THE BATTLEFIELD
Tirant then took his leave of all the ladies and the others
there. When the three knights were outside the city they gave
their chargers to the pages and mounted other horses. Within a
short time they reached the soldiers. Each knight went to his
squadron, and Tirant went from one squadron to another, directing
them constantly to stay in order.
That day they traveled five leagues. They set up their tents in
a beautiful meadow where there was water. After they had eaten,
Tirant had two thousand pikesmen keep watch until midnight, and
he sent men along the road to see if they heard soldiers or
anything else. Tirant kept watch over the camp, moving from
place to place. At the hour of midnight he had two thousand
other pikesmen take the place of those on watch, and he would not
let them have pages, but made them all arm as if they were going
into battle at any moment.
When Tirant was in a war he never took off his clothes except to
change his shirt. Every morning, two hours before sunrise, he
had the trumpets blow for the men to saddle their horses and to
hold mass. Then the entire camp would arm themselves and quickly
mount. At dawn they would all be ready to leave. They kept up
this routine until they were a league and a half from the enemy,
in a city named Pelidas, which was in danger daily of
surrendering to the powerful Turks.
When they found out that soldiers were coming to their aid they
were very happy, and they opened the gates to the city. The
captain did not want to go in during the day so they would not be
seen, but he did not do it secretly enough to avoid being heard.
And the first to be notified that soldiers had gone into the city
of Pelidas was the Grand Turk, but he did not know how many there
were. The Grand Turk went at once to tell the Moorish sultan,
who sent four men toward the city of Pelidas as spies to find out
what they could about the men who had gone in.
The next day Tirant took a man with him who knew the countryside
very well, and they rode out as secretly as they could, and drew
near the camp by back roads. From a hill they could see both the
city and the camp.
The Moorish sultan was at one end, and the Grand Turk at the
other.
They recognized him by the large, painted tents they saw. When
they had looked the situation over very carefully, they returned
to the city. On the way back they saw the Moorish guards.
When they were back in the city and had dismounted, Tirant went
to the square where he found most of the townspeople, and he told
them:
"Come here, my brothers. We have just been spying on the enemy
camp, and on our way back we saw four of the camp guards. For
each guard you bring to me alive I'll give you five hundred
ducats, and if you bring his head I'll give you three hundred.
How many of you want to go?"
Seven men who knew the land well volunteered immediately. They
left at night so no one would see them, and when they had
traveled a good distance one of them said:
"Why don't we go to the spring near here, and cover ourselves
with branches? The Moors are certain to come here to drink
around noon with all this heat, and that way they'll fall into
our hands."
They agreed to do that, and they kept a very close watch from
their hiding place. When the sun came out they saw the Moors on
top of the hill. As the sun grew hotter they became thirsty and
went to the spring for water. When they arrived one of the
Christians who was hidden said:
"Let's not move until they have drunk and are full of water: that
way they won't be able to run very fast."
And that is what they did. When the Moors had drunk and eaten
their fill the Christians fell upon them with loud cries, and
immediately caught three of them. One tried to escape. When
they saw that they could not catch him they shot at him with a
crossbow. The arrow pierced his side, and he fell to the ground.
They cut off his head and stuck it to the point of a lance. Then
they tied the hands of the others and took them to their captain.
When Tirant saw them he was very pleased, and he took the three
Moors and had them closely guarded.
Tirant had ordered everyone to eat early that day, and to saddle
the horses and arm themselves so they would be ready to leave.
He had all the men go out of the city in order, both the foot
soldiers and those riding horses. Behind them came three
thousand men with the mares. When they were near the Moors' camp
he had all the soldiers go to one side so the mares could pass by
without the other horses sensing them.
When the mares were at the entrance to the camp all the foot
soldiers went in with them, and they divided into two groups: one
went toward the Moorish sultan and the other toward the Grand
Turk. Then the camp horses noticed the mares: some got loose,
others broke their halters, and others tore out the stakes that
held them fast. You should have seen the horses running loose
through the camp: some here, some there, and all of them after
the mares.
When this melee had gone on for a good while and the entire camp
was in confusion because of the horses, Tirant came and fell on
part of it with half his men. Then the Duke of Pera and his men
attacked the other side, calling on that glorious knight, Saint
George.
Finally the Moorish sultan and the Grand Turk and their men fled
to the mountain while the others went to the plain. Tirant
pursued them relentlessly, and he and his men killed everyone
they caught, giving quarter to no one. All those who went to the
mountain reached it safely, and those who went to the plain were
either killed or taken prisoner.
They pursued them for three leagues, and those heading for the
mountain (where the road was shorter) came to a river with a
wooden bridge where they could cross safely. When the sultan and
some of his men had crossed over and they saw the Christians
close behind, they broke the bridge in the middle. Then those
who had not yet crossed were lost while those who had already
crossed the bridge were safe.
The Duke of Macedonia heard of Tirant's victory, and how none of
the enemy were left except those who were badly wounded and could
not flee. So he and his men went out and sacked the camp, and
they found large amounts of gold and silver, clothing, weapons
and many jewels. When they had taken everything, they put their
booty in the town. The duke left soldiers to guard it, and he
gave orders that if Tirant or any of his men came, they should
not be allowed inside. When they had put away everything they
had stolen, the duke took the route to the plain, and he and his
men were astonished at all the dead bodies they saw.
The guards at the camp told the captain that armed men were
approaching quickly. Tirant had all his soldiers mount their
horses, and he prepared for battle, thinking that the enemy had
regrouped in the villages that belonged to them. They went out
to meet them, and when they were near they recognized each other.
Tirant took the helmet off his head and gave it to a page, and
all the other captains did the same. When they were close to the
duke, Tirant dismounted and walked up to him, paying him great
honor. The duke did not move at all except to put his hand on
his head without saying a word. This made all the others very
angry, and none of them would dismount for him. Tirant remounted
his horse and tried many times to talk to him, but the duke
scarcely uttered a word. But all the other knights and gentlemen
paid great honor to the dukes and to Tirant. Then they rode
together until they were near the tents.
Tirant said to the duke:
"Sir, if your lordship would like to stay in that meadow where
there are very beautiful trees and you would be near the river,
I'll have the men who are there move to another place."
The duke answered:
"I don't want to be near you. I prefer to go to a place farther
away."
"You can do that," said Tirant, "but I said what I did out of
kindness, thinking that you deserved it."
The duke would not listen to him, and turned his horse about
without a word. He set up his tents a mile upriver.
After he dismounted Tirant sent three of his knights to the duke,
and when they were there they said to him:
"Sir, our captain has sent us to your lordship to ask if you
would like to eat with him. He knows that your lordship will
have better food here, but you can have his more quickly, because
all you have to do is wash your hands and sit down to eat."
"Oh, what a bother for nothing!" said the duke. "Tell him that I
don't want to."
And he turned his back to them very haughtily. When the
emissaries had mounted their horses to go, the duke told them:
"Tell Tirant that if he wants to come and eat with me, I would
prefer that to eating with him."
"Sir," said Diafebus, "if there is no fire lit in your entire
camp, what could you offer him? You couldn't give him anything
but food for chickens and drink for oxen."
The duke answered angrily:
"I can give him chickens, capons, partridge and pheasant."
The knights refused to listen to him anymore, and they wheeled
about.
After they had gone, a knight said to the duke:
"You didn't understand, sir, what that knight said to you. He
told you that you would serve his captain food for chickens and
drink for oxen. Do you know what he meant by that? Food for
chickens is grain, and what oxen drink is water."
