Marie from France: Yonec

Since I started Lais, I want to complete my work. The adventures that I know, I will tell you first. My project is above all to introduce you to the Lai of Ywenec, son of the knight Eudemarec, the loves of his father and his mother, and his birth.

There was once in Brittany a very rich old man, who was lord of Caerwent. This town, famous for the unfortunate events that happened there, is built on the banks of the Douglas River. Our old and rich character married with the intention of having children, to whom they would transmit his immense inheritance. The new wife, from a large family, was kind, wise and very beautiful. Finally, she had so many good qualities that one could not have found her equal from her country to Lincoln, and even in Ireland. The parents committed a great mistake in sacrificing their daughter in this way. Our old man, who was very jealous, took all his care to keep his young wife; for this he locked her in a tower, and gave her to watch over her more, less than to keep her company, an old sister who had been a widow for a long time. There were many other women doing the service, but they were in another room. The poor little lady could not open her mouth and say a word without the consent of her ancient guardian.

More than seven years passed without the husband having children, without the lady leaving the tower, and without seeing her parents or her friends. When she went to bed, no chamberlain or servant entered her room to light the torches. The poor woman becomes so sad about her position that she spends whole days in sighs and tears. Taking no care of herself, she loses almost all her beauty and curses her attractions which caused her misfortune. At the beginning of April, the season when the birds make their sweet songs heard, the lord got ready early in the morning to go hunting. Before leaving he orders the old woman to get up and close the doors on him. After obeying, the old woman takes her book of prayers and begins to read. The lady wakes up, and tears are already flooding her face; she is seen by the old woman who pays no attention to her. She complained and sighed. God ! How unhappy I am to be in the world! My destiny is to live in this prison, from which I will only come out after my death.

I don't know what this jealous old man can do to keep me in slavery; what madness and stupidity to always fear being betrayed! I cannot go to church or hear services. If I could at least talk to someone and go for a walk, I would forget my husband's wrongs at the very moments when I least wanted to. Cursed be my parents and all those who made me enter into such an alliance! Mine is so vigorously constituted that I cannot hope for its death. No doubt at his baptism he was plunged into the river of hell; because his veins full of blood, the strength of his muscles, belong to a robust man. I have often heard it said that in ancient times, it often happened to the afflicted to have adventures which put an end to their sorrows. The knights found charming mistresses, and the ladies were never blamed for choosing a young, handsome, valiant and liberal lover. Besides, no one, except them, saw their lovers. Perhaps I am wrong, and perhaps we never experience such an adventure. Ah! May God who has all power fulfill my desire!

After giving vent to her complaints, the lady sees near her window the shadow of a large bird of prey, and cannot guess what it could be. He enters the room flying, and comes to stand next to her. After stopping for a moment, and while the lady examined it, the bird took the form of a young and handsome knight. The surprised lady changes color, and covers her face because of the great fear she feels. The knight, who was very courteous, spoke to her in these terms: Madam, deign to calm down; I took the form of a goshawk, which is a well-behaved bird; my speech may seem unclear to you, but wait, and you will be informed of the reasons for my approach. I have come to these places to request the favor of being your friend; I have loved you for a long time and my heart desires you. I have never loved and never will love any other woman than you; and I will confess to you, I would not have come to these places, I would not even have left my country, if you yourself had not given me the pleasure of asking me to be your lover.

The lady who had regained courage uncovered her face and responded to the knight. Lord, I agree to accept you to be my friend; but first I want to be sure that you believe in God. The knight had everything it took to captivate a woman; he was in the prime of his life, handsome and well made. Lady, you are absolutely right, I would not want for anything in the world that you had any suspicions about my faith. I firmly believe in the creator who died to redeem us from the sin of our father Adam, caused by eating a bitter apple. He was, he is, Will eternally use the life and refuge of sinners. Furthermore, if you have any doubts, call your chaplain; tell him that, very ill, you wish to hear the service established by God himself, to erase the faults of humans. I will take your face and your features to receive the body of the Lord, I will recite my prayers, and I dare to hope that you will be entirely convinced of my religious feelings). I agree, replied the lady. In the meantime, the knight suggests that he sleep on the same bed. We talk, but he is careful not to kiss his girlfriend or to do what his position seems to authorize.

Returning to the room, the old woman finds the lady awake, and points out to her that it is time to get up; she even offers to bring him his clothes. The lady replies that she is seriously indisposed, and that, far from thinking of dressing, due to the pain she is experiencing, she rather needs the help of the chaplain. Suffer in peace, madame, said the old woman, your husband having gone hunting, no one, except me, will enter here. I suggest what the lady's despair was. To get to her desires, she pretends to feel unwell. The old woman, frightened by what she saw, opened the door and immediately ran to get the priest. He makes haste, leaves, arrives and brings with him the Eucharist which had been requested of him. The knight who had taken the semblance of the lady, receives the bread and the wine from the chalice; the chaplain leaves, and the old woman runs to close the doors after him. The lady rests near the knight, and you have never seen such a beautiful couple. After enough laughing, enough playing, and after they had agreed on all their facts, the knight took his leave to return to his country.

