Marie of France: Guigemar

Ne devroit retenir en général le récit des grandes choses qui se sont passées. Je vous avouerai, Sire, qu’en traitant une bonne matière, je crains toujours de manquer mon sujet, c’est l’avis de Marie ; elle pense qu’il n’appartient de faire parler de grands personnages qu’à celui qui n’a pas cessé d’être vertueux. Lorsque dans un pays il existe une personne respectable de l’un ou de l’autre sexe, elle trouve des envieux, qui, par des rapports calomnieux, cherchent à lui nuire et à ternir sa réputation. Ces jaloux ressemblent au mauvais chien qui mord en trahison les honnêtes gens. Je veux démasquer et poursuivre ces misérables, qui ne veulent et ne disent que du mal des autres. Le conte suivant, dont les Bretons ont fait un Lai, est de la plus grande vérité ; je le rapporte entièrement d’après les écrits de ces peuples, et en prévenant que cette aventure arriva fort anciennement dans la Petite-Bretagne.

At the time of the reign of Arthus, often at peace, often at war, this prince had among his vassals a Baron called Oridial, who was Lord of Leon. The king highly esteemed him for his bravery. From his marriage were born two children, a son and a daughter, named Gugemer and Noguent. Endowed with a charming figure, they were the idol of their parents. When Oridial saw his son of age, he sent him to Arthus to learn the state of the weapons. The young man distinguished himself so much by his valor and by the frankness of his character, that he deserved to be knighted by the great Arthus, who, on this occasion, presented him with a superb armour.

Gugemer wants to go looking for adventures, and before his departure he makes rich presents to all the people he knows. He went to Flanders to make his debut, because this country was almost always at war. I dare to assure you in advance that at that time, one could not find a better knight in Lorraine, Burgundy, Gascony and Anjou. He had one fault, however, and that was that he had not yet dreamed of loving. However, there was neither lady nor young lady who, if he had expressed the desire, would not have done herself the honor of being his sweetheart; although several of them had even made advances to him on this subject, yet he did not like it. No one could conceive why Gugemer did not want to give in to love, so everyone feared that some misfortune would happen to him.

After a number of battles, from which he always emerged with advantage, Gugemer wanted to return to his family, who had long wanted to see him again. After a month's stay, he wanted to go hunting in the forest of Léon. For this purpose he called his knights, his huntsmen, and at dawn they were in the wood. Having set off in pursuit of a large deer, the dogs are uncoupled, the hunters take the lead, and Gugemer, whose bow, arrows and spear were carried by a young man, wanted to strike him the first blow. Carried away by the ardor of his steed, he loses the hunt, and in the thickness of a bush he sees a completely white doe, adorned with antlers, which was accompanied by her fawn. A few dogs which had followed him attacked the doe; Gugemer bends his bow, throws his arrow, wounds the animal in the foot and causes it to fall.

But the arrow returning on itself strikes Gugemer in the thigh, so violently that the force of the blow knocks him off his horse. Stretched out on the grass near the doe which exhaled her complaints, he heard her pronounce these words: Ah God! I am dead, and it is you, vassal (i), who caused it. I wish that in your situation you will never find a remedy for your ills, nor a doctor to heal your wound; I want you to feel as much pain as you make women feel, and you will only get healing when a friend has suffered a lot for you. She will endure inexpressible sufferings, and such as will excite the surprise of lovers of all ages. Moreover, retire and leave me alone.

Gugemer, despite his injury, is very surprised by what he has just heard; he reflects and deliberates on the choice of the place where he could go, in order to obtain his cure. He does not know what to resolve, nor to which woman he should address his wishes and his homage. He calls his valet, orders him to assemble his people and then come and find him. As soon as he is gone, the knight tears his shirt, and tightly bandages his wound; then getting back on his steed, he goes away from this fatal place, without wanting any of his family to accompany him. After having crossed the wood, it traverses a plain and arrives on a cliff at the edge of the sea. There was a harbor where was a single ship whose flag Gugemer recognized. This vessel, which was of ebony, had silk sails and ropes.