"On my father's grave!" said the duke. "You're right. I didn't
understand. Those foreigners are very haughty. If I had
understood him I would have made him leave with his hands on his
head."
When Tirant heard what the reply was, he sat down to dine with
the dukes, counts and marquis who were already there.
The morning of the following day the captain had a large and
beautiful tent raised, with a bell on top. That tent was only
for mass and council meetings, and he had it set up in a meadow
between the duke's camp and his own. When the time came to say
mass, Tirant courteously sent word to the duke to see if he would
like to come to mass. The duke haughtily answered no, but the
other grandees came very happily. After mass they held council,
and it was decided that the Marquis of Saint George, the Count of
Acquaviva, and two barons should go to the Duke of Macedonia as
ambassadors. When they were with him the Marquis of Saint George
said:
"Duke, you should not be surprised to see us: our captain and the
illustrious dukes, counts and marquis have sent us here. We want
you to give us a share of the treasure you took from the enemy
camp."
And he said no more.
"How overjoyed I am," said the duke, "to hear idiotic words from
such ignorant people! How could you think I would do such a
thing when we have been battling day and night with sweat and
blood against our enemy?"
The ambassadors got back on their horses, and in the camp they
found the captain and the grandees holding a meeting in the
council tent. Then the marquis told them about the duke's reply,
and he said:
"Let us all mount our horses: an insult like this can't be
forgotten!"
The marquis quickly left the tent and armed himself, as did all
the others.
When the captain saw the disturbance in his camp, he was very
upset and he immediately had a proclamation made that no one,
under penalty of death, should mount their horses. Then he went
up and down, seizing the knights, and he begged the dukes and
marquis not to do this, because if they became involved in a
quarrel, the Turks they had taken prisoner would fall upon them.
When the disturbance had subsided, Tirant ordered them to go to
the battle site, and take the clothing from all the dead bodies
they found and to keep it. Some of the knights asked why, and he
told them that at some time they might be able to use it.
As the Moors were being defeated in battle and were fleeing,
Diafebus thought about how to bring renown and fame to Tirant, in
the present and the future. He went to him and asked him for the
captain's ring. Tirant removed his glove, took off the ring and
gave it to him. Diafebus halted for a moment even though the
others were pressing forward, and he stopped one of his squires
who was a good and faithful man, and gave him the ring. He
instructed him about everything he was to say to the emperor and
to Carmesina, and then to all the others.
To carry out his master's order, the squire wheeled his horse
about, dug in his spurs and galloped away without stopping until
he was in Constantinople.
When he stood before the emperor, he knelt and said:
"My lord, I have good news. Give me my reward."
After the emperor promised to do so, Pyramus gave him the ring,
and told him all about the battle, and how they had conquered the
Turks--which had been like a miracle.
The following day the sultan sent three ambassadors to Tirant.
They put a sheet of paper on a stick and held it up as a signal
for safe-conduct. When they were inside the tent the ambassadors
were welcomed by the captain and all the others, and they gave
the sultan's letter to Tirant. He had it read in everyone's
presence, and it said the following:
"I, Armini, great sultan of Babylonia, and lord of three empires.
Glorious Tirant lo Blanc, Captain of the Greeks and defender of
the Christian faith, we salute you. And we declare to you, by
counsel and deliberation of the Grand Turk and the five kings
here under my power and command, with another ten who are in my
own land, that if you ask me for a lasting peace or a treaty of
six months, we will offer you our "white face" to show our
honesty and the six months of peace, out of reverence for all
powerful God, in the old manner. Written in our camp on the
eastern shore on the second day of the moon and of the birth of
our holy prophet Mohammed, etc."
After the letter had been read, Tirant told the ambassadors to
explain their embassy. One of the ambassadors, Abdalla Salomon,
stood up, bowed, and said:
"We have been sent to you, Tirant lo Blanc, captain of the Greek
people, as representatives of the magnanimous and glorious lords,
the Grand Turk and the sultan. After the great number of deaths
you brought to our soldiers, you imprisoned a small child, the
brother in law of our sovereign lord, the great sultan, his
wife's brother, along with many other virtuous knights. We beg of
you, on behalf of the thing you love most in this world, to give
us the child. If you will not do this for love, ask a ransom for
him, in silver or gold, and it will be granted."
Tirant replied:
"Since you hold up to me the thing I love most in the world, and
you ask for a prisoner, I'll give him to you and forty more along
with him. As for the other part of your embassy, I'll hold a
meeting with my men, and then I will give you an answer."
Tirant summoned his constables and told them to go with the
ambassadors to select forty-one prisoners for release.
Then Tirant addressed all the great lords there:
"Illustrious princes and lords. We've seen the request of the
sultan and the Turk. Do you think we should grant them the truce
they are asking for?"
First the Duke of Macedonia spoke:
"Most egregious and noble lords. This is more my business than
it is the rest of yours because I am closer to the imperial
crown. It's my advice and my demand that we grant them the
six-month truce they're asking for, and even longer if they wish,
and even peace if they want it, whether the emperor likes it or
not."
The Duke of Pera couldn't stand to hear anything more from the
Duke of Macedonia--for they were at odds with each other because
each of them wanted to take the princess as his wife--and he
said:
"Gentlemen, it seems to me that for His Majesty the emperor's
benefit, and for the well being of the entire empire and the
republic, we shouldn't offer them peace or a truce."
Many felt they should accept a truce, but most agreed with the
Duke of Pera.
Then Tirant said:
"Since His high Majesty, the emperor has given me the right to
speak in his place, I tell your lordships that I don't think it
would help anyone to have a truce with these evil people. All
their blood that's been spilled is because of your might, and
that's the reason they're asking for peace or for a six- month
truce. Because during that time, gentlemen, you know that
they'll be waiting for the Genoese ships to bring foot soldiers
and cavalry. And in that time they would fill this land with
such great numbers of men that afterward all the power of
Christianity wouldn't be enough to throw them out."
The Duke of Macedonia spoke up and said:
"Tirant, if you don't want to have a truce, I do, and I'll make
one. And I advise everyone to make it with me."
"Duke," said Tirant, "don't make disorder out of what the emperor
has ordered. If you try to do that, I'll have you seized and
taken to His Majesty, the emperor."
Then the duke stood up, his eyes moist, and he left the tent and
went to his camp, and Tirant and his men went to their own.
Next to a spring of very fresh water that ran beside their camp,
Tirant set up a canopy, with many tables placed around the
crystalline spring.
Tirant had the ambassadors served at one table, and the prisoners
that had been released to them at a lower table on the left; all
the dukes and lords, low on the right. And they were served
splendidly with chickens and capons, pheasant, rice and couscous,
and many other dishes and very fine wines. The ambassadors were
very pleased, seeing how Tirant had the dukes and himself served
with such ceremony.
Then they all went to the council tent, and Tirant gave them the
following reply:
"You tell the Moorish sultan and the Grand Turk that I will in no
way give them peace now unless they face Mecca and swear in the
presence of all the good knights that in six months they and all
their men will leave the empire and will return the lands of the
empire that they have occupied."
Then Ambassador Abdalla Salomon stood up and said: "Since you
don't want to give us peace, wait for the fifteenth day of the
moon. For on that day such a multitude of Moorish soldiers will
come here that the earth will not be able to hold them up."
After they had departed Tirant ordered Diafebus to go to
Constantinople that night with many soldiers, on foot and on
horseback, and all the prisoners.