The lady tenderly asks him to come back often. Beautiful friend, I will see you whenever you wish, at all hours of the day if that pleases you. But I implore you, take care not to commit any indiscretion that could reveal our intelligence. Be particularly wary of this old woman, who, lying in wait for you night and day, will end up surprising you. Perceiving our love, she will bet your husband about it, and if ever the misfortune happens that we are discovered, I am forced to admit to you that I cannot defend myself from it and that I will have to die. When leaving, the knight leaves his friend in the greatest joy; The next day she got up with pleasure, and throughout the week she was charmingly cheerful. To please her lover, she takes more care of her grooming. Her calmer mind allowed her to regain her attractions, and soon she regained all her beauty. The tower in which she lived and which previously displeased her so much, became for her a pleasant stay; she prefers him to any other, since she can see her lover as often as she wishes. As soon as her husband is absent, during the day, at night she can converse with the knight as long as she wishes. May God prolong the happy time when she can enjoy the happiness of being loved!

The old husband noticed, not without surprise, the great change which had taken place in the character and conduct of his wife. He suspected that his orders were poorly executed by his sister, which is why taking her aside one day, he asked her the reason why his other half, who had previously been so sad, was now taking the greatest care to dress well. The old woman replied that she was absolutely unaware of it. It is impossible to be able to speak to your wife, she cannot have a lover or a friend; However, like you, I observed that she likes her solitude better than in the past. I believe you perfectly, my sister, but we must use cunning to clarify the mystery. Listen, in the morning when I get up and you have closed the doors on me, you will pretend to go out and leave my wife all alone in her bed. Hide yourself in some corner where you can see everything, hear everything, and try to discover the reason for his contentment. They stop at this advice. Alas! what misfortune for these lovers whose loss we ward off!

Three days after this determination, the husband pretends to be traveling; he warns his wife that the king, by letter, has summoned him to his court, but that he will return soon. He leaves the room, closing the door after him. The old woman gets up and hides behind a bed where she can learn everything she wants to know. The lady was in bed, but she was not sleeping. Believing herself alone, she desires the presence of her lover. He soon arrives to spend a few moments with her, they rejoice together, and as soon as it is time to get up, the knight leaves. The old woman noticed the way in which the lover entered and introduced himself to his beauty, and how he left her. However, she could not realize this metamorphosis from bird to man and from man to bird. As soon as the husband, who had barely left, returned, the old woman told him everything she had witnessed. In his anger he swears revenge. For this he immediately builds a trap which will kill the knight. This trap consisted of four very sharp steel pins which folded one on the other when closing, and which were sharper than the best razor. As soon as this object of revenge was completed, the husband had it placed on the edge of the window through which the knight entered when he came to visit his lady. Oh God! why must he not be informed of the terrible fate that is being prepared for him!

The husband got up the next morning before daybreak; he says he's leaving to go hunting. The old woman gets out of bed to accompany him, then she returns to bed because dawn was barely appearing. The lady woke up and knew she was alone. Thinking of her friend, she wants to see him, talk to him, and her desire is immediately fulfilled. He comes flying against the window, and as soon as he leans on it, the pins close and dangerously injure him; one enters his body, and his blood flows on all sides. When the knight realizes that he is mortally wounded, he enters despite the trap, and goes against the lady's bed, which he floods with his blood. She considers her friend's wounds, and cannot recover from her surprise and her pain. Dear friend, it is for you that I die. I warned you well of the fate reserved for me. While listening to her friend, the lady lost consciousness and was unconscious for a long time. When she returned, the knight consoled her; he begs her not to grieve too much, because she is pregnant with a son who will be her consolation. You will name it Ywenec. Brave and valiant, he will be the avenger of his parents, and will kill the detestable author of all our evils.

The blood that flowed from his wounds did not allow the knight to stay any longer. He bids farewell to his lover and leaves sorry. The lady hurriedly follows him, filling the air with her screams. She jumps from a window in the countryside, falls more than twenty feet high, and by a kind of miracle, she does not harm herself. Getting out of bed, the lady was dressed only in a simple shirt; the marks of blood which came out of Eudemarec's wounds helped the lady to follow in his footsteps. She entered a small cabin where her lover had taken some rest. This cabin, the floor of which was sprinkled with blood, had only one entrance. She looks for him in the darkness and not finding him, she leaves the cabin, continues her course, crosses a beautiful meadow where, to her great astonishment, the grass was covered with blood, and nevertheless allowed the road to be seen. had followed the knight. The lady arrives near a walled city. There was no house, no tower that was not superiorly built, because the inhabitants were very rich. Near the city is the marsh for fishing, the forest for hunting and the port for ships. On the other side, towards the keep, was the river which was very rapid. This is where the ships arrived, numbering more than three hundred.

