_Euthanasia holds a Court._
As the day approached on which Euthanasia was to hold her court, her
castle became thronged with the nobility, wealth, and beauty of Tuscany
and Lombardy. She had wished indeed to make this a public union of the
two parties which distracted Italy; but she was so noted a Guelph that
few Ghibelines appeared, although some were attracted by the name of
Castruccio, to come under his escort, and in his company. First arrived
her uncle, the lord Radolfo di Casaregi; he was an old man, but he loved
to encircle his bare temples with an iron helmet, and to try his well
used sword against the unfleshed blades of the sons of his companions in
arms in days gone by. Then came the marquess Marcello Malespino of
Valdimagra, his wife, and three lovely daughters; they were accompanied
by three brothers of the Bondelmonti family of Florence: these claimed
affinity to the house of Adimari, and when by the laws of her country
Euthanasia was obliged to choose a guardian for her maiden state, she
had selected the eldest, count Bondelmonte de' Bondelmonti to be her
_Mondualdo_; this relationship had given rise to a sincere friendship,
which, although the difference of age was inconsiderable, and the same
reverence and obedience could never be felt or exercised, yet in some
sort was to Euthanasia in the stead of her dead parents. There arrived
soon after the chief members of the Pazzi, Donati, Visdomini,
Gianfigliazi, and other Guelph families of Florence; there was Alberti
count of Capraia, and all the numerous troop that claimed relationship
to him; and many others, both Bianchi and Neri, both Guelph and
Ghibeline, whose names it would be needless to detail.
Then arrived a multitude of _Uomini di Corte_; story-tellers,
_improvisatori_, musicians, singers, actors, rope-dancers, jugglers and
buffoons. The most distinguished among the first class was William
Borsiere[6]; a man of courteous yet frank manners, nice wit and keen
penetration: he was about forty years of age; but he had lost none of
the jovial temper of youth, and his generous and even noble disposition
made him more respected than men of his class usually were. There was
Bergamino, a man more caustic than Borsiere, but whose insinuating
address obtained pardon for his biting words; no one knew better than
Bergamino to cure the wounds his tongue had made. There was Andreuccio,
whose satirical mood and rough manners frequently drew upon him the
anger of the nobles on whose favour he depended; and he was so often
dismissed, disgraced and unrewarded, from the courts, where his
companions were loaded with presents, that, from his mean and sometimes
ragged appearance, and his snarling habits, he went by the name of the
_Cane Mendicante_. He wished to rival Borsiere and Bergamino who were
staunch friends, and endeavoured to make up for his lack of the more
delicate kind of wit by caustic sayings and contemptuous remarks. There
was Ildone, a foolish, smiling fellow, but who sang sorrowful airs with
so sweet and touching a voice, that, if you shut your eyes, you might
have imagined that St. Cecilia herself had descended to entrance the
world with heavenly melody.
Guarino, the _Improvisatore_, closed the list of the distinguished
_Uomini di Corte_. He was sought in every court in Lombardy for his
entertaining qualities: his tales displayed the fire of genius, and the
delicate observations of a lover of nature. But he was eaten up by
vanity and envy; he hated all those who were admired, from the princely
beauty who attracted all regards, down to the lowest buffoon at court.
If he were sought by the great, so much the more was he avoided by his
equals and inferiors; to the first he tricked himself out with a
flattering tongue, a mean and servile address, and gross adulation; for
the second he expressed hatred and contempt; and he tyrannized over the
last with a hand of iron. But all three classes might equally dread his
malignant calumnies, and hatred of all that was good. He spared no art,
no wit, no falsehood, to detract from merit, however exalted or lowly;
and so full was he of wiles, that he was seldom detected in his serpent
craft. He had been a Ghibeline, and at one time was imprisoned by the
Dominican inquisitors as a heretic; but now he surpassed all the
Italians in superstition and credulity; his friends said that he was
truly pious, his enemies that he was the most deceitful of hypocrites:
but the trait that sealed his character, was his intolerance and violent
persecution of his former heretical associates. Those who were most
indulgent said, that he had been first actuated by fear, and was now a
sincere convert; he himself pretended to attribute his conversion to a
miracle, and of such consequence was he in his own eyes, that he almost
affirmed that a saint from heaven had informed him, that the redemption
of mankind had been undertaken by the Almighty Saviour for his benefit
alone.
Many others followed and joined these; but they were a nameless
multitude, distinguished only for vulgar talents; some trying to raise a
laugh by folly, others by pert wit; many by manual jests upon each
other, in which innumerable were the blows given and received: they were
a strange set, and whether they were handsome or ugly, old or young,
agile or slow, expert or awkward, they turned even their defects to
account, and with a never-ceasing grin, thronged around the nobles,
forming a contrast to the dignified deportment and rich dresses of the
latter, by their supple and serpentine motions, strange gait, and motley
habiliments; some being ragged from lack of wit, others from detected
roguery, all regarding with the eagerness of starved curs the riches of
the castle, and the generosity of its mistress.
