The Romance of Tristan: The Tale of Tristan's Madness (Classics) (6 page)

The king well knew that she was speaking the truth, for he had heard all those words.
He embraced her and kissed her a hundred times. She wept and he told her to be
quiet: never again at any time would he mistrust them because of what any slanderer
said; they could come and go as they wished; Tristan’s goods were his and
his were Tristan’s; never would he believe those Cornishmen again. Then
the king told the queen how the wicked dwarf Frocin had warned him of their meeting
and made him climb into the tree that evening to watch them.

‘Were you in the pine tree, then, sire?’

‘Yes, my lady, by St Martin! Nothing was said, however slight, that I did
not hear. When I heard Tristan recall the battle which I made him fight, I felt such
pity that I all but fell from the tree. I was overcome with grief when I heard you
recount his suffering at sea from the wound the dragon gave him,
¹
which you cured and you were very good to him; when he asked you to redeem
his pledges, you did not want to acquit him. Nor did either of you try to approach
the other. Up in the tree I felt such sympathy for you, I could only smile to
myself.’

‘My Lord, I am very glad of this. Now you know with certainty, for that
would have been a fine opportunity
for us. If he loved me wickedly,
you would have seen signs enough. On the contrary, by my faith, you saw that there
was no hint of his coming up to kiss me or behave in an unseemly way. Surely,
Tristan’s love for me is blameless. Sire, if you had not seen us just now
you would certainly not have believed me.’

‘I would not, by God,’ said the king. ‘Brangain, God
give you honour, go and find my nephew in his lodging. If he says one thing and
another and will not come for you, say that it is I who am sending for
him.’

‘Sire,’ said Brangain, ‘he hates me. God knows he is
wrong, but he says that it is through me that he has quarrelled with you and he is
eager to get rid of me. But I will go, for your sake he will refrain from touching
me. Sire, reconcile me with him when he comes here.’ (Just listen to the
deceitful woman! She spoke like a real swindler. She lied deliberately and
complained about Tristan’s ill will.) ‘I am going for him,
sire,’ said Brangain, ‘you will do me a good turn if you can
restore me to his favour.’

The king replied: ‘I will try hard. Go quickly, then, and bring him
here.’

Yseut was pleased at this, and the king even more so. Brangain ran out of the door.
Tristan was standing by the wall, where he had heard them talking to the king. He
caught Brangain in his arms and embraced her, thanking God [that the king was going
to allow him] to be with Yseut as he wished. Brangain said to Tristan:

‘Sir, there in his chamber the king has been deliberating about you and
your dear love. He is no longer angry with you, and now he hates those who are
trying to trap
you. He has asked me to come to you. I told him you
were angry with me. Make a show of being asked and not coming easily. If the king
asks you for something on my behalf, pretend to look angry.’

Tristan embraced her and kissed her, he was so happy and relieved. They went to the
curtained room where the king and Yseut were, and Tristan entered.

‘Nephew,’ said the king, ‘come forward. Forgive
Brangain for what has made you angry, and I will forgive you.’

‘Uncle, my dear lord, listen to me. That is a very slight apology to make
after you have deeply wounded me by making grave accusations of such great
wrong-doing and wickedness. If they had been true I should have been damned, and
Yseut would have been dishonoured. God knows we never thought of it. You know now
that the man who makes you believe such incredible things hates you. From now on
take better advice and do not bear malice against the queen or against me, for I am
of your own blood.’

‘I shall not do so, fair nephew, by my faith.’

So Tristan and the king were reconciled. The king gave him leave to go into his
chamber – how happy he was! Tristan came and went to the chamber and the
king took no notice.

At Mark’s court there were three barons – you never saw more
wicked men! They had sworn that, if King Mark did not make his nephew leave the
country, they would tolerate it no longer and would retire to their castles to make
war on the king. For one day, under a tree in the garden, they had seen Yseut the
Fair with Tristan in a place that no man should allow. And they had often seen them
lying together, naked, in Mark’s bed. When the king went into the forest,
Tristan would say: ‘Sire, I am coming,’ and stay back and go
into the king’s chamber and remain there for a long time with Yseut.