When Diafebus reached the city, the emperor and all the others
acknowledged Tirant as the victor, and all the knights were
praised, and the victory was celebrated with great joy. Diafebus
delivered four thousand three hundred prisoners to the emperor on
Tirant's behalf so that the Greeks would see his virtue and great
generosity. The emperor had them taken and carefully guarded.
The following day the emperor took fifteen ducats for each
prisoner from his treasury, and delivered them to Diafebus to
give to Tirant.
When the princess knew that Diafebus was free from his duties she
sent word to him to come to her chambers. There was nothing
Diafebus wanted more than to be able to talk to her and to
Stephanie with whom he was very much in love. When the princess
saw him she quickly said to him:
"My good brother, what news do you bring me from that virtuous
knight who holds my heart captive? When will the time come that
I can see him and have him near me without being afraid? You
know that I want to see him more than anything in the world."
Diafebus answered:
"Your Excellency's loving words would have turned that famous
knight's sadness to joy if he had heard them, and would lift his
spirit to the highest heaven."
The princess was very pleased by what Diafebus said about Tirant.
Then Stephanie said:
"You've spoken, and now it's my turn. Please listen to what I
have to say. Tell me, my lady, who but Tirant is worthy of
wearing the crown of an emperor? Who else but Tirant deserves to
be your husband? Why didn't God make me the emperor's daughter?
Why didn't he make you Stephanie and me Carmesina? I can assure
you that I wouldn't refuse him anything. If he lifted up my
skirt I would lift up my blouse for him, and I would satisfy him
in every way I could. If Your Highness takes some foreign king,
how do you know that he won't give you a life of pain? And if
you want someone from this land, I'll talk against my father.
Because with his rank he should be your husband, but when you
want to play, he'll be snoring; and when you want to talk he'll
be asleep. If you take the Duke of Pera, why he's not even your
age. This is what Your Highness needs: Someone who knows how to
keep you and your whole empire from danger. Who else can defend
and increase it the way he is doing? He's the one who will make
you run all around your bedroom, sometimes completely naked and
other times in your nightshirt."
The princess laughed, delighted at what Stephanie was saying.
Diafebus said:
"Lady Stephanie, by your nobility, tell me the truth: if it were
Tirant's good fortune for the princess to take him as a husband,
who would you take?"
"My lord Diafebus," said Stephanie, I can assure you that if
fortune had the princess become Tirant's wife, I would take his
nearest blood relative."
"If it were by blood line, it would have to be me, especially
because I am as obedient to your grace as Tirant has been to the
princess who, with her beauty and dignity, deserves to rule the
world. So please accept me as steward of your chamber, and kiss
me as a token of faith."
"It would be neither honest or just," said Stephanie, "for me to
grant you anything without the command of my lady who has raised
me from an early age, especially in Her Majesty's presence."
Diafebus knelt on the floor, and with his hands pressed together
begged the princess, devoutly and with humility, as if she were a
saint in paradise, to permit him to kiss her. But for all his
pleading, she would not give him permission. Stephanie said:
"Oh, hardened and cruel heart! Your Majesty never wants to lean
toward mercy no matter how much you are begged. I will never be
happy until I see Tirant with my own eyes."
"Oh, brother Diafebus!" said the princess. "Don't ask me for
unjust things now."
While they were saying these pleasant words, the emperor sent for
Diafebus to have him go quickly back to the camp.
The guards then came from their watch at sea and told the emperor
that five large ships were coming from the east. The emperor,
afraid that they were Genoese, stopped Diafebus from going that
day, and had many men board their own ships and galleys in port.
When the other ships approached, the emperor learned that they
had been sent by the Grand Master of Rhodes, with soldiers on
board.
The good prior leapt down to the land along with many knights of
the white cross. Diafebus was at the port, near the sea, waiting
for them. When they met they recognized each other, and Diafebus
paid them great honor. Together they went to the great palace of
the emperor, and found him seated on his throne. Bowing, the
prior of Saint John said:
"Your Excellency, knowing that the greatest of all knights,
Tirant lo Blanc, is in the service of Your Majesty as
captain-general of all the empire, the Grand Master of Rhodes has
sent two thousand paid soldiers, on foot and on horseback, to
serve Your Highness for the space of fifteen months."
The emperor was very happy at their arrival. After they had
rested for four days they left with Diafebus for the camp. When
they were five leagues away, they learned that Tirant had gone
forward to take a well- defended plaza, and they heard the loud
pounding of bombards. When Tirant saw a part of the wall broken,
he dismounted and gave battle on foot, and he went so near the
wall that a large rock was thrown at his head, and he was felled.
His men struggled to pull him out of the moat, and at this moment
Diafebus and the prior came to the villa.
The Turks, inside, were terrified when they saw so many men
coming, and they lost all hope. After Ricart had taken Tirant to
safety, he again attacked the villa mightily, and they broke
through by sheer force.
The Turks, far from any hope of victory, fell into a rage and
prepared to die fighting. But as the Christians took the villa,
they killed every Turk they saw without mercy, and so they were
all given the terrible knife. The Prior of Saint John arrived in
time for the attack on the villa, and his men shared in the
booty, and this indicated to them that they would be victorious.
They went to the cot where Tirant was lying, and explained to him
everything the Master had commanded them.
Tirant thanked them and the Grand Master for the noble help they
were bringing. But he said these words very wearily: he could
barely speak because of the great pain he felt in his head. The
doctors came, and they took sheep's heads and cooked them in
wine, and applied this to Tirant's head with cloths. And the
following morning he was well.
For a few days the men in the field rested. When the moon was in
its fifteenth day, the Turks came just as the ambassador had said
they would. They came up next to a bridge, with their encampment
remaining on one side, and Tirant's camp on the other side, the
bridge being broken in the middle. When all the men were
together, they numbered two hundred seventy battalions.
When they were all ready, they had the bombards set in place.
The following day their firing was so loud and came so often that
Tirant found it necessary to shift his encampment to the top of a
hill, very close to the river, where there were springs of pure
water and large expanses of meadowland. At times all the
bombards fired together. And although it was a very clear day,
the sky grew dark, for they had more than six hundred bombards,
both small and large, despite the fact that they had lost so many
when they were defeated.
When Tirant's men so saw many of them, they were frightened at
the large number of men on horseback and on foot. There were
many who wished they were one hundred leagues from there.
When the sultan saw that he could not cross the river to engage
the Christians in battle, he quickly had the bridge repaired.
When Tirant saw them repairing the bridge, he took four of his
men a league distant to a large stone bridge, and at each end of
the bridge there was rocky ground and a castle. When the sultan
had conquered all that land, he saw that bridge, but Lord Malvei,
the gentleman who was lord of the two castles, would never make a
pact with him, no matter how much he promised. For he never
wanted to deny or be ungrateful to God or to his natural
lord--the emperor. Instead, from those castles at the bridge,
they often waged war against the villas and cities the Turks had
taken. As a result, the sultan was forced to make a wooden
bridge so that his men could cross over to carry out the conquest
of the empire.
When Tirant reached the castle, he spoke with the knight whose
name was Malvei and who had a very valiant son. The father
occupied one castle, and his son the other. They each had thirty
horsemen, and with the war they had become very wealthy. The
son, whose name was Hippolytus, became a great friend of Tirant
and almost never left his side. The father and son begged Tirant
to grant him the honor of chivalry, and he did so.