The lady entered the town through the lower gate which was open, she crossed the main street, and the trace of blood helped her find the castle where she met no one. The stairs were all stained with blood. She successively crosses two rooms, one small, the other larger; They were each occupied by a sleeping knight, but on the third, she found her lover's bed. The supports are made of enameled gold, and one cannot estimate the value of the blankets, the candlesticks and the candles which burn night and day, because they are worth all the money of a kingdom. As soon as she entered, the lady recognized her lover; completely frightened by the spectacle she sees, she loses the use of her senses. The knight who loves him tenderly provides him with help despite the pain he experiences from his wounds. As soon as she returned, the knight sought to console her, and said to her: Fair friend, in the name of God, I beseech you, leave here, for I will die towards the middle of the day. The grief my people will experience will be so great that if you were found here you might be insulted. My knights are aware that they are losing me as a result of our love, and I feel a lot of worry for you.

The lady replied: I want to die with you, dear lover, since by returning to my husband, I am certain that he will kill me. Rest assured, beautiful lady, take this golden ring; as long as you keep it, your husband will not think of you and will no longer make you suffer. The knight takes his sword, gives it to the lady, recommending her not to give it to anyone, and to keep it carefully for their son when he is able to use it, and when he has been armed as a knight. You will then go to a party, accompanied by your husband. You will be received in an abbey where you will see a large tomb, and you will be told about the end of the knight it contains, you will then give my sword to your son; you will tell him the story of his birth, of our misfortunes, of my death, and we will see the effect of his revenge. After completing his instructions, Eudemarec gives his friend a bliaut of precious fabric, puts it on her, and asks her to leave him alone.

The desolate lady leaves, taking with her the ring and the sword that will one day avenge her. She was not far from half a league from the town when she heard the bells ringing and the piercing cries of the people of the castle, who had just lost their lord. Through the pain she felt on learning of the death of her friend, the lady fainted four times; and when her senses had returned to her, she rested for a moment in the cabin she had visited in the morning; continuing to walk, she arrived at the castle of her husband, who since then left her perfectly alone. The lady gave birth to a son whom she nursed and named Ywenec. In the kingdom one would not have found his equal in beauty, in prowess, in courage and in generosity. When he reached the required age, he received a knighthood. Now listen to what happened to him in the same year.

The feast of Saint Aaron was celebrated in Carlion and in several other towns. According to the custom of the country, the husband, in addition to several of his friends, went there with a large entourage, his wife and young Ywenec. Little knowing the route they were to take, they had with them a young man who directed their march, and who led them to a superb city which they did not know. There we could see a rich abbey where the young man who guided them had them stay. The company was received and treated in the abbot's own room. The travelers warn that they will leave the next day after mass. The abbot implores them to give him a day. He wants to show them the chapter rooms, the refectory, the apartments; and, because they had been perfectly received, the travelers agreed to extend their stay. After dinner, the strangers visit the house, and enter the chapter room.

There we saw a large tomb covered with a precious tapestry richly embroidered in gold at the top, bottom and sides. The tomb was surrounded by twenty lighted candles supported by candlesticks also made of gold; the censers serving the deceased were made of amethyst. The travelers asked their guide to kindly tell them the name and history of the character contained in the tomb. The monks shed tears and tearfully say that it is the body of the most valiant, the most beautiful and the most beloved of the knights born and unborn. This one was our king and we never saw a more affable one. He was killed following his love affair with a lady from Caerwent; and since that time the earth has been without a lord. We are impatiently awaiting the arrival of a son that he had with his mistress, who according to his last wishes must succeed him.

When the lady had heard this speech, she called Ywenec and said to him: You know, fair son, why God has brought us here; Here is your father's tomb, and here is his murderer. At the same time, she gives him Eudemarec's sword which she always carried with her. Yvenec knew the secret of his birth, the story of his parents' love affairs, the assassination of his father. After this speech the lady fell dead on her lover's tomb. Ywenec, seeing that his mother no longer existed, comes against the old man, takes his good sword, and knocks his head off his shoulders. In a single blow he avenged the misfortunes of the perpetrators of his days. As soon as the news of this event was spread throughout the city, the body of the lady was placed and enclosed in her lover's coffin. May God have them in his mercy. The people recognized Ywenec as their king before he left the church.

The people who had knowledge of this adventure made it a long time later to recall the sorrows and the sorrows endured by two tender lovers.