‘We ourselves must tell the king. Let us go to the king and say, whether he
loves us or hates us, that we want his nephew driven away.’

They came to this decision together. Then they took King Mark to one side and said:
‘Sire, things are going badly. Your nephew and Yseut love each other, and
anyone who wants to can find out. We will not tolerate this any
longer.’

The king heard this, sighed and bent his head. He walked up and
down, not knowing what to say.

‘King,’ said the three villains, ‘we will not consent
to this any longer, for we know it is true that you are conniving at their
wickedness. You know all about this extraordinary thing. What are you going to do
about it? Now be advised! If you do not banish your nephew from court so that he
never returns, we shall no longer support you nor keep peace with you. We shall make
our neighbours leave the court, for we cannot put up with this. We can set out the
problem for you quickly; now tell us your wishes.’

‘My lords, you are loyal to me. As God is my help, I marvel that my nephew
should have sought my shame; but he has served me in a strange way. Give me your
advice, I beg you. You must advise me well, for I do not want to lose your service.
You know I have no wish to act arrogantly.’

‘Sire, then send for the prophetic dwarf. There is no doubt that he is very
clever, and a plan will soon be made. Send for the dwarf, then everything will be
settled.’

And he came very quickly (cursed be the hunchback!). One of the barons embraced him,
and the king revealed why they had sent for him. Now hear what treachery and
corruption this dwarf Frocin proposed to the king. (Cursed be all such magicians!
Whoever would have thought of such wickedness as this dwarf did? May God curse
him!)

‘Tell your nephew that he must go in the morning to King Arthur in walled
Carlisle. He is to take to Arthur as fast as he can a letter written on parchment,
well sealed
and fastened with wax. King, Tristan sleeps at the foot
of your bed. Soon, during the night, I know that he will want to talk to Yseut and,
by God, he will have to go to her. King, leave the room in the early part of the
night. I swear to you by God and the Law of Rome, if Tristan loves her wickedly he
will go to see her. If he does go, and I do not know and you do not see him, then
kill me and all your men. Otherwise, their guilt will be proved without any trial.
King, leave me now to my work and let me try to predict what will happen. Do not
tell him of the message until it is time for bed.’

The king replied: ‘It shall be done, my friend.’

Then they separated, each going his own way. The dwarf was extremely cunning, and he
did a very underhand thing. He went to a baker and bought four pennyworth of flour
and tied the bags to his tunic. (Whoever would think of such a low trick?) That
night, when the king had eaten, they lay down to sleep in the hall. Tristan led the
king to his bed.

‘Fair nephew,’ said the king, ‘I have a task for you;
see that you carry out my wishes. You must ride as far as Carlisle to King Arthur
and give him this letter to open. Nephew, give him greetings from me and do not stay
there more than a day.’

Tristan heard what he was to do, and replied that he would carry the letter:
‘King, I shall set out in the morning.’

‘Yes, before daybreak.’

Tristan was very agitated. Between his bed and the king’s there was fully
the length of a lance. Tristan had a wild idea: he said to himself that he would
talk to the
queen, if he could, after his uncle had gone to sleep.
(God, what folly! He was too rash.). The dwarf slept in the same room. Hear what he
did that night: he spread the flour between the two beds so that the footsteps would
appear if one went to the other during the night, for flour holds the shape of
footprints. Tristan saw the dwarf busy scattering the flour. He wondered what this
could mean, since he did not usually do so. Then he realized:

‘Soon this place will be covered with flour to show our footprints if one
of us goes to the other. It would be folly to go to her now that he will be able to
see.’