The chevalier was very surprised to meet a ship in a place where none had ever arrived. He dismounts, and then climbs with great difficulty to the building where he expected to meet the men of the crew, and where he found no one. In one of the rooms was a bed enriched with gilding, precious stones, and ivory figures. It was covered with a cloth of gold, and the large blanket made of Alexandrian cloth was trimmed with marten sable. The room was lighted by candles carried by two golden candelabra, adorned with jewels of considerable price. Tired of his wound, Gugemer gets on the bed; after having taken a few moments of rest, he wants to go out; but he perceives that the vessel, propelled by a propitious wind, was in the open sea. Worried about his fate, suffering from his wound, he invokes the Eternal, and begs him to lead him safely to port. The knight goes to bed and falls asleep only to wake up at the places where he must find an end to his ills.

Il arrive vers une ville ancienne, capitale d’un royaume dont le souverain, homme fort âgé, avoit épousé une jeune femme. Craignant certain accident, il étoit extrêmement jaloux. Tel est l’arrêt de la nature que tous vieillards soient jaloux, et que lorsqu’ils épousent de jeunes femmes, on ne soit nullement étonné de ce qu’elles leur soient infidèles. Sous le donjon étoit un verger fermé par une muraille en marbre verd, et bordé par la mer. La seule porte qui servoit d’entrée étoit gardée nuit et jour. On ne pouvoit y entrer du côté du rivage qu’au moyen d’un bateau. Pour que sa femme fût plus exactement surveillée, le jaloux lui avoit fait construire un appartement dans la tour. Sur les murs, on a voit peint Vénus, déesse de l’amour, et representé comment doivent se comporter les amants heureux; d’un autre côté la déesse jetoit dans les flammes le book où Ovide enseigne le remède pour guérir d’amour. Déclarant avec indignation qu’elle ne favoriseroit jamais ceux qui liraient cet ouvrage et qui en pratiqueroient la morale.

The lady had near her her niece, a young person whom she loved very much; the latter accompanied her aunt whenever she wanted to go out, and then seated her back at home. An old white-haired priest alone had the key to the tower, and regardless of his age, he found himself in no condition to alarm a jealous man, otherwise he would not have been accepted; besides the mass he said every day, our priest also served at table. At the end of her dinner, the lady, wanting to take a walk, took her niece with her. Turning her eyes to the side of the sea which bathed the edge of the garden, she saw the ship which lashed at full sail on her side. Seeing no one on deck, she was frightened and wanted to flee; but the young person, naturally bolder and more courageous than her aunt, succeeded in reassuring her; when the vessel was stopped, she takes off her cloak and descends into the nave. She sees no one except Gugemer lying on the bed, where he was still sleeping. At the pallor of his complexion, at the blood with which he was covered, she stops, and believes him dead.

La pucelle retourne aussitôt vers sa tante et lui fait part de ce qu’elle venoit de voir. La dame répondit : Retournons sur le champ au vaisseau, et si le chevalier a cessé de vivre, nous le ferons ensevelir par notre vieux chapelain. Dès qu’elle fut entrée dans le bâtiment, la dame aperçut le chevalier dont elle plaignit le malheur, et déplora la perte. Elle s’avance, lui met la main sur le cœur, et le sent battre. Aussitôt Gugemer se réveillant, salue la dame qui pleuroit ; celleci s’empresse de lui demander quel est son nom, sa patrie ; par quel hasard il est venu dans ce pays, et enfin s’il a été blessé à la guerre. Madame, dit-il, je vais vous dire la vérité toute entière. Je suis de la petite Brittany ; having gone hunting yesterday, I injured a white doe; the arrow, returning on itself, hit my thigh with so much violence that I think I can never be cured.

This deer announced to me that my wound would not close until I had made a woman sensitive to my love. As soon as I had heard my stop, leaving the wood I came to the edges of the shore, where finding this vessel, I made the madness to enter it, and soon I saw myself in the open sea; I arrived near you, and I do not know the name of the country and of this particular city. Ah! Beautiful lady, deign to advise me in my misfortune, I do not know where to go, and I am in no condition to govern my ship. Beau Sire, I will gladly give you the information you ask for. This city and the countries which surround it belong to my husband, a rich man of great birth, but very old, and, moreover, extremely jealous. He shut me up in this enclosure, the only door of which is always closed and is guarded by an old priest. I will never leave this place without the order of my husband. I have near here my apartment and my chapel; and this young person shares the boredom of my loneliness. Moreover, if it pleases you, come and stay with us; we will take care of you.