Then Tirant had many trees in the woods cut down, the driest they
could find. They measured the width of the river and they made
beams, nailing them together with heavy spikes, and they made
them so long that they reached across the river. And they put
those beams underneath the stone bridge, and from one beam to
another they nailed heavy joists, and over the joists they nailed
wooden slabs. It was smooth from one end to the other, and it
was well caulked with pitch. When this raft was finished, they
put a chain at each end and attached it to the stone bridge. And
they covered it well with green branches in order to hide it.
When the Turks had finished repairing their bridge, the men began
to cross it on foot, little by little. But they readied the
bombards so that, if the Christians came, they could defend the
bridge and the soldiers who had already gone across. When Tirant
saw the Turkish soldiers crossing, the men in his camp were very
disheartened, but he encouraged them and raised their spirits.
He had the trumpets blown so that everyone would mount their
horses, and they shifted their camp near the stone bridge. When
the Turks saw Tirant's camp being raised, they assumed that they
were fleeing out of fear, and they went across more
enthusiastically.
When the sultan and the Grand Turk had gone across with all their
armies, their battalions in order, one after the other, they made
their way toward the Christians. When Tirant saw that they were
near, he crossed over the stone bridge and waited for them. The
Moors, seeing them on the other side, quickly returned to their
wooden bridge. When they had crossed it, they made their way
upriver to meet him and wage battle. And Tirant, when he saw
them near, raised camp and went back to the other side.
This went on for three days.
The Turks held council, and the King of Egypt said:
"Give me one hundred thousand soldiers and I'll go to one side of
the river, and all of you can stay on the other side, and at the
same time that I engage them in battle, as quickly as you can,
you must come to my aid. This way, we will be victorious."
All the captains and nobles praised the wise words of the King of
Egypt, but the sultan answered:
"It's foolish to say that you will take them on with one hundred
thousand men, even though they have even fewer. You take half
our men, and I will take the other half. And whoever engages
them first will do so, and if the other half will bravely help
us, we will have true glory and honor."
And the discussion ended.
The kings took one half of the men, and the sultan took the other
half and crossed the bridge. When Tirant saw how their forces
were divided, with the river in between, he said:
"This is exactly what I wanted."
He raised his encampment that was on the side of the kings and
had all the tents and carts placed inside the two castles with
all the pages. And Tirant held his men back until nightfall.
And before the sun had passed the columns of Hercules, Tirant
crossed the bridge to the side where he had first been, and he
had the foot soldiers climb a hill that was in line with the head
of the bridge. When the foot soldiers were up, he had the men
with weapons also go up, one squadron behind the other. The
sultan, who was on that side, seeing that almost all the men had
gone up the side of the hill to give battle, and that there were
only four squadrons remaining, went swiftly toward them and
attacked them, making them flee up the hill, and sixty Christians
were killed. Tirant retreated, battling all the time, and night
fell. The Turks came down to the foot of the hill and set up
their tents.
When Tirant went up the hill, he found all the knights and nobles
absolutely disconsolate. They were running here and there,
crying and moaning, with sad, woeful countenances. When Tirant
saw them acting that way, he called them all together and said:
"I only want to tell you that if you will put your effort into
this, with the aid of Our Lord and His Holy Mother, Our Lady, I
will make you victorious over your enemies within three hours."
Nearly all were consoled by the captain's words, except for the
Duke of Macedonia who, before the battles were finished, sent a
squire of his with instructions about what he should tell the
emperor. When he reached the city, he dismounted and left his
horse, indicating that he had fled the battle-site and that he
had tears in his eyes. When he was in the palace, he found many
people there, and he said:
"Where is that poor man they call the emperor?"
When he was informed that Albi, the Duke of Macedonia's squire,
had arrived, the emperor quickly came out of his chambers. When
Albi saw the emperor he fell to the ground, pulling his hair and
lowering his eyes and face, and he said mournfully:
"It has been your will to degrade your captains and vassals, and
to honor foreigners of ill repute, men who are known for no
deeds, and who wear shoddy tunics. Oh, Emperor! You are lost
and so are all your people, for it has been your wish to take
away the succession of the empire from that famous and
illustrious nobleman, the Duke of Macedonia, to give it to a vile
foreigner who has led himself and all the men in the camp to
their destruction, and has run away, and we don't know where he
is. This is what the person who was the emperor deserved! For
the Moors have them trapped on a small hill, and they have no
bread or wine, or even water for the horses. By now they must
all be dead. I am going to leave with my great pain, and you,
who were the emperor, must remain with your own."
"Oh, woe is me!" cried the emperor. And he went into his
chambers and fell upon his bed, lamenting.
The princess approached her father to comfort him, but there was
no one to console the empress and the other maidens. Rumors of
the bad news ran throughout the city, and everyone broke into
loud wailing for the friends and relatives they believed had been
killed. Let us leave them to their weeping and see what is
happening to Tirant.
Having bolstered his men's spirits with his words, they were very
optimistic, trusting the great judgement of the captain. Tirant
left the encampment at the top well guarded, and took a man with
him and went down the back side of the mountain without being
seen. When he was at the bottom, he left his armor under a tree,
and cautiously stole up to the castle of Lord Malvei. He picked
up two stones, one in each hand, and just as they had agreed, he
signaled by hitting them together. When Lord Malvei heard the
signal, he opened the gates of the bridge. Tirant went in, and
found everything that had been prepared. First he had a great
deal of oil and tar poured into a wooden bucket, along with pitch
and quicklime and other things that would help make a fire, and
he gathered a good deal of dry wood, and he had it all spread on
top of the wooden raft he had made, and tied two long ropes to
each of the chains of the raft. The two men got into a small
fishing boat, and each of them held one of the ropes. When the
raft was untied, the current carried it downriver, and whenever
it would become stuck on one side of the river one of the men
would pull on a rope to free it. Tirant told them not to light
the fire until they were near the bridge.
When the Turks saw such huge flames in the river, they believed
they were lost, and the sultan and all his men abandoned their
camp. Fleeing as quickly as they could, they ran toward the
wooden bridge. As the sultan had a good horse, he first waited
until the fire reached the bridge, and then he went across, and
many men followed him. And if the two men had followed the
captain's orders and waited to light the fire, all would have
been killed or taken prisoner. In their rush to cross to the
other side, many Moors and their horses fell into the water. The
fire was so great that the entire bridge quickly burned down.
And twenty-two thousand or more men were unable to cross the
bridge.
When Tirant observed the fire going down the river, he cautiously
worked his way back to his troops. He found nearly all of them
mounted, wanting to get their enemies' booty. But Tirant would
not allow it, telling them:
"We would gain no honor now. Tomorrow we will have the honor and
the booty."
In spite of all that had happened, Tirant had a very tight watch
set that night, saying:
"Not all of them could have gotten across. In their desperation,
couldn't they fall on us?"
When the clear day broke and the sun appeared on our horizon, the
captain had the trumpets blown, and everyone mounted. They had
the carts and the pages brought out, and all the men went back
down to their former camp, and from there they saw what was left
of the enemy.
Diafebus, seeing the pitiful state of the Turks, took the ring
from Tirant's hand, and Tirant said to him:
"Cousin, what are you doing?"
Diafebus said:
"I want to send Pyramus to the emperor. They haven't had word
from us for so long!"
"I beg you, cousin," said Tirant, "send word to him that we need
flour and supplies before we run out."
Pyramus left. When he reached the city of Constantinople, he saw
everyone looking very sad and oppressed, and all the women were
crying. He went into the palace, and it was worse: their faces
were scratched, their clothing torn. Of all those who saw him,
no one said a word to him. When he spoke to anyone, they would
not answer. He thought the emperor must have died, or the
empress, or their daughter.