The court opened on the first of May; it was to last four days; and, on
the evening before, surrounded by her guests, Euthanasia issued forth
the laws for their amusements on the occasion: "The first day," said
she, "we will give to hunting and hawking; the country is well stocked
with game, and each guest has surely his falcon on his fist. I will
instal Antelminelli, the _liberatore_ of Lucca, king for that day; for
he has been in foreign countries, and has studied these amusements under
the best masters of the age; and I doubt not is well able to direct our
exertions, and secure us plentiful sport.
"The second day we will give up to our friends, the _Uomini di Corte_:
they shall do their best to please us, and to deserve the rewards in
store for them; certainly none will censure my choice, when I name
William Borsiere king of that day. Let him direct the exertions of the
rest, so that their tales, their songs, and their feats may succeed one
another in agreeable variety.
"On the third day the lists shall be set, and the knights will tilt for
the honour of their ladies' beauty; the conqueror shall receive as the
reward of his prowess the liberty of choosing the queen for the
following day, who will direct the sports of the ladies, and close with
their games the gaieties of my court."
A shout of applause followed the enunciation of these laws; and it was
declared by all, that no better could be devised for the promotion of
amusement among their joyful assembly.
On the first of May the sun arose in cloudless splendour. The steeds
richly caparisoned were led from the stable; the ladies were mounted on
gentle palfreys, and were followed by the esquires, holding the hawks,
or with the dogs in leash; others sounding the awakening horn, while the
air resounded with voices which called the idlers from their rooms, and
said that the hunter deserved no game, who was not with the first
a-field to brush the morning dew from the grass. Euthanasia headed a
chosen band supreme in beauty; her soft and enthusiastic eyes now
sparkled with joy, which the fair expanse of her smooth brow shewed to
be yet uninvaded by the fang of a bitter sorrow; a smile hovered on her
beautiful lips, like Love playing among the leaves of a rose; her golden
hair shone under the sunbeams, and clustered round her neck white as
marble, and, like that enriched by many a wandering vein, eclipsing the
jewels of her dress; her motions, free as the winds, and graceful as an
antelope of the south, appeared more than human in their loveliness;
and, when she awoke the air with her silver voice, silence seemed on the
watch to drink in the sound.
And now away!----They rode down the steep on which the castle stood, to
a chesnut wood, and thence along a plain covered with brushwood: all was
alive and gay; the huntsmen called to their dogs;--the knights reined in
their restless steeds;--and the ladies with animated gestures, laughing
looks, and upturned eyes, watched the flight of their birds, and betted
upon their speed.
When noon approached, they became heated and tired, and looked around
for a shady spot where they might repose. Castruccio rode forward, and
said:--"I should ill deserve the honour of being king of this day, if I
suffered my fair subjects to wander as in a desart without refreshment
or repose--follow me!"
They entered a chesnut wood; and, after riding about half a mile, they
came to a small plot of ground, encircled by trees, and protected from
the heat by canopies which ware fastened to the boughs: a magnificent
repast was prepared in this retreat; a profusion of wines glittered in
glass vessels; the tables were piled with every delicate sweetmeat, as
well as with the more substantial fare of flesh and fowl.
The esquires having fastened their falcons to the branches of the trees,
and covered their eyes with the hood, seized the large carving knives,
and began their ministry; while the joyous band seated themselves on the
cushions that had been provided for their accommodation.
After the repast was ended, they reposed under this delicious shade,
watching the changeful shadows of the trees, and listening to the songs
of the birds--"How delightful it would be," cried Calista di Malespino,
"if Ildone or Guarino were here, whose songs rival the sweetest birds!"
"To-morrow these men will display their talents," said Castruccio;
"to-day we must amuse ourselves." Then clapping his hands, several
servants brought forward musical instruments, such as were then in
fashion, unlike in form those now used, but which in sound and
construction might be compared to the lute, the harp, the guitar, and
the flute. Many of the company had sweet voices; some who came from
Genoa, sang the romances of the Provençal minstrels; the Florentines
sang the canzones of Dante, or chosen passages from the Teroretto of his
master, Ser Brunetto Latini, or indeed stanzas of their own composing,
for the Florentines were an ingenious race, and few among the nobles had
passed the boundary between youth and age, without having indited more
than one sonnet to his mistress's eyebrow: the inhabitants of each
separate town had a favourite poet, whose verses they now rehearsed.