At this proposition Gugemer hastens to thank the lady, and accepts the offer which has just been made to him; he stands up on his bed, these ladies help him to walk and lead him to the tower. They gave him the young person's bed and room, and as soon as he arrived they washed and bandaged his wound. The most tender care is lavished on Gugemer; but soon love gives him a far more dangerous wound; in proportion as the first closed and healed, the other assumed a very different character. He forgets his old illness, his country, but he sighs incessantly; how happy he would be if he knew that his ardor was shared! Left alone, he abandoned himself to his reflections, and saw clearly that if the lady did not come to his aid, he would inevitably die.

That … /… Here 3 pages are missing in the entry

…/…could sleep, got up early in the morning. She complains about the sufferings she endures. His niece, who kept him company, noticed the love his aunt had for the knight. She doesn't know if he shares the sweet feelings we have for him. In order to clarify this, she took advantage of the moment when her aunt was in the chapel to question Gugemer. For this purpose, she goes near him. The knight, having made her sit down in front of the bed, asks her where her lady was, and why she got up so early in the morning. Afraid of having committed an indiscretion, he stops and sighs. Sir Chevalier, said the Maid, you love and you are wrong to hide your love; besides, there would be nothing but very honorable for you, if you obtained my aunt's tenderness. This love is perfectly matched, you are both beautiful, kind and young. Ah! Dear friend, I am so deeply in love that I will become the most unhappy of men if I am not helped. Advise me, sweet friend, and please teach me what to expect.

The young lady, in the most affectionate tone, hastened to reassure the knight, and promised to serve him with all her power in whatever he wished to undertake, so good and helpful is she. As soon as she had heard the mass, the lady wanted to hear from her lover and find out what he was doing. She calls her niece, because she wants to have a secret interview with Gugemer, an interview on which the happiness of her life must depend. After going to Gugemer's apartment, the two lovers greet each other reciprocally, and both intimidated, hardly dare to speak. The knight's embarrassment is all the greater because he is a foreigner, because he is unaware of the customs of the country where he has come. He is also afraid of committing an indiscretion which would deprive her of the good graces of her friend and force her to retire. Who does not discover his illness, is much more difficult to cure.

Love is an interior wound that lets nothing be seen outside. It is an evil which lasts a long time, because it is natural. I know that there are many who turn the sufferings of love into jokes. So think these discourteous men, who are jealous of happy people, and who boast everywhere of their good fortune. No, they don't know what love is, they only know wickedness, licentiousness and debauchery. For her part, the lady who loved the knight tenderly was not unaware that when you find a sincere friend and true, one must cherish it and do whatever it may desire. Finally love gives Gugemer the courage to discover in his sweetheart all the violence of his passion. I die for you, he said, deign to grant me your love; and if you reject my tenderness, I have no other hope than death.

Ah! Please, I beg you, do not refuse me. Beautiful friend, one moment, please; such a request, to which I am not accustomed, deserves reflection. Excuse me, Madam, if my speech can hurt you. You are no doubt aware that a coquette has to be asked a long time to grant her good graces, so as not to discover herself and to avoid suspicion of her intrigues. When a well-born woman, at the same time amiable, pretty and witty, sees a man of her rank who suits her, far from refusing him, she will gladly accept his homage, and their union will already be old when she will be known. The lady, convinced of the truth of this speech, granted the knight the gift of loving thanks, and since that day they were happy.

For a year and a half our two lovers had enjoyed perfect happiness, but fortune ceased to favor them. Its wheel turns, and in a few moments it carries above the one who was below. They made the sad experience of it, because they were seen. One fine summer day our two lovers, together in the same bed, were talking about their loves, and merging in their embraces. The doe speaking said: My sweet friend, sinister presentiments tell me that I will lose you, and that we will be discovered; but if you die, I no longer want to live. If you escape, you can make another conquest, and I will die of grief. Ah! if I were forced to leave you, not only would I not make another friend, but I would have neither joy nor rest nor peace. To give you a pledge of my faith, you are going to put your shirt back on me, I will crease it in one of the corners; promise me to love only the person who can undo it. The knight puts his shirt back on the lady; she makes a knot arranged in such a way that it could not be undone without tearing the linen or cutting it.