The day before in the forest Tristan had been wounded in the leg by a large boar, and
this hurt him greatly. The wound had bled very much and it was not bound up, to his
misfortune. Tristan did not go to sleep, I believe. At midnight the king arose and
went out of the room. With him went the hunch-backed dwarf. It was dark inside the
room, no lamp or candle was lit. Tristan rose to his feet. (God, why did he do this?
Now listen!) He put his feet together, judged the distance, leaped and landed on the
king’s bed. His wound opened and bled a great deal; the blood which came
out soaked the sheets. The wound was bleeding but he did not feel it, for he was
too intent on his pleasure. The blood gathered in several places. The dwarf was
outside; by the moonlight he could see that the two lovers were lying together. He
trembled with joy and said to the king:

‘If you cannot take them together, go and hang me!’

The three villains who secretly planned this treachery were also there. The king came
in. Tristan heard him
coming, rose from the bed in alarm and
hastily leaped back to his own. In the leap which Tristan made the blood fell (what
bad luck!) from his wound on to the flour. (God, what a pity the queen did not take
the sheets off the bed! Neither of them would have been caught that night. If she
had thought of it, she could easily have protected her honour. God worked a miracle
here when it pleased Him to safeguard them.) The king came back into the room; the
dwarf was with him, holding a candle. Tristan was pretending to be asleep and
snoring loudly. He was alone in the room except for Perinis, who lay at his feet
without stirring, and the queen lying in her bed. On the flour the warm blood could
be seen. The king noticed the blood in the bed, the white sheets were red with it.
And on the flour there were traces of the leap. The king threatened Tristan. The
three barons came into the room, angrily they took Tristan in his bed. Because of
his prowess they had begun to hate him, and also the queen. They abused her and
threatened her. They would not rest until justice was done. They could see
Tristan’s leg bleeding.

‘This is only too clear proof. You are guilty,’ said the king,
‘you will only waste your time trying to defend yourself. Tristan, you may
be sure that you will be put to death tomorrow.’

‘Mercy, sire,’ he cried, ‘for the sake of Our Lord who
suffered His passion, have pity on us, sire!’

But the villains said: ‘Sire, avenge yourself!’

‘Fair uncle, it does not matter about me. I know I have come to my end. Had
it not been for angering you, though, the barons would have paid dearly for this.
Never, by their eyes, would they have thought of laying their
hands on me but for your presence. But I have no quarrel with you. Now do what you
will with me, for good or ill, and I am ready to suffer it. But, sire, for
God’s sake, have pity on the queen.’ Tristan bowed his head.
‘There is no man in your household, if he uttered the treason that I have
wrongly and wickedly loved the queen, who would not find me armed in the field.
Sire, mercy on her, for God’s sake!’

The three barons who were in the room had taken Tristan prisoner and bound him. Then
they bound the queen, and Tristan became very angry. If he had known that he was not
going to be allowed to defend himself, he would have risked being torn to pieces
rather than let himself and Yseut be captured. But so great was his trust in God
that he firmly believed that, if he were allowed to defend himself, nobody would
dare to take up arms against him. He counted on being able to defend himself in
combat. For this reason he did not want his behaviour to Mark to be incorrect
through any hasty action. But if he had known how things were and what was to happen
to them, he would have killed all three barons and the king could not have protected
them. (God, why did he not kill them? He would have been in a much better
position.)

‘Alas, we have much to weep for! Alas, Tristan, noble knight! What a shame that these wretches have had you taken by treachery. Noble, honoured queen, in what land will a king’s daughter be born who is your equal? Dwarf, your magic has done this! If anyone finds the dwarf anywhere and does not pass his sword through his body, may he never see the face of God! Alas, Tristan, there will be such grief for you, fair sweet friend, brought to such distress! Alas, what sadness your death will cause! When Morholt came to the port here to take away our children our barons quickly fell silent, for none of them was brave enough to take up arms against him. You undertook the battle for all of us in Cornwall and killed Morholt. He gave you a wound with his spear which nearly killed you. We should never let you be put to death.’

