Here is the translation of the Roman de Tristan et Iseult of 1900 by Joseph Bedier. Here is the first part: The childhoods of Tristan.
The childhoods of Tristan
Lords, do you like to hear a beautiful tale of love and death? It is from Tristan and Iseult the queen. Hear how with great joy, in great mourning, they loved each other, then died of it one day, he through her, she through him.
In ancient times, King Mark reigned in Cornwall. Ayant appris que ses ennemis le guerroyaient, Rivalen, roi de Loonnois, franchit la mer pour lui porter son aide. Il le servit par l’épée et par le conseil, comme eût fait un vassal, si fidèlement que Marc lui donna en récompense la belle Blanchefleur, sa sœur, que le roi Rivalen aimait d’un merveilleux amour.
He took her from a wife to Tintagel's mound. But hardly had he married her, the news reached him that his old enemy, Duke Morgan, having fallen on the Loonnois, was ruining his towns, his fields, his towns. Rivalen hastily fitted out his naves, and carried Blanchefleur, who was fat, to his distant land. He landed in front of his castle in Kanoël, entrusted the queen to the protection of her marshal Rohalt, Rohalt whom everyone, for his loyalty, called by a beautiful name, Rohalt the Faith-Tenant; then, having assembled his barons, Rivalen set out to support his war.
Blanchefleur l’attendit longuement. Hélas ! il ne devait pas revenir. Un jour, elle apprit que le duc Morgan l’avait tué en trahison. Elle ne le pleura point : ni cris, ni lamentations, mais ses membres devinrent faibles et vains ; son âme voulut, d’un fort désir, s’arracher de son corps. Rohalt s’efforçait de la consoler :
“Reine,” he said, “nothing can be gained by mourning after mourning; must not all who are born die? May God receive the dead and preserve the living!… ”
But she didn't want to listen to him. Three days she waited to join her dear lord. On the fourth day, she gave birth to a son, and taking him in her arms:
“Son,” she said to him, “I have wanted to see you for a long time; and I see the most beautiful creature that a woman has ever carried. Sad I give birth, sad is the first party I give you, because of you I am sad to die. And as thus you came to earth out of sadness, your name will be Tristan. "
When she had said these words, she kissed him, and as soon as she kissed him, she died.
Rohalt le Foi-Tenant recueillit l’orphelin. Déjà les hommes du duc Morgan enveloppaient le château de Kanoël : comment Rohalt aurait-il pu soutenir longtemps la guerre ? On dit justement : « Démesure n’est pas prouesse » ; il dut se rendre à la merci du duc Morgan. Mais, de crainte que Morgan n’égorgeât le fils de Rivalen, le maréchal le fit passer pour son propre enfant et l’éleva parmi ses fils.
Après sept ans accomplis, lorsque le temps fut venu de le reprendre aux femmes, Rohalt confia Tristan à un sage maître, le bon écuyer Gorvenal. Gorvenal lui enseigna en peu d’années les arts qui conviennent aux barons. Il lui apprit à manier la lance, l’épée, l’écu et l’arc, à lancer les disques de pierre, à franchir d’un bond les plus larges fossés ; il lui apprit à détester tout mensonge et toute félonie, à secourir les faibles, à tenir la foi donnée ; il lui apprit les diverses manières de chant, le jeu de la harpe et l’art du veneur ; et, quand l’enfant chevauchait parmi les jeunes écuyers, on eût dit que son cheval, ses armes et lui ne formaient qu’un seul corps et n’eussent jamais été séparés. À le voir si noble et si fier, large des épaules, grêle des flancs, fort, fidèle et preux, tous louaient Rohalt parce qu’il avait un tel fils. Mais Rohalt, songeant à Rivalen et à Blanchefleur, de qui revivaient la jeunesse et la grâce, chérissait Tristan comme son fils, et secrètement le révérait comme son seigneur.