For his part, the knight takes a belt tied in a particular way, ties it around the body of his mistress, hides the buckles, and she swears to him to love only the person who can untie it without anything. break or break.

They were right to do so, for during the day they were discovered by a cursed chamberlain, whom the husband sent to his wife. He was waiting for the moment when he could enter, and fulfill the object of his mission, when looking through the window, he saw Gugemer. Having finished, he hastens to return to his master, to inform him of this discovery. At this news, the old man, transported with fury, takes with him three of his servants, leads them to his wife's apartment, whose door he breaks down.

The first object he sees is the knight. In a movement over which the husband is not the master, he gives the order to seize the culprit and put him to death. Gugemer, little frightened by his threat, grabbed a big pine pole, on which they spread linen; by his assurance and his courage, he contains the assailants who dare not advance. After looking at him a lot, the husband asks Gugemer his name, his country, and how he managed to break into his castle. The knight naively recounted his adventure, from the moment he injured the doe until this moment. The husband doubts the truth of the story he has just heard; if he finds the vessel which had brought the knight, he will force him to re-embark immediately. Would to God, he added, that you could drown! Indeed, having gone to the port, they saw the building near the shore; Gugemer enters there, and the fairy his protectress leads him to his country.

I leave you to imagine what was the grief of our knight: absent from his mistress, from whom he is perhaps separated forever, he cries and sighs. In his desperation, he prays to heaven to kill him, especially if he loses the object he loves more than life. He was still reflecting on the full extent of his misfortune when the vessel entered the port from which it had first sailed. He landed immediately, hastened to descend, because he was near his country. No sooner had he landed than he met a young man whose childhood he had cared for. This young man was accompanying a knight, and was leading a fully equipped battle horse on a leash. Gugemer called him, and the young man, recognizing his lord, hastened to offer him a courier. He returns to his family where he is perfectly well received.

In order to fix him in the country, and to dissipate the melancholy in which he was plunged, his friends want to give him a wife, but Gugemer defended himself by declaring that he would not take any wife, either for love or for wealth, than that which could undo the fold of the shirt. When this news was spread in Brittany, all that there were girls and women to marry, came to try the adventure, but none could come to end. During this time, the object of Gugemer's love, the unfortunate lady was moaning in a dungeon, where her husband had put her, on the advice of one of his courtiers. Shut up in a marble tower, she spent the day in sadness and the nights were sadder still. No one could recount all the pains she endured during the more than two years that she remained there.

She thought constantly of her lover. Ah! Gugemer, I saw you unfortunately, but I would rather die than suffer any longer. Dear friend, if I can manage to escape, I will go to the place where All of you embarked, to throw myself into the sea. She had hardly finished these words when she got up and came to the door. where she sees neither bolt nor lock. Taking advantage of the opportunity, she leaves at once, goes without obstacle to the port where she finds the vessel which had brought her lover; it was moored to the rock, whence it wanted to rush into the waves. She embarks on the spot, but a reflection comes to moderate the joy which she feels to have obtained freedom. Wouldn't his friend have perished? This idea hurts her so much that she almost faints and forces her to sit down. The ship sails and stops in a port in Brittany, towards a perfectly well-fortified castle.

It belonged to King Meriadius, who at that time was at war with neighboring princes. He had risen early in the morning because he wanted to send a detachment to ravage the lands of his enemies. Looking through a window, he saw the ship approaching. Followed by a chamberlain, he hastened to the port and boarded. Meriadus, seeing the beauty of the lady, takes her for a fairy, seizes her by the cloak and leads her to his castle. Delighted with the adventure, the monarch is not very curious to learn how this beauty came to the nave alone, it is enough for him to know that she is of high parage. Enamored of her charms, more than I can say, Meriadus orders his younger sister to have the greatest regard for the lady; he gives her the richest clothes, but the lady is still plunged in sadness; little touched by the care and eagerness of Meriadus, who often demands love from her, she shows him the belt and announces to him that she will never love anyone except the one who can untie this belt without tearing it.