The noise and the tumult rose. Everyone ran straight to the palace. The king was very harsh and angry; none of the barons was strong enough or bold enough to dare to speak to the king and ask him to pardon this misdeed. The night ended and at daybreak the king ordered thorns
to be brought and a ditch made in the ground. Holding a knife in his hand, the king sent everywhere for vines to put with the white and black thorns and roots. It was already the first hour of the day. It was proclaimed throughout the kingdom that everyone should come to court. They came as quickly as they could until all the Cornish people were assembled. In all the noise and commotion there was no one who did not lament, excepting only the dwarf of Tintagel. The king addressed them, saying that he was going to burn his wife and his nephew on a pyre. All the people of the kingdom cried out:

‘King, you would do them too great a wrong if they were not first brought to trial. Afterwards put them to death. Sire, mercy!’

The king replied angrily: ‘By the Lord who created the world and all things in it, not even if I were to lose my inheritance would I hold back from burning them. If anyone ever thinks of speaking to me about this, I warn you now to leave me completely in peace.’

He ordered them to light the fire and bring his nephew out. He wanted to burn him first. They went to fetch him and the king waited. Then they dragged Tristan out (by God, they acted badly!). He wept much but it was of no avail for they led him on shamefully. Yseut wept and nearly went out of her mind.

‘Tristan,’ she cried, ‘what grief that you are so shamefully bound! Even if I were killed it would be a great joy to me if you escaped, fair friend. Vengeance would yet be taken.’

Hear now, my lords, of the Lord God, of how He is
full of pity; He does not seek the death of a sinner. He had heard the cries and laments of the poor people for those who were going to their death. On the way they would pass a chapel on a hill, built on a ledge of rock. It overlooked the sea, facing north. That part which is called the chancel was raised; beyond it was only the cliff. The slope there was all slate; if a squirrel leaped over he would be dead, for he could not come down safely. In the apse was a window of red glass which a holy man had placed there.

Tristan called to his captors: ‘Lords, here is a chapel. For God’s sake, let me go in. My time is nearly at an end. I shall pray God to have mercy on me, for I have sinned greatly against Him. Lords, there is only this way in, and each of you is carrying a sword. You know that I cannot get out, I shall have to return to you. When I have ended my prayer I shall return to you as I say.’

Then they said to each other: ‘We can let him go in.’ They loosed his bonds and he went in. Tristan did not move slowly. He went to the window behind the altar, pulled it towards him with his right hand and leaped through the opening. He would rather jump than be burnt before that assembly. My lords, there was a big, wide stone in the middle of those rocks; Tristan jumped on to it very easily. The wind caught his clothes and prevented him from crashing to the ground – Cornishmen still call this stone ‘Tristan’s Leap’. The chapel was full of people. Tristan jumped to his feet, the sand was soft. They were all on their knees in the church. The others were waiting outside the church, but in vain. Tristan
was fleeing, God had shown him great mercy. He ran along the beach with great strides, and he could hear the fire crackling. He had no mind to return and ran as fast as he could.

But now hear of Governal. With his sword at his side he had gone out of the city on horseback. He knew that if he was overtaken the king would have him burnt on account of his master. Fear made him take flight. Tristan’s companion held him very dear and he had not wanted to leave Tristan’s sword behind. He had taken it down and was carrying it with his own. Tristan caught sight of his companion, recognized him at once and hailed him. Governal came up joyfully.

‘Master, God has had great mercy on me. I have escaped and here I am. Alas, what does this matter to me? If I have not got Yseut, the leap I made just now is worth nothing to me. Why did I not simply kill myself? It may bring me much grief that I have escaped. Yseut, you are to be burnt. I escaped in vain. She is being burnt for me, I shall die for her!’

Governal said: ‘For God’s sake, fair sir, be consoled and do not despair. Here is a thick bush surrounded by a ditch. Let us get inside. Many people pass by here, you will hear news of Yseut. And if she is burnt, never get into the saddle again if you do not take vengeance immediately afterwards! You will not go unaided. By Jesus, the Son of Mary, I should never rest inside a house until the three wicked villains who had killed your love Yseut had met their deaths. If you were killed now, fair sir, before vengeance had been taken, I should never be happy again.’