Or, il advint que toute sa joie lui fut ravie, au jour où les marchands de Norvège, ayant attiré Tristan sur leur nef, l’emportèrent comme une belle proie. Tandis qu’ils cinglaient vers des terres inconnues, Tristan se débattait, ainsi qu’un jeune loup pris au piège. Mais c’est vérité prouvée, et tous les mariniers le savent : la mer porte à regret les nefs félonnes, et n’aide pas aux rapts ni aux traîtrises. Elle se souleva furieuse, enveloppa la nef de ténèbres, et la chassa huit jours et huit nuits à l’aventure. Enfin, les mariniers aperçurent à travers la brume une côte hérissée de falaises et de récifs, où elle voulait briser leur carène. Ils se repentirent : connaissant que le courroux de la mer venait de cet enfant ravi à la male heure, ils firent vœu de le délivrer et parèrent une barque pour le déposer au rivage. Aussitôt tombèrent les vents et les vagues, le ciel brilla, et, tandis que la nef des Norvégiens disparaissait au loin, les flots calmés et riants portèrent la barque de Tristan sur le sable d’une grève.
À grand effort, il monta sur la falaise et vit qu’au delà d’une lande vallonnée et déserte, une forêt s’étendait sans fin. Il se lamentait, regrettant Gorvenal, Rohalt son père, et la terre de Loonnois, quand le bruit lointain d’une chasse à cor et à cri réjouit son cœur. Au bord de la forêt, un beau cerf déboucha. La meute et les veneurs dévalaient sur sa trace à grand bruit de voix et de trompes. Mais, comme les limiers se suspendaient déjà par grappes au cuir de son garrot, la bête, à quelques pas de Tristan, fléchit sur les jarrets et rendit les abois. Un veneur la servit de l’épieu. Tandis que, rangés en cercle, les chasseurs cornaient de prise, Tristan, étonné, vit le maître veneur entailler largement, comme pour la trancher, la gorge du cerf. Il s’écria :
"What are you doing, lord? Is it befitting to cut up such a noble beast like a slaughtered pig? So is this the custom of this country?
"Brother-in-law," replied the huntsman, "what am I doing here that might surprise you?" Yes, I will first untie the head of this stag, then I will cut its body into four quarters that we will carry, hanging from the pommels of our saddles, to King Mark, our lord. So do we; thus, from the time of the oldest hunters, the men of Cornwall have always done. If, however, you know of any more laudable custom, show it to us; take this knife, brother-in-law; we will gladly learn it. "
Tristan knelt down and skinned the deer before defeating it; then he dismembered the head, leaving the corbin bone quite blunt, as it should be; then he raised the small rights, the muzzle, the tongue, the daintiers and the vein of the heart.
And huntsmen and sleuths, leaning over him, looked at him, charmed.
“Friend,” said the master hunter, “these customs are beautiful; in what land did you learn them? Tell us your country and your name.
- Handsome lord, they call me Tristan; and I learned these customs in my country of Loonnois.
- Tristan, said the huntsman, may God reward the father who raised you so nobly! No doubt he is a rich and powerful baron? "
But Tristan, who knew how to speak well and be silent, replied cunningly:
« Non, seigneur, mon père est un marchand. J’ai quitté secrètement sa maison sur une nef qui partait pour trafiquer au loin, car je voulais apprendre comment se comportent les hommes des terres étrangères. Mais, si vous m’acceptez parmi vos veneurs, je vous suivrai volontiers, et vous ferai connaître, beau seigneur, d’autres déduits de vénerie.
- Beau Tristan, I am astonished that there is a land where the sons of the merchants know what the sons of the knights do not know elsewhere. But come with us, since you wish, and be welcome. We will bring you to King Mark our lord. "
Tristan achevait de défaire le cerf. Il donna aux chiens le cœur, le massacre et les entrailles, et enseigna aux chasseurs comment se doivent faire la curée et le forhu. Puis il planta sur des fourches les morceaux bien divisés et les confia aux différents veneurs : à l’un la tête, à l’autre le cimier et les grands filets, à ceux-ci les épaules, à ceux-là les cuissots, à cet autre le gros des nombles. Il leur apprit comment ils devaient se ranger deux par deux pour chevaucher en belle ordonnance, selon la noblesse des pièces de venaison dressées sur les fourches.
So they set out to talk, until they finally discovered a rich castle. It was surrounded by meadows, orchards, flowing waters, fisheries and plowed land. Numerous naves entered the port. The castle stood on the sea, strong and beautiful, well equipped against any assault and any machinery of war; and its mistress tower, once erected by the giants, was built of blocks of stone, large and well cut, arranged like a chessboard of vert and azure.
Tristan asked for the name of this castle.
“Handsome valet, we call him Tintagel.
- Tintagel, cried Tristan, blessed are you of God, and blessed are your hosts! "
Lords, it is there that long ago, to great joy, his father Rivalen had married Blanchefleur. But unfortunately ! Tristan ignored him.