Thus the time passed, till the sun descended, and the lengthening
shadows told them that the heat was gone, and the light of day well nigh
spent; when they mounted their horses, and rode towards the castle along
the skirts of the chesnut wood. The high Apennines were still white with
snow; and, as evening came on, a refreshing breeze blew across the
plain, and sang among the branches of the trees,--at a distance was
heard the murmuring of the Serchio, as it travelled along in its
unwearied course; the air was perfumed by a thousand scents, for the
grass was mowing, and bathed the element in sweetness. From out one
copse a nightingale poured forth its melodious notes, singing as it were
to one lone star that peered through the glowing sunset; Arrigo taking
his flute drew a responsive strain which the sweet bird strove to
imitate, while the cavalcade passed silently along. Darkness closed
around, and the first fire-flies of summer issued from their deep green
bowers among the bushes, and darted forth their gentle, ineffectual
flame, skimming over the fields, which, as a phosphoric sea, or as a
green heaven of evershifting planets, now was dark, and again thickly
studded by these stars. The glow-worm on the ground slowly trailed his
steady light; a few bats flew from the rocks; and the regular moan of
the Agiolo wheeled about the trees, and spoke of fine days to come. As
the home-ward hunters ascended the mountain, the breeze died away, and a
breathless stillness pervaded the atmosphere; Euthanasia rode near
Castruccio; her sweet countenance bespoke a deeper joy than mere gaiety,
and her wild eyes shone with her emotion. She had thrown her capuchin
over her head; and her face, fair as the moon encircled by the night,
shone from beneath the sable cowl, while her golden locks twined
themselves round her neck: Castruccio gazed on her, and would have given
worlds to have embraced her, and to print on her glowing cheek a kiss of
love; he dared not,--but his heart swelled with joy, when she turned to
him with an affectionate smile, and he whispered his heart--"She is
mine."
The second day William Borsiere was prepared to amuse the guests by his
own and his companions' talents. His task was more difficult to perform
than that of Castruccio, for his materials were not so easy to be
controled as hawks and hounds. Guarino was mortally offended by the
choice of Euthanasia with regard to the king of the day, and declared
that he had a cold, and could not sing. Nothing but his intolerable
vanity vanquished his sullenness; for, when he found that, upon his
refusal, Borsiere passed him by, and that his ill humour would only
punish himself by consigning him to obscurity, he consented to be
numbered among the recruits of the day. Andreuccio was less tractable,
for he was less vain; and it was sheer avarice that caused his anger,
when he imagined that Borsiere would be the best paid of the company; he
absolutely refused to perform his part in story-telling, but reserved
his wit for endeavours to turn to ridicule the amusements and exertions
of his favoured rival.
In the morning at break of day, each fair lady was awakened by a song,
bidding her arise and eclipse the sun; and, as he awoke, and gave life
to the flowers and fruits of the earth, so must she spread her benign
influence over the hearts of men. The guests assembled in the hall of
the castle, which was hung with festoons of evergreens and flowers; and,
as they sat, an invisible concert was played, and, between the pauses of
the music, a strain of rich melody broke upon the air, that by its
unrivalled sweetness betrayed that the singer was Ildone, who, thus
concealed, could wrap the soul in Elysium, while his presence must have
destroyed the enchantment.
After the music, they were conducted to a small amphitheatre,
constructed on the little green platform before the castle, where they
were amused by the tricks of the jugglers, sleight of hand, fire-eating,
rope-dancing, and every prank that has been known from the shores of the
Ganges to those of the Thames, from the most distant periods, even down
to our own times. After these had displayed their arts, a number of the
peasantry of Valperga presented themselves to run at the ring. Three
pieces of cloth, and two of silk, the prizes for the various games,
streamed from the props that supported the amphitheatre. Two poles were
erected, and a string was attached to these, on which were strung three
rings. A peasant on horseback, with his lance in rest, galloped past in
a line parallel to the string, endeavouring to catch the three rings on
the point of his lance; the first, second and third failed,--the fourth
was more successful; he caught the three rings, and bore off the piece
of scarlet-cloth as his prize. A wrestling match succeeded, a foot-race,
and then a horse-race; the prizes were distributed by Borsiere; and
then, it being noon, the company adjourned to their mid-day meal.
