Jean Lang

“ But Calidore was like a lion in a herd of deer. With his sharp sword he thrust and smote, until the robbers who did not lie dead around him fled in terror, and hid themselves in their caves.
Then Calidore went back to where he had left Pastorella, and cheered and comforted her. Together they went through the robbers’ caves, and took the richest of their treasures of gold and precious jewels. All the sheep they gave to Corydon, who gladly drove them away.
Then Calidore took Pastorella to the castle of one of his friends, a noble knight, whose gentle wife was called Claribel. ”

“ The nurse said: ‘Let us dress ourselves in some of the armour that your father has taken from his enemies. You shall be a knight, and I will be your squire. Together we will ride to Fairyland and find Artegall.’
When Britomart was dressed in shining armour of silver and gold, she looked a very handsome, tall, young knight. Her nurse dressed her as carefully as she had dressed her long ago in her baby-clothes, and, when all her armour was on, she put into her hand a long spear. It was a magic spear, and there had never yet been born a knight who could sit on his saddle when it struck him. ”

“ With a heavy heart he rode away from the magician’s cottage in the grey dawn, with the dwarf sadly following him.
As he went through the woods he met a knight riding with a beautiful lady in red robes that sparkled with jewels. The lady’s horse was all decked out with gold, and from its bridle hung golden bells.
Although she was so beautiful, she was really a wicked witch, who was never so happy as when she was making men fight and kill each other. ”

“ Many knights loved Florimell and wished to marry her. But Florimell loved only one, and he was Marinell, the son of a sea-nymph and a fairy knight And Marinell loved no one, not even Florimell.
Marinell was a bold knight, who had no sooner fought one fight than he was ready for another.
One day there was brought to the court news of his latest fight. Britomart, the maiden who feared no one, and who wore man’s armour and carried a magic spear, had fought with Marinell, and Marinell was dead. So said they who brought the news. ”

“ And if you listen some night when the stars are out, and the moon has made a silver path on the sea, you will hear the little waves that swish on the shore softly murmuring a little song. And perhaps, if your ears are very quick, and the big waves’ thunder does not drown the sound of their melody, you may hear them whispering the names of two happy lovers, Florimell and Marinell. ”

“ It was the wicked Sansloy who had killed Una’s lion and carried her away.
The brave knight rushed up to him with his drawn sword.
‘You have slain the Red Cross Knight,’ he said; ‘come and fight and be punished for your evil deed.’
‘I never slew the Red Cross Knight,’ said Sansloy, in a great rage. ‘Your enemies have sent you to me to be killed.’
Then, like two wild beasts, they fought, only resting sometimes for a moment that they might rush at each other again with the more strength and fury. ”

“ The robbers had waked up, hearing the crash of the door, and the yell of the robber as he died, and Calidore’s cry of ‘Pastorella.’ Like a swarm of angry wasps they flocked to the door of the cave, but in the doorway stood Calidore with his sword, and slew every man who dared to try to kill him. ”

“ A terrible whirlpool, where the waves rushed furiously round and round, was the next danger that they met. Then, when they were free of that, a great storm arose, and every fierce and ugly fish and monster that ever lived in the sea came rushing at the boat from out the foaming waves, roaring as if they were going to devour them.
‘Have no fear,’ said the palmer to Guyon. ‘These ugly shapes were only made by the wicked witch to frighten you.’
With his palmer’s staff he smote the sea. [Pg 55] The waves sank down to rest, and all the ugly monsters vanished away. ”

“ The shepherd was very angry, but all the sea-folk had to obey Neptune, so he sulkily opened the prison door and let Florimell go free.
When the black-browed Cymoënt took hold of the little white hand of the maiden her son loved, and looked on her lovely face, she was no longer sorry that Marinell did not wish to marry a sea-nymph. For no maiden in the sea was as beautiful or as sweet as Florimell. ”