Meriadus, stung to the quick, teaches the lady that in the country there was a very famous knight who did not want to take a wife because of a shirt whose right side was bent in a particular way. I would not be surprised, Madam, to learn that it was you who had made this fold. The lady nearly lost the use of her senses when she heard this news. Meriadus held her in his arms and cut the lace of her dress. He undertook to untie the belt, but he, his courtiers and all the knights of the country failed in their enterprise. In the hope of meeting the person who was to put an end to the adventure, Meriadus publishes a great tournament; a great number of knights went there, at the head of which was Gugemer. He was asked to come there as a friend and as a comrade in arms, because Meriadus needed his help; so he had more than a hundred knights in his suite who were perfectly well received and lodged in the tower.

As soon as they arrived, Meriadus sent two knights to ask his sister to come down with the beautiful lady in her belt. They soon entered, covered in rich garments, and holding hands. Someone called Gugemer, and as soon as the lady, who was pale and pensive, heard the name of her lover, she was ready to faint; she would even have fallen to the ground, if the young person had not held her back. The knight rose at the approach of his beauty, looked at her fixedly and dragging her a little aside, he said to her: Isn't this my sweet friend, my happiness, my hope, my life, the beauty? lady who loved me so much? But where does it come from? Who could have led her to these places? Where does my head go! It can't be her. Women often resemble each other, and the sight of you upsets all my ideas.

Oh ! cette ressemblante me fait battre le cœur, et je ne puis m’empêcher de frémir et de soupirer. Je veux absolument m’en convaincre et l’interroger. Gugemer après avoir embrassé la dame, la fait asseoir et prend place à son côté. Mériadus fort inquiet n’avoit pasperdu un seul de leurs mouvements; prenant un air riant, il prie Gugemer d’inviter la belle inconnue à tenter l’épreuve de la chemise. Avec plaisir répond le chevalier qui donne l’ordre de l’aller chercher. Le chambellan apporte la chemise, Gugemer la prend et la remet à la dame qui reconnut aussitôt le nœud qu’elle avoit fait elle-même. Elle n’ose cependant le défaire, parce que son cœur éprouve la plus grande agitation. Mériadus dont l’inquiétude étoit bien plus grande, l’invite à tenter l’aventure. Sur son invitation, la dame prend la chemise et la déploie sur le champ. On ne peut se figurer l’étonnement de Gugemer, .il ne peut douter que Celtic woman is his mistress, and he hardly dares to believe his eyes. Is it you, dear friend, who are before me! Please let me look at one thing.

Then, putting her hand on her side, he notices that she is wearing the belt which must be used for their recognition. Ah! Beautiful friend, please tell me by what happy chance I find you in this country! Who could have brought you there! She immediately told him of the pains and torments she had endured, her imprisonment, her resolution to destroy herself, her deliverance, her journey and her arrival at Meriadus, who loaded her with honors, but who constantly asked her to love: rejoice, my friend, your lover is returned to you. Gugemer rises immediately, and addressing the assembly, he says: Fine lords, deign to listen to me; I have just found my friend, whom I thought I had lost forever. So I beg Meriadus to give it back to me, and to thank him, I will become his liege-man; I undertake to serve him for two or three years with a hundred knights whom I will bribe. Dear friend, Meriadus replies, the war I support has not yet reduced me to the point of being able to accept the offer you make to me.

I found this beautiful lady, I welcomed her, I will keep her, and woe to whoever wants to dispute her with me! After this declaration, Gugemer summons all his knights; in front of them he defies Meriadus, and he leaves with the pain of still leaving his crumb. There is none of the lords who have come to the tournament that he does not take with him; each of them promises him to follow him wherever he goes, and to regard as a traitor whoever breaks his oath. The troop goes that same evening to the prince with whom Meriadus was at war, who lodges them and receives them with open arms. This help gives him hope of soon having peace. The next day, at dawn, the troops set off under the leadership of Gugemer. The castle was besieged, of which he absolutely wanted to become master. The place invested on all sides is soon reduced. Finally, one seizes the castle, which one destroys, Meriadus is killed. After so many dangers and sorrows, Gugemer finds his friend, whom he leads to his lands.