It were needless to enumerate the dainties that made their appearance;
Borsiere resolved that the feast neither of the preceding, nor of the
two following days, should exceed his; and, having been often regaled at
the tables of the most luxurious princes of Europe, he now displayed the
skill that he had there acquired, in the directions he gave to the ruder
cooks of Euthanasia. When every one had satisfied his appetite, the
conversation flagged, and the eyes of the ladies wandered round in
search of new amusement. Borsiere appeared at the head of his party;
Bergamino, Guarino, Ildone and a score others of less fame came forward;
while Andreuccio edged in sideways, neither choosing to join, nor be
left out, of the company. Advancing in a courteous manner, Borsiere
intreated the company to follow him: they all rose, each lady attended
by her cavalier. Borsiere had been bred at courts, and knew how to
marshal them with the science of a seneschal; as they quitted the hall,
they, as by magic, fell each into his proper place, and every noble dame
felt that neither could she have preceded the person before her, nor
would she have gone behind the one who followed her. Thus, in courtly
guise, they proceeded through several passages of the castle, till they
quitted it by a small postern; the rocky face of the mountain rose, as I
have already said, immediately behind the castle, and almost overhung
the battlements; but this postern opened on the little winding staircase
I have before mentioned, that, cut in the rock, enabled them to scale
the precipice; they ascended therefore, and before they could feel
fatigued, they came to a small platform of turf-covered rock, which
Borsiere had prepared for their accommodation, The fountain, that gushed
from a cleft, trickled down with a gentle murmur, and filled the basin
prepared to receive it with its clear and sparkling liquid. This
fountain had, like many other springs of those mountains, peculiar
qualities: in summer it was icy cold, and in winter it became warmer and
warmer as the temperature of the air decreased, until on the frosty
mornings of December it smoked in its passage down the rock. To preserve
the waters of this basin from the rains, Euthanasia had, as already
mentioned, built an alcove over it, supported by small columns; this was
a favourite retreat of our young mountain-nymph; and Borsiere had
adorned it for the occasion with a master's hand. The boughs of the
trees were bent down, and fastened to the rock, or to the roof of the
alcove, and then, being interlaced with other boughs, formed a web on
which he wove a sky of flowers, which shut out the sun's rays, and,
agitated by the gentlest airs, cast forth the most delicate scents: the
artificer of the bower had despoiled an hundred gardens to decorate only
the floor of the platform, forming a thousand antic devices with the
petals of various flowers. Anemones, narcissi, daffodils, hyacinths,
lilies of the valley, and the earliest roses, had all lent their hues,
making a brief mosaic of these lovely and fragile materials; and the
white columns of the alcove shone in the midst of this splendid shew in
elegant simplicity. Seats were placed round in a semicircle for the
company; from hence they could behold the whole country; the platform
was so high, that it surmounted the battlements of the castle, and they
viewed the entire plain of Lucca, its defiles and woody hills, and the
clear Serchio that loitered on its way across it. An exclamation of
delight burst from all lips, as they entered this flowery paradise,
where every gay colour of nature was heaped about in rich and lovely
profusion, while the deep green of the ilex trees, the soft and fan-like
foliage of the acacia, mingled with the shining foliage of the laurel,
bay and myrtle, relieved the eye from any glare of colours. The joyous
company sat down; and Borsiere, coming forward, announced, that he and
his companions were ready to present the assembly with their songs and
tales; Euthanasia accepted the offer in the name of her guests; and
Guarino first shewed himself: that he should be the first to attract the
attention of the noble guests had been the bribe which won him to forget
his hoarseness, and, having entered upon his task, there was no doubt
that his vanity would induce him to exert his utmost powers to surpass
his companions.
He sang extempore verses on the event of the late war with Florence,
changing his notes, from the hurry of battle, to the wailing for the
dead, and then to the song of triumph, whose thrilling melody
transported the hearers with admiration. Then, leaving this high theme,
he described himself as Dante descending to hell; but, as he had
ventured thither without a guide, rude Charon had refused him a passage,
and he only saw the wandering ghosts of those recently dead, and some
few who bewailed their unburied bones, as they flitted about the dreary
coast. Here he found Manfred, who, addressing him, told him that he was
now paying, and hereafter would more painfully pay, the deadly penalty
for his many crimes--"Well did they for me, and benignly," he cried,
"who cast my bones from their unhallowed sepulchre; for now I wander
here untormented; but, when the cycle of an hundred years is fulfilled,
and I pass that dark river, fire and torture await me, dire punishment
for my resistance to the Holy Father." And then continuing, he sent a
message to his friends on earth, bidding them repent; and Guarino
introduced into this the bitter gall of his sharp and cruel satire
against his enemies. He ended; and small applause followed, for he had
offended many who were present by his strictures, and few could
sympathize in the deep malignity of his anathemas.
He was followed by the story-tellers, who repeated various anecdotes and
tales which they had collected in their rambles; they seldom invented a
new story; but an old one well told, or some real occurrence dressed up
with romantic ornaments, formed the subjects of their narratives.
[Footnote 6: See Boccaccio: _Giornata_ I. _Novella_ 8.]