He went further inside, into a hall, and recognized the emperor's
chamberlain, and he ran to him, laughing. The chamberlain said:
"With all your unbridled happiness, how dare you come to the
emperor's chamber?"
"Friend," said Pyramus, "don't be angry with me: I don't know
what is making everyone sad here. Let me talk to the emperor,
and if he is sad, I will make him happy."
Without saying another word, the chamberlain went into the
empress's chamber where he found the emperor with his daughter
and the maidens, the windows closed and all of them in mourning.
The chamberlain said:
"Sire, one of those reprobate traitors with that reprobate
knight, Tirant lo Blanc, is at the door. His name is Pyramus,
and I am certain he has fled the battle with his lord. He says
he wants to talk to Your Majesty."
The emperor said:
"Tell him to get out of here, and to leave my lands. And if I
find him or any of his master's men, I will have them thrown down
from the highest tower in the palace."
And as the emperor spoke these words, imagine how the pain in the
princess's heart grew twofold. For no matter how much harm
Tirant might have done, she could not completely forget him.
After the chamberlain told Pyramus about the emperor's response,
Pyramus said:
"In faith, I will not leave. For my lord Tirant has committed no
treachery, nor have any of his men. If the emperor will not
listen to me, tell the princess to come out here to the chamber
door, and I will tell her things that will make her very happy."
The chamberlain told the emperor what Pyramus had said. Then the
emperor told Carmesina to go out and talk to him, but that she
was not to let him come inside the chamber. When the princess
came out to the hall with such a sad face, Pyramus knelt and
kissed her hand, and then he began to speak:
"My most excellent lady, I am startled by the great change I see
in Your Majesty, in everyone in the palace and in the entire
city. I'm very astonished because I don't know what has caused
this, and no one I've asked has been willing to tell me. If His
Majesty, the emperor, doesn't want that famous knight, Tirant lo
Blanc, to be his captain, tell me, and we will quickly leave the
empire."
When the distressed princess had listened to Pyramus words, with
tears in her eyes she told him everything the duke's squire had
said. When Pyramus heard such wickedness, he put his hands to
his head and answered:
"My lady, have the ones who brought you such news, and caused the
emperor so much pain, put into prison. And arrest me if the
truth isn't that Tirant has been victorious and caused the sultan
to flee, and burned down the bridge, and has more than twenty
thousand of the enemy trapped near the river. If all this isn't
true, let them cut me to pieces.
And as greater proof, here is the captain's seal that Tirant gave
me."
When the princess heard such glorious news, she quickly ran into
the chamber where her father was, and told him everything Pyramus
had said. The poor emperor, with all the excessive happiness he
felt, fainted and fell from his chair. The doctors were
summoned, and they restored him to consciousness. He had Pyramus
brought in, and as soon as he heard the news from his lips, he
had all the bells in the city rung, and everyone went to the
church, and there they gave praise and thanks to God, Our Lord,
and to His Holy Mother, for the victory that had been achieved.
When they returned to the palace, the emperor had the duke's
squire imprisoned. Then Pyramus begged him to have the ships
leave quickly with provisions for the encampment. The following
day Pyramus left with many words of praise for Tirant and for
many others. When this emissary returned with the news, Tirant
was amazed at what the Duke of Macedonia had done.
The day Pyramus left, the Turks, having lost all hope, realized
that they could not carry on the battle. So to choose the lesser
of two evils, they decided to let themselves be taken prisoner.
Luckily, the wise Moor, Abdalla Salomon, was still with them, and
they decided to send him as ambassador to Tirant once more. He
put a rag on the end of a lance, and when Tirant saw it, he
answered immediately. Abdalla Salomon went up to Tirant's camp,
presented himself, and very humbly said:
"If your lordship, magnanimous captain, would do us the grace of
sparing our lives, you would be regarded as glorious among your
enemies. I beg you to act with all the virtue you have in you."
The captain had the Moor and all who were with him come into his
tent, and he fed them. And they certainly needed it. Then the
captain met with all the great lords, and they agreed with what
Tirant said to them. He had Ambassador Abdalla summoned, and gave
him the following reply:
"I don't think it will be very long before I'll give the sultan
and all the others a fitting punishment, but so that they will
see that I don't wish to harm them as much as I could, I'll be
satisfied if they will bring all their offensive and defensive
weapons to the middle of that meadow. And I don't want them all
brought together, but one hundred at a time, and then they can
bring the horses. That's the way I want it done."
The ambassador took his leave of the captain, and went back and
did everything Tirant had ordered.
When all the weapons had been laid down, the captain had them all
brought to the camp, and then all the horses were brought up.
The Turks were very pleased that he didn't have them all killed,
because they thought that even if they were held captive, they
could be ransomed. Tirant had them come, unarmed, to the foot of
the mountain, and there he gave them food in abundance while his
men kept them guarded. Then Tirant went down to them and seized
the Christian dukes, counts and knights among them, and he had
them come with him up to his camp. He made them go into a tent,
and they were well-served with everything necessary for human
sustenance. But many were not pleased that the captain was
paying them so much honor when they did not deserve it, for they
had come to help Moors against Christians. And when Tirant's men
said so to their faces, they recognized their error, and stopped
eating.
Tirant held the prisoners this way until the ships arrived.
Two days later the ships came loaded with provisions. After they
had unloaded everything, the captain consulted with the others,
and they decided to transfer all the prisoners to the ships and
have them taken to the emperor. The High Constable was put in
charge of them, and they set out. The constable had the sails
raised, and with a favorable wind they reached the port of
Constantinople in only a few days. The emperor and all the
ladies were at the windows, watching the vessels as they
approached. The constable had the prisoners disembark, and he
took them to the palace. The constable went up to where the
emperor was, and kissed his hands and feet. And delivering the
good wishes of the captain, he presented the prisoners.
The magnanimous lord received them very happily, and indicated
how pleased he was with the captain. And placing the prisoners
under heavy guard, the emperor had the constable go into this
chambers where the empress and the princess were. He asked him
about everything at the encampment, and the constable told him,
adding:
"Tonight or tomorrow, Diafebus will be here, with the noblemen
that he is bringing as prisoner."
"What!" said the emperor. "Are there still more?" And his
happiness grew greater than ever.
The following day Diafebus entered the center of the city with
his prisoners, while his trumpets and tambourines played. The
emperor and all the people were astonished at the great multitude
of prisoners.
When they were at the square in front of the palace, the emperor
was at a window. Diafebus bowed deeply to him, and quickly went
up to his chambers to kiss his hand, and then did the same to the
empress and the princess. After he had embraced all the ladies,
he turned back to the emperor and gave him the good wishes Tirant
had sent. When the emperor had spoken at length with Diafebus,
he had the prisoners placed in the strongest towers they had.
When Diafebus had the opportunity, he went to the princess's
chamber and found her with all the maidens. When the princess
saw him, she got up to go to him. Diafebus hurried toward her,
and knelt and kissed her hand, saying:
"This kiss is from someone whom Your Highness has condemned to a
stronger prison than the one that the prisoners I have brought
are in."
As the maidens approached, he could say nothing further for fear
that they might hear him. But she took him by the hand and they
went to a window- seat. Then the princess summoned Stephanie,
and Diafebus said:
"Your Highness should not forget such a noble knight, and the
lack of liberty he has had since the moment he saw you."
Smiling, the princess answered:
"Oh Diafebus, my brother! I receive your words as the vassal of
your lord, and I return his wishes just as strongly, and even
more so."