“ He was a bold knight, and told her to fly, or he would kill her.
‘Fly!’ proudly said Britomart. ‘Words only frighten babies. I will not fly. I will fight you!’
Then they fought, and with her spear Britomart gave the knight a terrible wound, and rode away, leaving him lying senseless on the shore.
Many other fights had Britomart as she sought Artegall, and always her magic spear made her the winner.
One day she came to a place where a great many knights were having a tournament.
A beautiful golden girdle, sparkling with jewels, was to be the prize for the knight that fought the best. ”

“ Their silver voices are like lutes, and they steal men’s hearts away.’
Long, long ago, one of these nymphs became the wife of a brave knight, who found her sleeping amongst the rocks and loved her for her beauty. Cymoënt was her name, and the other nymphs called her Cymoënt the Black Browed, because dark lashes and eyebrows shaded her sea-blue eyes.
The knight and the nymph had a son as strong and as brave as his father, and as beautiful as his mother, and Cymoënt called him Marinell.
‘My son must be richer than any of the knights who live on the land,’ said Cymoënt to the king her father. ”

“ But she went on pretending that she thought Artegall bad and cruel, just that she might hear his friend praise him.
[Pg 39] ‘There is no knight more brave than Artegall,’ said the Red Cross Knight. ‘Ladies who suffer wrong, and little children who have none to care for them, are always sure of having Artegall to fight for them. He is as good as he is brave, and as brave as he is good.’
Britomart loved the Red Cross Knight because he was so true to his friend, and more than ever she loved Artegall, the knight of the Mirror. ”

“ When Pastorella was grown up, there came one day to the country of plains and woods where she lived a brave and noble knight.
His name was Calidore, and of all the knights of the Faerie Queen there was none so gentle nor so courteous as he. He always thought of others first, and never did anything that he thought would hurt the feelings of any one. ”

“ The sea-nymph, his mother, told Neptune, King of the Seas, that his shepherd had imprisoned a beautiful maiden in his darkest cave, and begged him to set Florimell free, that she might become Marinell’s wife.
So Florimell was set free at last, and all her troubles were ended.
Marinell took her away from the kingdom under the sea back to Fairyland, and they were married in a castle by the golden strand. Every beautiful lady and every brave knight in Fairyland was there. They had tournaments every day, and each knight fought for the lady he thought the most beautiful and loved the best. ”

“ Now Neptune, who was king of all the seas, had a shepherd who could tell what was going to happen in the future.
‘Tell me,’ Cymoënt said to him, ‘how long my Marinell will live, and from what dangers he must take most care to keep away.’
‘Do not let him go near any women,’ said the Shepherd of the Seas. ‘I can see that a woman will either hurt him very much, or kill him altogether.’
So Cymoënt warned her son never to go near any woman. And many ladies were sad because handsome Marinell would not speak to them, and the lovely lady Florimell was the saddest of all. ”

“ Then the good old nurse comforted Britomart. She said she was sure that Artegall must be a real man, and not just a shadow, and that she would find him. Then she tucked the bedclothes round Britomart, and put out the flickering lamp. When Britomart, much comforted, had fallen quietly asleep, her nurse sat and watched beside her, and dropped some tears because Britomart was no longer a little baby-girl for her to take care of, but a grown-up girl who loved a knight. ”

“ Even then, so tight was the grip that the claws had got, that it still hung bleeding from the shield.
Then was the dragon’s rage so frightful, that the flames and smoke from its mouth were like the flames and smoke that pour out of a burning mountain. All the sky [Pg 29] was darkened, and as George shrank back in horror from the burning, choking, smelling darkness, his foot slipped in the mire, and he fell. ”

“ The knight who beats me shall have my sister Canacee for his wife.’
Now all the knights knew that Canacee had given her brother a magic ring, and that, as long as he wore it, no matter how deep a wound he got, the wound would not bleed, and he would not die.
‘It is very well for Cambell,’ they said. ‘We cannot kill him, but he can kill us.’
So they would not fight, even to win Canacee.
But the three brothers, Priamond, Diamond, and Triamond, were not afraid. ”

