotting some
treachery. He took the fine ring on Yseut’s finger and left his own. By
this exchange, master, we can see that he wants to deceive us. For he was alone when
he found us, fear gripped him and he went away. He has gone back for men, and he has
many fierce and spirited warriors. He will lead them here, for he wants to kill me
and Queen Yseut. He wants to capture us, burn us and scatter our ashes in the sight
of the Cornish people. Let us flee, we must not delay.’

They had no cause to delay. If they were afraid, they could not help it: they knew
the king was wicked and violent. They rode away in great haste, they feared the king
because of what had happened. They crossed the Morrois and went on, fear made them
cover great distances in a day. They were heading for Wales. Their love will yet
cause them much hardship. For three full years they had suffered greatly, their
flesh had grown pale and limp.

‘I am not weary.’
²

The day after St John’s day the three years to which the potion was limited came to an end. Tristan had risen from his bed, Yseut remained in the bower. Tristan took aim at a stag and shot an arrow that pierced its side. The stag fled and Tristan gave chase. He followed it until evening. As he was running after the beast, it came to the very hour when he had drunk the love potion, and he stopped. Instantly he began to repent, and said to himself:

‘God, I have had so much hardship! For fully three years today there has not been a moment when I was not suffering, either on a feast-day or a week-day. I have forgotten chivalry and the life of a knight at court. I am an exile in this country and there is nothing left of the light and grey furs I had. I am not in the company of the knights at court. God, how dearly my uncle would love me if I had not caused him so much distress. God, how badly things are going for me! I ought now to be at the court of a king with a hundred squires in attendance, preparing to win their spurs and enter my service. I ought to go to another land where I could fight battles to win rewards. And it grieves me to think of the queen. I give her a bower of leaves in place of a curtained room. She is in the wood, and she could be living with her servants in fine rooms hung with silken cloths. For my sake she has erred in following this way of life. I call for
mercy to God who is Lord of all the world, may he give me the strength to part from my uncle’s wife and leave her in peace with him. I swear to God that, if I could, I should willingly arrange for Yseut to be reconciled with King Mark, to whom she was wedded as the Law of Rome prescribes, as many good men witnessed.’

Tristan leaned on his bow and regretted many times the great wrong he had done King Mark in causing him to be estranged from his wife. Tristan lamented much that evening. Hear now how Yseut felt. She said to herself:

‘Alas, poor wretch, why were you given youth? You are here in the wood like a slave, you can find few people to serve you. I am a queen, but I lost that name through the potion which we drank on the sea. It was Brangain’s fault, for the potion was in her guard. Alas, she guarded it so badly! She could do nothing about it afterwards for it was too grave a mistake. I ought to have around me in my rooms the damsels of the kingdom and the daughters of the free vassals, and I should be arranging good marriages for them with noblemen. Tristan, the person who brought us the love potion to drink led us sadly astray; we could not have been more deceived.’

Tristan said to her: ‘Noble queen, we are wasting our youth. Fair friend, if I could find a way to be reconciled with King Mark, if he would forgo his anger and accept our affirmation that never at any time, in deed or word, did I love you in a way that would shame him, then there is no knight in his kingdom, from Lidan to Durham, who would not find me armed in the field if he dared to say that I loved you dishonourably. And if it was Mark’s
wish, when you made this defence, to allow me to remain in his household, I should serve him with honour as my uncle and my lord. No warrior in his land would give him better support in war. But if he wished to take you back and not accept my service, I should go to the king of Dumfries or to Brittany with no companion except Governal. Noble queen, wherever I might be I would always be at your service. I should not seek this separation if we could remain together, and if it were not that because of me you have suffered and still are suffering in this wilderness. Because of me you have lost the name of queen. You would now be in a place of honour with the king at court if it were not for the potion that was given us at sea. Noble, lovely Yseut, advise me what to do.’

‘May Jesus be thanked, my lord, that you are willing to give up this life of sin! Do you remember the hermit Ogrin who preached to us and told us so much of Holy Writ when we were at his dwelling at the edge of the wood? Fair sweet friend, if your heart has indeed turned to repentance, nothing could be better. Let us hurry back to him. I am sure he will give us good counsel through which we may still reach eternal joy.’

Tristan listened and gave a sigh: ‘Noble queen, let us go back to the hermitage. With the help of Friar Ogrin we shall be able, tonight or in the morning, to send our message to King Mark in a letter, without needing to visit him.’

‘Tristan, well said! Let us both pray that the King of Heaven will have mercy on us, Tristan, my love!’