As they were speaking, the emperor came in and saw Diafebus
deeply involved in conversation with his daughter, and he said:
"Upon my father's bones, what a wonderful sight to see how these
maidens like to hear of the exploits of these good knights."
And he told his daughter to leave the room and go out to the main
plaza in the market-place. Diafebus went with the emperor; then
he came back to escort the empress and the princess. When they
were in the market-place they saw a large cenotaph that the
emperor had made, entirely covered with cloth of gold and silk.
When all the ladies had been seated, the emperor commanded that
all the prisoners be brought out, and they were ordered to sit on
the ground, Moors as well as Christians.
Then the people were silenced, and the following proclamation was
read:
"We, Frederick, by divine grace Emperor of the Greek Empire of
Constantinople. So that it may be known and made manifest to the
whole world how these wicked knights and unfaithful Christians
have accepted payment from the infidel, and taking up arms have
united with them in waging war against Christianity. They are
deserving of great punishment, and of being removed from the
order of chivalry and disinherited by the nobility from which
they are descended. So that it may be a punishment for them and
an example for all others, we pronounce them traitors to all
Christians here present. And we sentence them to be dealt with
as all such traitors against God and the world."
When the sentence had been read, twelve knights came out dressed
in long robes and hoods, and the emperor dressed in a similar
fashion. Then they had the men rise from the ground, and they
were brought up to the cenotaph where they were armed and then
degraded as is done with evil knights, and then they were
returned to prison. Then the emperor said:
"Let there be justice, and let us show mercy to no one."
The Duke of Macedonia's squire was brought out with a large chain
around his neck. And he was condemned to die, hanging upside
down, for all the anguish he had caused. When Diafebus saw the
squire, he hurried to the emperor and knelt at his feet, begging
him not to have the squire killed so that wicked people could not
say that it was done because he had spoken badly about his
captain. When the princess saw that Diafebus' words were futile,
she too came and knelt at the emperor's feet to beg him. And
when that proved futile, the empress and all the maidens came to
plead for his life as well. The emperor said:
"Who has ever seen a death sentence revoked that has been handed
down by the general council? I have never done it, nor will I do
it now."
The princess caught his hands, pretending to kiss them, and she
stealthily removed the ring from his finger without his noticing
it, and said to him:
"It is not Your Majesty's custom to be so cruel as to sentence
anyone to die with such pain."
The emperor said:
"My child, change his death sentence as you wish."
The princess handed the ring to Diafebus, and he rode swiftly to
where they were holding the execution, and gave the ring to the
constable. The squire was already on the ladder, about to be
executed, and Diafebus grabbed him and took him to his lodging.
When Diafebus left to go to the palace, the squire quickly ran to
the monastery of San Francisco where he became a friar.
The next day, the emperor sent all the Turks who had not been
ransomed to other places to be sold: Venice, Sicily, Rome and
Italy. Those that could not be sold were traded for arms, horses
or food.
When it came time for the constable and Diafebus to leave, the
emperor took as much gold from his treasury as he had received
from the ransom of the prisoners, and sent it along with them for
the captain.
The day before they were to leave, Diafebus discovered that the
emperor had retired, and he went to the princess's chamber. The
first one he met there was Stephanie, and he bowed deeply on one
knee and said:
"Gentle lady, I would consider myself the most fortunate man
alive if you would accept me as your closest servant. I love you
above all the ladies in the world."
At that moment the emperor's chamberlain came in and told him
that the emperor wished to speak with him. Diafebus begged
Stephanie to wait for him there, and said that he would return as
quickly as he could.
When the emperor saw Diafebus, he told him that he and the
constable were to leave before nightfall. Diafebus returned to
the chamber and found his lady deep in thought and with tears in
her eyes, because she knew that the emperor summoned him only to
tell him that he must leave. Diafebus, seeing her so
disconsolate, tried to show her that it was hurting him even more
to leave.
While they were consoling each other this way, the princess came
into the chamber from the treasure tower, wearing a blouse and a
skirt of white damask, her hair falling down to her shoulders
because it was so warm. When she saw Diafebus she tried to turn
back, but Diafebus blocked her way.
"Shall I tell you something?" said the princess. "I don't care
what happens in your presence. You are like a brother to me."
Plaerdemavida spoke up:
"My lady, can Your Highness see Stephanie's face? It looks like
she's been blowing on a fire: her face is as red as a rose in
May. I can't imagine that Diafebus' hands were idle while we
were in the tower. We should have known he'd be here! She was
here with the thing she loves most. I tell you, if I had a
lover, I'd play with him too, the way both of you do. But I'm a
barren woman, and I have no one to love. Lord Diafebus, do you
know who I love with all my heart? Hippolytus--Tirant's page.
And if he were a knight, I'd love him even more."
"I promise you," said Diafebus, "that in the next battle I take
part in, he will be made a knight."
And they joked this way for a long while. Then the princess
said:
"Do you know something, Diafebus? When I turn around and look
everywhere in the palace and I don't see Tirant, I feel as though
I'm dying. I want you to take him all my good wishes, and along
with them--wrapped up so that no one will see them--half the load
of gold a horse can carry so that he may spend it as he wishes.
And when it is gone, I will give him even more. I don't want him
or his men to lack for anything. Also, an aunt of mine left me a
county called Sant Angel in her will. I want Tirant to have it,
and for him to be named the Count of Sant Angel. So if it
becomes known that I love Tirant, at least they will say that I
am in love with a count."
Diafebus was astonished when he heard the princess uttering words
filled with so much love, and he said:
"I don't feel capable of thanking you for the honor you are
bestowing on Tirant. So I beg you, on behalf of that famous
knight and then on behalf of all of us of his lineage, allow me
to kiss your hands and feet."
Stephanie was so bursting with love that she could not contain
herself any longer, and she said:
"I'm envious of what Your Excellency is doing for that glorious
knight, Tirant. And since I must imitate Your Highness, allow me
to give everything I have to Diafebus here."
And she got up and went into her chamber. There she wrote out a
document that she placed in her bosom, and then she went back out
to the princess.
Meanwhile, Diafebus had been pressing the princess to allow him
to kiss her. But the princess would not give her consent. Then
Diafebus said:
"Oh, how blind I've been! I would have given my life a hundred
times to do some service for Your Majesty. And Your Highness
will not allow me the pleasure of even a small part of the fruit!
From now on, find yourself another brother and servant to be at
your side. And don't imagine for a minute that I'll say anything
to Tirant on your behalf, and even less that I'll take him the
money. As soon as I reach camp, I'll take my leave of him and go
back to my own country. But someday you'll be sorry I left."
Just then the emperor came into the chamber and told Diafebus
that he should get ready to leave that same evening.
"Sire," said Diafebus, "I've just come from our lodging, and
everyone is ready to leave."
The emperor then brought him out of the chamber and led him
through the palace, reminding both him and the constable of what
they were to do.
"Oh, poor me!" said the princess. "Look how angry Diafebus was!
I don't think he'll want to do anything for me now. Stephanie,
beg him for my love not to be angry."
"I certainly will," said Stephanie.
Plaerdemavida spoke up:
"Oh what a strange one you are, my lady. At a time when we're at
war, you don't know how to hold the friendship of these knights.
They put themselves in danger to defend Your Highness and the
entire empire, and you raise a ruckus over a kiss! What's wrong
with kissing? In France it doesn't mean anything more than a
handshake. If he wanted to kiss you, you should have let him.
