Charles Swan

“ Then when the countess had said thus to the earl, he said to the empress in this wise; The high God knoweth that thou, mischievous woman, hast slain my daughter with thine own hands, for I saw the bloody knife in thy hand, and therefore thou shalt die a foul death. ”

“ When the emperor saw that the king of Ampluy wrote to him more for fear than for love, he wrote again to him, that if he would find good and sufficient sureties to keep the peace, and bind himself all the days of his life to do him service and homage, he would receive him to peace. ”

“ He answered and said, Lady, I am ready to fulfil your will and commandment in all things; and then the empress took him with her, and many other knights, and so rode forth to meet the emperor: and as they rode together by the way, they saw a great hart run before them, wherefore every man, with such hounds as they had, chased him on horseback; so that with the empress was left no creature, save only the emperor's brother, who seeing that no man was there but they two, thus he said unto the empress; Lo, lady, here is beside a private forrest, and long it is ago that I spake to thee of love. ”

“ My reverend lord, though you would give me all your empire, I cannot heal your brother, nor none of these other, except they acknowledge openly what great evil they have done.
"When the emperor heard this, he turned him towards his brother, and said unto him: Brother, acknowledge openly thy sin before all these men, that thou mayest be healed of thy sickness. Then anon he began to tell how he had led his life, but he told not how he had hanged the empress in the forrest by the hair of the head most despitefully. ”

“ And when they were sailing in the sea, towards Rome, a storm arose so extreamly and so horribly that the ship brake against a rock, and they were all drowned save only the young lady, which fixed her hope and heart so greatly on God, that she was saved, and about three of the dock the tempest ceased, and the lady drove forth over the waves in that broken ship which was cast up again: But a huge whale followed after, ready to devour both the ship and her. ”

“ Then said the knight, I purpose to visit the Holy Land, and therefore give me your troth, that this seven years you shall take no other man, but only for my love to tarry for me so long, and if I come not again by this day seven years, then take what man you like best. ”

“ And when the damsel was thus slain, and the bloody knife in the empresses hand, the countess awaked out of her sleep, and saw by the light of the lamp the bloody knife in the empresses hand, wherefore she was almost out of her wits, and said to the earl, O my lord, behold in yonder lady's hand a wonderful thing. ”

“ Discussion upon remote history is ever attended with difficulty; and arguments that rest upon the basis of refined deduction—that are artfully designed to pull down one system while they support another equally imaginative, may have a well-founded claim to admiration, but not upon the score of truth. It is singular how the mind loves to grasp at mystery, and to disport itself in the chaos of departed time. ”

“ And when the seven years were ended, save a day, the young lady stood in her chamber window, and wept sore, saying, Woe and alas, as to-morrow my love promised to be with me again from the Holy Land: and also the king of Hungary to-morrow will be here to marry me, according to my father's promise: and if my love comes not at a certain hour, then am I utterly deceived of the inward love I bear to him. ”

“ The fictions are strongly and vividly delineated; and the reader feels himself hurried back into the romantic scenes of chivalrous emprize, and busily mingling in the commotions of camp and court. The fantastic regulations of many of the tales accord with historical notices of chivalry; in which the most ridiculous commands were imposed and executed. The sports of the field, united with the pursuit of wild adventure: love, and war, and devotion; absurd penances for unimaginable crimes, and carelessness for the commission of enormous ones, form no small part of the present compilation. ”

“ An easy and perpetual intercourse by sea and land connected the provinces of the Roman world; and the life of Hilarion displays the facility with which an indigent hermit of Palestine might traverse Egypt, embark for Sicily, escape to Epirus, and finally settle in the island of Cyprus. The Latin Christians embraced the religious institutions of Rome. The pilgrims, who visited Jerusalem, eagerly copied, in the most distant climes of the earth, the faithful model of monastic life. The disciples of Antony spread themselves beyond the tropic, over the Christian empire of Œthiopia. ”

“ Then said they, Dear lord, tell us your dream, and we shall declare to you what it betokens. Then the emperor told them from the beginning to the ending, as is aforesaid. When the philosophers heard this, with glad chear they answered and said. Sir, the vision that you saw betokeneth good, for the empire shall be clearer than it is.
"The moon that is more pale on the one side than on the other, betokeneth the empress, that hath lost part of her colour, through the conception of a son that she hath conceived. The little bird betokeneth the son that she shall bear. ”

“ A law was made at Rome that the sentinels of the city should each night examine what was passing in all the houses, so that no private murders should be committed, nor anything done whereby the city should be endangered. It happened that an old knight named Josias had married a young and beautiful woman who, by the sweetness of her singing, attracted many persons to his house, several of whom came for the purpose of making love to her. Among these were three young men who were high in the emperor's favour. ”