Tristan replied: ‘This vexes you greatly, I know. Fair master, I have not got my sword.’

‘Yes, you have. I brought it with me.’

‘Good, master,’ said Tristan, ‘now I fear nothing any more, save God.’

‘I have under my tunic something else which will be useful to you and which you will be glad to see: a strong, light hauberk, which may well be of service to you.’

‘In God’s name,’ said Tristan, ‘give it to me. By that God I believe in, I would rather be torn to pieces – if I can reach the fire in time, before my love is thrown on it – than fail to kill the men who are holding her captive.’

Governal said: ‘Do not be in. a hurry. God may give you a far better chance to avenge yourself, when you will not have the trouble that you might have now. I cannot now see any of your men, for the king is furiously angry with you. All the citizens and the townsmen are in his allegiance. He gave them all, publicly, the command that if anyone can ever capture you and fails to do so he will be hanged. Every man loves himself more than he loves you. If a hue and cry was raised for you, a man might well want to let you go free but he would not even dare to think of it.’

Tristan wept and was vexed. In spite of all the men of Tintagel, and even if he were to be torn to pieces, he would never have restrained himself from going straight to his love if his master had not forbidden him.

A messenger ran into Yseut’s room and told her not to weep, for her lover had escaped.

‘Thank God!’ she said, ‘now it does not matter if they kill me or keep me bound or set me loose.’

As the three barons had advised, the king had had her bound, and her wrists were tied so tightly that blood was being squeezed from all her fingers. ‘By God,’ she said, ‘if ever [I lament my own fate now] that the wicked slanderers who had to guard my lover have lost him, thank God, then no one should ever think well of me again. I know that the mischief-making dwarf and the jealous villains who plotted my death will get their deserts. May it be their ruin!’

My lords, news came to the king that his nephew had escaped through the chapel while he was being taken to be burnt. Mark’s face darkened with rage, he could scarcely contain himself for wrath. Angrily he sent for Yseut. She came out of the hall and there was tumult in the streets. When they saw how the lady was bound – it was shameful – they were very shocked. Who would believe what grief they showed for her, how they cried to God for pity:

‘Noble, honoured queen, what sorrow those who stirred up this affair have brought to the country! They will surely be able to put their gains in a very small purse. May great harm come to them for this!’

The queen was led towards the fire, where the thorns were burning. Dinas, the lord of Dinan, who loved Tristan greatly, fell at the king’s feet.

‘Sire,’ he said, ‘listen to me. I have served you truly and loyally for a long time. There is not a man in all this kingdom, not even a poor orphan or an old woman, who would give me a penny for the position of seneschal which I have held at your court all my life. Sire, mercy on the queen! You want to burn her without trial, but this is
not rightful for the crime has not been proved. It will be a great shame if you burn her. Sire, Tristan has escaped. He knows the country well, the plains, the fields, the passes and the fords, and he is fierce. You are his uncle and he is your nephew: he would do you no harm. But if your barons fell into his power, would he not ill-treat them? Your land would be laid waste. For myself, sire, I would not deny that if even a squire was burnt or killed for my sake by anyone, if he were king over seven lands he would give them all to me as compensation before I was amply revenged. Do you think it would not cause Tristan the deepest grief to see the death of such a noble lady, whom he brought here from a distant kingdom? There would be great strife over this. King, give her to me as a reward for serving you all my life.’

The three who had caused all this had become deaf and dumb. They knew that Tristan had escaped and were in great fear that he might ambush them. The king took Dinas’ hand and swore angrily by St Thomas that he would not rest until justice had been done and she had been put on the fire. Dinas heard him and was very sad, it grieved him deeply. By his wish the queen would never have been put to death. He rose to his feet and kept his head bowed.

‘King, I am going to Dinan. By the Lord who made Adam, I would not see her burnt for all the gold and all the possessions that belonged to the richest men that have lived since the days when Rome was glorious.’