And you should have done the same even if he had wanted to put
his hand under your skirts, when there are times of great need
like we have now. Later on, when we have peace, then you can
make virtue out of vice. Good woman, good woman, how deceived
you are!"
Stephanie had already left, so the princess went to her room and
begged her to go and bring back Diafebus:
"Now I'm afraid he really will leave just the way he said he
would.
And if he goes away, it won't be surprising if Tirant leaves too.
And even if he doesn't, because of his love for me, many others
will go too. And then, just when we thought we were winning, we
would lose."
"Don't make things so hard," said Plaerdemavida. "Don't send
anyone else, Your Highness. It would be better if you went
yourself on the pretext of seeing the emperor. Then talk to him,
and his anger will disappear quickly."
The princess hurried to her father and found him talking. When
he had finished, she took Diafebus aside and pleaded with him not
to be angry with her. Diafebus replied:
"Madam, it has to be one of two things: either kiss or leave. If
you give me what I'm asking for, then you can command me to do
anything, just or unjust, and I will do it."
"Since you won't wait for the one who holds my heart captive,"
said the princess, "kiss, kiss."
Diafebus knelt on the hard floor and kissed her hand. Then he
went over to Stephanie and kissed her three times on the lips for
the Holy Trinity.
Stephanie said:
"Since at your great insistence, and by command of my lady, I
have kissed you, I give you my permission to take possession of
me, but only from the waist up."
Diafebus was not slow to follow her request. He immediately put
his hands on her breasts, touching her nipples and everything
else that he could. His hands then found the document, and
thinking it was a letter from a rival suitor, he stopped cold,
almost losing his senses.
"Read what is written there," said Stephanie, "and lose your
suspicions."
The princess took the document from Diafebus' hand and read it:
"I, Stephanie of Macedonia, daughter of the illustrious Prince
Robert, Duke of Macedonia, promise you, Diafebus of Muntalt, to
take you as my husband and lord. And looking toward our
marriage, I bring you the duchy of Macedonia with all the rights
belonging thereto. In testimony of which I sign and seal my name
in my own blood.
"Stephanie of Macedonia."
This Stephanie was not the Duke's daughter. Her father was a
glorious prince, and a very worthy and wealthy knight. He was
the emperor's first cousin, and this was his only child. When he
died, he left the duchy to her, stating in his will that it was
to be given to her when she was thirteen years old. In order to
have more children, her mother had then married the Count of
Albi, and he had taken the title of Duke of Macedonia.
By now this maiden was fourteen years old.
When night fell and they were all ready to leave, Diafebus,
happier than we can say, took his leave of the emperor and all
the ladies, and especially of Stephanie, begging her to think of
him while he was away. And she kissed him many times, in front
of the princess and Plaerdemavida.
When they were back again with Tirant, he was very glad to see
them. Diafebus and the constable gave him the money the emperor
had sent.
By now the Turks were desperate, and they cursed the world and
fortune that had brought them so much pain. By their
calculations they had lost, between the dead and those taken
prisoner, more than one hundred thousand men. In their anger
they held counsel to decide how they might kill Tirant. It was
decided that the King of Egypt should kill him, because he was
more skilled at arms than any of the others.
The following day he called a council of all the great kings,
dukes, counts, and all the Christians, and they gathered in the
middle of a large meadow. When they were all there, the King of
Egypt said:
"If you want me to challenge him to a battle to the death, he is
a very spirited knight and he will not be able to refuse. Then,
when he's here, we'll fight. If you see me getting the better of
him, leave us alone, and I will kill him. But if he is beating
me, shoot him down with an arrow. In either case, he will die
and so will everyone who comes with him."
They were all pleased by what the king said. When the council
was over, the King of Egypt went into his tent and prepared to
write a letter.
Now the sultan had a servant who had been born a Christian in the
city of Famagosta, and who had been taken prisoner at sea when he
was very young. And with his youth and lack of discretion, they
had made him become a Moor. When he grew older, he realized that
the Christian law was better than the Mohammedan sect, and he
decided to go back to the Christian faith. He did it the
following way. He prepared his arms and a good horse, and set
out for the bridge of stone were Lord Malvei was. When he was an
arrow shot away, he put his headdress on the tip of his lance,
asking for safety. When the men in the castle saw that it was
only one man, they offered him safety. But when the Moor was
near, an archer who knew nothing about the guarantee of safety,
shot an arrow that wounded the horse.
Lord Malvei was very upset, and he promised the Moor that if the
horse died they would give him a better one. The Moor told him
how he had come there to become a Christian, and that he wanted
to talk to the great captain. They agreed that he should return
the following day and that Lord Malvei would advise Tirant. The
Moor was very pleased, and went back to the camp. The sultan
asked him where he had been and how his horse had been wounded.
The Moor replied:
"Sir, I was bored here, so I went over to the bridge. I saw a
Christian on horseback and rode toward him. When I was close to
him, he shot an arrow at me. I spurred my horse on and caught up
to him and knocked him to the ground. Then I dismounted and
prepared to kill him. On his knees he begged my forgiveness. So
I pardoned him and we became good friends. And he has promised
to tell me everything that is happening in the Christian camp."
"This is excellent news to me!" said the sultan. "Go back
tomorrow and find out if they intend to fight more, or if they
are going back to the city of Constantinople."
The next day the Moor took one of the sultan's best horses and
rode to the bridge, where he was taken inside the castle. Tirant
soon arrived and paid reverence to Lord Malvei and his son, and
then embraced Lady Malvei, and gave honor to the Moor. The Moor
told him that he wanted to become a Christian and to serve him.
They went to the church, and there he was baptized with the name
Cipres of Paterno. Then he said:
"Sir, now that I have been baptized a true Christian, I wish to
live and die in this holy faith. I will stay here if you like,
or I will go back to the camp and tell you what is happening
every day. No one in all our camp knows what is going on better
than I, because all the council meetings are held in the sultan's
tent, and I am a member of the council."
Tirant begged him to go back, and to advise Lord Malvei as often
as he could about the Turk's plans. He agreed, and said:
"I beg you, captain, let me have some sort of sweetmeats so I can
give them to the sultan. For he likes to eat these things, and
with this as an excuse, I'll be able to come and go easily, and
he won't suspect me."
The Lord of Malvei said:
"I can give them to you."
And he had dates and sweetmeats brought in a box, and gave them
to Cipres de Paterno.
When he had returned, the sultan asked him for news about the
Christians. He replied that his friend had told him that they
did not intend to leave.
"Until your lordship changes your camp site. And sir, I was
given these dates and sweetmeats."
The sultan was very pleased at what he had brought, and had him
go often. So he went and told Lord Malvei everything he knew,
and Lord Malvei kept Tirant informed. Cipres of Paterno swore
never again to serve the sultan.
When the King of Egypt had the letter of battle drawn up, he
ordered a messenger to take it to Tirant, the captain of the
Greek army. It said the following:
"From Abenamar, by the will of God, King of Egypt, to you, Tirant
lo Blanc, captain of the Greek army.
"I challenge you to battle, man to man, on foot or on horseback
whichever you desire to your own advantage, before a competent
judge. We will do combat until one of us is dead, so that I may
present your head to my lady. If you wish to answer this letter,
give your reply to Egypt, my messenger, and that will suffice to
show your agreement, and to bring our battle to the end that I
desire.
"Written in our camp on the eastern shore, the first day of this
moon, and signed.