“ The frightened dwarf also begged him to come away, but the knight said, ‘I should be ashamed to come back. If one is good, one need have no fear of the darkness.’
So into the darkness he went, and in the faint light that came from his shining armour he saw a hideous monster. It had a great ugly head and a long speckled tail like a serpent’s, and it rushed at the knight, roaring furiously. He struck at it with his sword, but it wound its horrible tail around him, until he was nearly crushed to death.
[Pg 5] Una called to him not to fear, but to strike the monster bravely. ”

“ He knocked her down into the bottom of his boat amongst the fishes’ scales, and might have killed her, had not Florimell screamed and screamed for help. There was no ship near, and the waves and the sea-birds could not help her.
But it chanced that the shepherd of all the flocks in the sea was driving his chariot that way. He was an old man with long white hair and beard. Sometimes on a stormy day one may see him far out at sea, as he drives his flocks that look from far away like snowy froth and foam. ”

“ Triamond, too, fell down, and out of his wound all Diamond’s strength ebbed away.
When those who looked on saw this, they thought that the fight was at an end, because the fighters all lay dead.
Canacee began to cry because her brother and the brave knight who loved her were slain. But in a moment both knights rose to their feet again.
Those who watched could not believe their eyes when they saw them begin to fight as fiercely as before. ”

“ The Money God was full of rage, yet still he thought that he might win Guyon to his will. He took him to a garden where dark cypresses hung their heads over the flaming blossoms of poppies that made men sleep for ever, and where every sort of poisonous flower and shrub flourished richly. ”

“ When they saw Guyon in his shining armour, they stopped their work and stared at him in fear and amazement. Never before had they seen any one who was not as horrible and as ugly as themselves. Once again Mammon offered him the gold he saw, but again Guyon refused it. ”

“ Then Mammon led him into another room where were a hundred blazing furnaces.
Hideous slaves of the Money God blew bellows and stirred the flames, and ladled out of huge caldrons on the fires great spoonfuls of molten gold. ”

“ So Calidore’s heart was nearly broken, and he vowed a vow that he would not rest until he had punished the wicked men who had killed Pastorella.
He made Corydon come with him to show him the way to the robbers’ island. At first Corydon was too frightened to go, but at last Calidore persuaded him. Together they set off, dressed like shepherds. But although Calidore carried only a shepherd’s crook, under his smock he wore his steel armour.
When at last they had reached the island, they found some sheep grazing, and knew them for some of those that had belonged to Melibœus. ”

“ She thought that this charm would cure Britomart of loving the knight, and make her gay and happy again. But the old nurse’s charm was no good. Britomart grew thin and sad and ill.
[Pg 35] Then the old woman thought of Merlin, the magician who had made the mirror.
‘It is all his fault that my princess is so sad,’ she said; ‘he must make her happy again.’
So she dressed Britomart and herself in shabby old clothes, and went to seek Merlin.
The magician lived in a dark cave under a rock. The rock lay near a swift-rushing river that ran down between thickly wooded hills. ”

“ That they would not promise, but they promised that if Priamond died first, all his strength should go into the other two. And if Diamond should then die, all his strength and Priamond’s were to go into their brother Triamond.
Priamond, Diamond, and Triamond loved each other very dearly. When they grew up and all fell in love with the same lady, it did not make them less good friends.
The name of this lady was Canacee. She was very beautiful, and was the cleverest lady in all that land. She knew all about birds and beasts and plants and flowers, and was as witty as she was wise. ”

“ When Calidore saw this, he laid aside his armour and dressed himself like a shepherd, with a crook instead of a spear. Every day he helped Pastorella to drive her sheep to the field, and took care of them and drove away the hungry wolves, so that she might do as she liked and never have any care, knowing that he was there.
Now, one of the shepherds, whose name was Corydon, for a long time had loved Pastorella. He would steal the little fluffy [Pg 66] sparrows from their nests, and catch the young squirrels, and bring them to her as gifts. ”