“ It is not unknown to you, that my lord the emperor ordained me principal governor of this empire, and also he ordained his brother to be steward under me, and that he should do nothing without my counsel, but he doth all the contrary; for he oppresseth greatly poor men, and likewise robbeth the rich men; yet he would do more than this if he might have his intent; wherefore I command you in my lord's name, that you bind him fast, and cast him into prison. ”

“ Ignorance is always credulous; and therefore, in considering the probability or improbability of the fable, we must consider how it was calculated to impress those for whom it was invented, or to whom it was told. ”

“ Folliculus, a knight, was fond of hunting and tournaments. He had an only son, for whom three nurses were provided. Next to this child he loved his falcon and his greyhound. It happened one day that he was called to a tournament, whither his wife and domestics went also, leaving the child in the cradle, the greyhound lying by him, and the falcon on his perch. A serpent that inhabited a hole near the castle, taking advantage of the profound silence that reigned, crept from his habitation and advanced towards the cradle to devour the child. ”

“ Time alone could mature what in its progress acquired such extensive popularity; and it seems to me one of the glaring defects of other systems, that they would represent the rise of that particular kind of fable in question to have been almost instantaneous: to have followed swift upon the incursions of the Saracens—to have sprung up mysteriously among the Scandinavians, or equally, if not more so, among the Armoricans. ”

“ The work under consideration is compiled from old Latin chronicles of Roman, or rather, as Mr. Warton and Mr. Douce think, of German invention. But this idea, with all submission, derives little corroborative evidence from fact. There is one story, and I believe, but one, which gives any countenance to it. That a few are extracted from German authors (who may not, after all, be the inventors) is no more proof that the compiler was a Grerman, than that, because some stories are found in the Roman annals, the whole book was the production of a Latin writer. ”

“ Such a coincidence no one will suppose the result of accident; nor can it for a moment be believed that the warm imaginations of the East—where Nature brightens the fancy equally with the flowers—borrowed it from the colder conceptions of the Northern bards. Many parts of the Old Testament demonstrate familiarity with spells; and Solomon (which proves a traditional intercourse, at least, between the Jews and other people of the East) , by universal consent, has been enthroned sovereign of the Genii, and lord of the powerful Talisman. ”

“ It would appear that hospitality was a never-failing virtue; and the eagerness with which pilgrims and wayfaring persons were invited to share the repast and partake the couch of the friendly citizen, or to occupy the castle of the knight, is a pleasing trait in the character of the times. ”

“ The ninth fable of the Edda alludes to "Les Genies lumineux," who are said to be "plus brillans que le soleil; mais les noirs sont plus noirs que la poix." [22] And what is this but the good and bad genii of Eastern romance? Thor's "vaillante ceinture, qui a le pouvoir d'accroitre ses forces," and the "chaine magique," [23] are equivalent to the enchanted ring; nor are "le grand serpent de Midgard," with other monsters, so unlike the oriental Dragon, [24] as to preclude any comparison.
In short, the reader clearly distinguishes the accordance of the Northern mythology with that of the East. ”

“ Nevertheless, when the keeper was gone, there came daily a nightingale in at the window, and sung full sweetly, by whose song this woful knight was oftentimes fed with joy, and when the bird left off singing, then would she flye into the knight's bosome, and there this knight fed her many a day, of the victual that God sent him. It befel after upon a day, that the knight was greatly desolate of comfort. ”

“ It would seem like a captive escaped from confinement, wantoning in the excess of unaccustomed liberty. And the more boundless the subject, the less timid we find the adventurer; the more perilous the journey, the less wary are his movements. ”

“ Returning once more, the woman, with additional arts, plays the same part again. Again he is deceived, and taking away the third body, carries it into a forest, makes a fire, and consumes it. During this operation he has occasion to retire, and in the mean time a knight on horseback, who was going to a tournament, passes by, and alights to warm himself at the fire. On the other's return, the knight is mistaken for the dead man, and with many bitter words thrown into the fire, horse and all. ”

“ In the course of a multifarious warfare, such things must occur; the line of separation must occasionally be removed, and youthful hearts and minds must, now and then, however sundered by human prejudices, break down the strongest barrier that interposes between them. ”

“ Lo, here daughter, these be rich vessels, if thou chuse one of these, wherein is profit to thee and to others, then shalt thou have my son. And if thou chuse that wherein is no profit to thee, nor to any other, soothly thou shalt not marry him.
"When the maiden heard this, she lift up her hands to God, and said, Thou Lord, that knowest all things, grant me grace this hour so to chuse, that I may receive the emperor's son. And with that she beheld the first vessel of gold, which was engraven royally, and read the superscription: Whoso chuseth me, shall find that he deserveth ”

“ Much time must inevitably elapse before new systems can take root; and when they do, it is imperceptibly and silently. Hence, may the hostile incursions of the Saracens have introduced some portion of Eastern fiction: but not all; for it is the common tendency of a conquered country to engraft its own character and customs upon those of the stronger power. ”