He mounted his charger and rode away with bowed head, vexed and sorrowing. Yseut was led to the fire. She was surrounded by people all crying and shouting
and cursing the king’s traitors. Tears ran down her cheeks. The lady was clad in a tight tunic of dark grey silk, laced with a fine gold thread. Her hair fell to her feet, she had tressed it with gold thread. Whoever had seen her body and her face would have had an evil heart if he had not taken pity on her. Her arms were bound very tightly.

There was a leper in Lantyan, his name was Ivain and he was terribly infirm. He had hurried up to see what was going on. He had a good hundred companions with him, carrying their sticks and crutches. You never saw people so ugly or hunched or deformed. Each was holding his clapper. Ivain called hoarsely to the king:

‘Sire, you wish to do justice by burning your wife like this. It is a harsh punishment but, if ever I knew anything, it will not last long. That great fire will soon burn her and the wind will scatter her ashes. The fire will subside and all that is left of her punishment will be cinders. That is the punishment you are going to give her. But, if you would listen to me [I could tell you of a way to punish her so] that she would rather have been put to death than be still living in dishonour. Anyone who came to hear of this would think the more of you. King, would you like to do this?’

The king listened and said: ‘If you can tell me, without a trick, how she may live and be dishonoured, I shall be grateful to you. Take something of mine, if you wish. No manner of death is so grim and horrible that I shall not love for ever, by God the king, that man who today can choose the worst for her!’

Ivain answered: ‘I can tell you quickly what I have in
mind. Look, here I have a hundred companions. Give Yseut to us and we will possess her in common. No woman ever had a worse end. Sire, there is such lust in us that no woman on earth could tolerate intercourse with us for a single day. The very clothes stick to our bodies. With you she used to be honoured and happily clad in blue and grey furs. She learned of good wines in your marble halls. If you give her to us lepers, when she sees our low hovels and looks at our dishes and has to sleep with us – in place of your fine meals, sire, she will have the pieces of food and crumbs that are left for us at the gates – then, by the Lord who dwells above, when she sees our court and all its discomforts she would rather be dead than alive. The snake Yseut will know then that she has been wicked! She would rather have been burnt.’

The king listened to him, stood up and said nothing for a long while. He had heard what Ivain had said. He ran to Yseut and took her by the hand. Yseut cried out:

‘Sire, mercy! Burn me here instead of giving me to them!’

The king handed her over to the lepers, and a good hundred crowded around her. Everyone who heard the noise and the shouting took pity on her. But whoever might be sorrowful, Ivain was happy. He led Yseut away along the sandy path. The other lepers – not one who did not have a crutch – went in a throng straight towards where Tristan was waiting in ambush. Governal saw them and shouted:

‘My son, what are you going to do? There is your love!’

‘God,’ said Tristan, ‘what good fortune! Alas, lovely
Yseut, to think that you were to die for me and I for you! Those people that have got their hands on you can all be sure of this, that if they do not let you go straight away I shall make some of them sorry.’

He struck his horse and sprang out of the bush, shouting as loud as he could: ‘Ivain, you have taken her far enough. Let her go now or I will cut off your head with this sword!’

Ivain began to take off his cloak and shouted to the lepers: ‘Now, crutches in your hands! Now we shall see who is on our side.’

You should have seen those lepers panting as they took off their coats and their cloaks! Each of them was shaking his crutch, some threatening, others fighting. Tristan did not want to touch them or strike them on the head and wound them. Governal came out as the shout went up, holding a stick of green oak in his hand. He struck Ivain, who was holding Yseut, and the blood ran down to his feet. Tristan helped his master and grasped Yseut’s right hand. (Some story-tellers say they drowned Ivain, but they are fools and they do not know the story at all well. Beroul has a better memory of it: Tristan was too noble and too courtly to kill such people.) Tristan went off with the queen. They left the plain and all three went into the forest. Yseut rejoiced, she was suffering no longer.