When they reached the foot of the keep, the bands of the huntsmen drew the barons and King Mark himself to the gates.
After the master hunter had told him the adventure, Marc admired the beautiful arroi of this ride, the deer well butchered, and the great sense of the customs of venery. But above all he admired the beautiful foreign child, and his eyes could not be taken away from him. Where did this first affection come from? The king questioned his heart and could not understand it. Lords, it was his blood that stirred and spoke within him, and the love he had once borne for his sister Blanchefleur.
In the evening, when the tables were up, a juggler Welsh, master in his art, advanced among the assembled barons, and sang harp lays. Tristan was seated at the king's feet, and as the harper preluded to a new melody, Tristan spoke to him thus:
“Master, this lay is beautiful among all: once the ancients Bretons did it to celebrate the loves of Graelent. The air is sweet, and the words sweet. Master, your voice is skillful, harp it well! »
The Welshman sang, then answered:
“Child, what do you know about the art of instruments? If the merchants of the land of Loonnois also teach their sons the playing of harps, burles and hurdy-gurdies, get up, take this harp, and show your skill. "
Tristan took the harp and sang so beautifully that the barons were moved to hear him. And Marc admired the harper who had come from the land of Loonnois where Rivalen had once taken Blanchefleur.
When the lay was over, the king was silent for a long time.
“Son,” he said at last, “blessed be the master who taught you, and blessed are you of God! God loves good singers. Their voice and the voice of their harp penetrate the hearts of men, awaken their cherished memories and make them forget many mourning and many misdeeds. You have come for our joy in this abode. Stay a long time near me, friend!
— Volontiers je vous servirai, sire, répondit Tristan, comme votre harpeur, votre veneur et votre homme lige. »
He did so, and for three years a mutual tenderness grew in their hearts. During the day, Tristan followed Mark to plaids or hunting, and at night, as he slept in the royal chamber among the private and the faithful, if the king was sad, he harped to appease his discomfort. The barons cherished him, and above all others, as history will teach you, Seneschal Dinas of Lidan. But more tenderly than the barons and Dinas de Lidan, the king loved him. Despite their tenderness, Tristan did not console himself for having lost his father Rohalt, and his master Gorvenal, and the land of Loonnois.
Seigneurs, il sied au conteur qui veut plaire d’éviter de trop longs récits. La matière de ce conte est si belle et si diverse : que servirait de l’allonger ? Je dirai donc brièvement comment, après avoir longtemps erré par les mers et les pays, Rohalt le Foi-Tenant aborda en Cornouailles, retrouva Tristan, et, montrant au roi l’escarboucle jadis donnée par lui à Blanchefleur comme un cher présent nuptial, lui dit :
“King Marc, this is Tristan de Loonnois, your nephew, son of your sister Blanchefleur and of King Rivalen. Duke Morgan holds his land very wrongly; it is time for her to return to inheritance rights. "
And I will say briefly how Tristan, having received from his uncle the arms of a knight, crossed the sea on the ships of Cornwall, made himself recognized of the former vassals of his father, challenged the murderer of Rivalen, occit and recovered his land.
Then he thought that King Mark could no longer live happily without him, and, as the nobility of his heart always revealed to him the wisest course, he summoned his counts and his barons, and spoke to them thus:
« Seigneurs de Loonnois, j’ai reconquis ce pays et j’ai vengé le roi Rivalen par l’aide de Dieu et par votre aide. Ainsi j’ai rendu à mon père son droit. Mais deux hommes, Rohalt, et le roi Marc de Cornouailles, ont soutenu l’orphelin et l’enfant errant, et je dois aussi les appeler pères ; à ceux-là, pareillement, ne dois-je pas rendre leur droit ? Or, un haut homme a deux choses à lui : sa terre et son corps. Donc, à Rohalt que voici, j’abandonnerai ma terre : père, vous la tiendrez, et votre fils la tiendra après vous. Au roi Marc, j’abandonnerai mon corps : je quitterai ce pays, bien qu’il me soit cher, et j’irai servir mon seigneur Marc en Cornouailles. Telle est ma pensée ; mais vous êtes mes féaux, seigneurs de Loonnois, et me devez le conseil ; si donc l’un de vous veut m’enseigner une autre résolution, qu’il se lève et qu’il parle ! »
But all the barons praised him with tears, and Tristan, taking with him the only Gorvenal, sailed for the land of King Mark.
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