"King of Egypt"
After Tirant held counsel in his tent, he answered the King of
Egypt's letter in the following way:
"I vow to God and my lady, and to the honor of chivalry, that
twenty days into August, four days before or after, I will be on
the eastern shore, before your camp, with all the power to do
battle if you should wish it. Written by my hand and sealed with
my coat of arms in the camp called Transimeno. The fifth of
August.
"Tirant lo Blanc."
Here the book returns to the emperor who wanted very much to
have news of the camp. He saw seven sailing ships approaching,
and when they had docked he learned that they came from Sicily,
and that they were bringing four thousand soldiers and many
horses which the King of Sicily was sending. The reason for this
I shall now relate.
As we have said previously, the eldest son of the King of Sicily
was in France, married to the daughter of the King of France. He
was virtuous and discreet, and his father-in-law would not allow
him to leave the court because of his great love for him. It
happened then that this son fell ill, and died. When his father,
the King of Sicily, learned of his death he was very sad. The
other son who had become a friar, did not want to leave the
religious life to be king after the death of his father. The king
was very upset when he saw that his son would not obey him, and
he fell sick to his bed. Realizing that he was dying, he put his
soul and his kingdom in order, and in his will he named his
daughter, Philippe's wife, to be his successor.
When Philippe found himself king, remembering Tirant's help and
honor, he decided to go to his aid with the greatest forces he
could muster. But his wife, the queen, and everyone in his
kingdom pleaded with him not to go that year, because the queen
was with child. Seeing their great opposition, he decided to
stay. He sent in his place, as captain, the Duke of Messina,
with five thousand soldiers on foot and on horseback. Because of
her dealings with Tirant, the queen sent him two thousand
soldiers and made the Lord of Pantanalea their captain.
When the soldiers had been given lodging, the emperor said:
"I have decided to go to the camp to make peace between the Duke
of Macedonia and our captain. If I don't, they'll kill each
other some day. Since this sort of thing has happened twice
already, we have to guard against a third time. If I get the
Duke of Macedonia in my hands, I swear I'll cut off his head."
Then the emperor ordered all his men to prepare to leave.
"What, my lord!" said the empress. "Are you going with so few
men?"
The emperor replied:
"These barons from Sicily are here, and they'll go with me."
All the emperor's servants quickly made ready.
The following night, while the princess was asleep, Stephanie
came to her bed. She woke her and said:
"My lady, I dreamt that I saw Diafebus, and that he told me:
'Stephanie, my love, Tirant and I are so fortunate to have you
here! Just being able to see you makes us sure we'll defeat the
Turks.' So, my lady, when I woke up I came here to tell Your
Highness that, if you wish, we can quickly satisfy your desires.
And they'll know first hand how great our love is: we will go to
them when they can't come to us."
The princess said:
"Give me my chemise, and don't say another word."
She quickly dressed, and then she went to the emperor's chambers.
He had not yet gotten up, and she told him:
"My lord, the maidens are afraid, hearing about the war, and
especially about the battles. So, Your Majesty, please don't
refuse me a favor. You should grant it to me for two reasons:
First, Your Majesty should not go anywhere without me because of
your age, for I love you more than anyone, and if Your Majesty
got sick I could serve you and be at your bedside, because I know
your nature better than anyone. The second reason is that it's
nature's course that whoever is born first should die first,
although sometimes we see the contrary. And if I go with Your
Majesty I could see and know about war, and in case the need
should arise in the future I would not be afraid."
At first the emperor tried to dissuade her, but when she
insisted, he said:
"My daughter, since you want it so much, I'll give my consent."
On the day they left, the princess dressed in a skirt with gold
braid, and armed herself in a coat of mail she had had made for
her. She mounted a large white horse, and with a staff in her
hand she went as captain over her people. In her company were
sixty of the most beautiful and elegant maidens in the entire
court. She made Stephanie the commander, while the Duke of
Pera's daughter, Saladria, had the position of marshal.
Comtesina was lord constable, and Plaerdemavida carried the
emblem. Eliseu carried the large banner, Widow Repose was usher
of the chamber, and each of the others had their own office. And
this is how they rode until they reached Tirant's tent.
When the emperor was situated in the camp tents, he sent word to
Lord Malvei, asking him to come talk with him. As soon as he
received the request, he quickly went to pay homage to the
emperor. He told him all about Tirant and the virtuous acts that
he did every day, and the princess was very pleased to hear the
praises of Tirant. Lord Malvei asked him if he would like to
stay at his castle, because he would be very safe there. So he
went, while all the Sicilian barons set up their tents near the
river.
Lord Malvei covertly sent one of his men to the Valley of
Espinosa to tell the captain that the emperor had come with his
daughter and with the barons of Sicily. Tirant kept it secret
until the following day so that no one would leave with the
excuse of going to see the emperor or their relatives. He told
only Diafebus in great secrecy.
When it was midnight, or very near it, everyone mounted their
horses. He had the foot soldiers go first, with Diafebus as
their captain, and with 400 lancers, their horses completely
decorated. Tirant earnestly charged Diafebus to stay behind some
rocks about a league from the enemy camp, and for him and his men
not to show themselves even if they saw that the battle was lost.
Even if he saw that they were killing him, they were not to come
out to help. Still not satisfied, he made him swear not to move
until he gave the command.
Each division put their men in order. Tirant did the following:
All the horses were put in a row so that not one head was in
front of another. And everyone was in order except the Duke of
Macedonia who refused to obey any of the captain's orders. The
emperor's flags were in the middle. The Duke of Sinop was at the
end of one wing, and the Duke of Pera was at the other end.
Meanwhile the captain went up and down the line urging the men to
keep in order, for if they did, with the help of Our Lord he
would make them victorious that day.
When the sultan saw the Christians preparing for battle, he
quickly put all his forces in order: All the men with lances were
put in front; next came the archers and crossbowmen; then the
Christians that the Grand Turk had hired to fight for him, on
horses which were nicely covered and with large plumes, and they
were more than fifteen paces behind the crossbowmen. The Turks
were last of all, and they had more than four hundred bombards.
They thought that with the bombards they would kill more than
seven hundred men. When all the men were in place the King of
Egypt sent a messenger to Tirant to thank him for keeping his
promise, and to tell him that he would kill him or take him
prisoner on that day. He said Tirant would taste the point of
his lance very soon, and he would see how bitter it tasted.
Tirant answered that he would be very happy to see how it tasted
because he had so much sugar that he would not notice any bitter
taste at all, but that that day he would engage him in battle,
and he would spill his blood.
Tirant again urged his men on. He took away their fear, and gave
them hopes of having a glorious victory. The Turks shot one
bombard, and the blast went wide without touching anyone. Tirant
had a small axe tied to his arm with a silk cord, and in his hand
he held a small banner, and he signaled with it. The Duke of
Pera, who commanded one wing, turned his men toward the flags in
a very slow and orderly way, so that their backs were to the
enemy. At the other end of the wing was the Duke of Sinop, and
he held his men steady. When the men under the Duke of Pera had
turned and were in order again, Tirant signaled with the small
banner, and the men under the Duke of Sinop turned around in the
same orderly way. Then they were all facing the mountain, where
Diafebus was, with their backs to the enemy. They spurred their
horses forward at a gallop, always in a very orderly way, with
none of the horses going ahead of the others, When the Turks saw
them going back, they began to shout:
"They're running away! They're running away!"
The foot soldiers threw away their shields, others their lances,
and others their crossbows, to run after their Christian enemies.
The men on horseback threw off the coverings so that their horses
could run more swiftly. From time to time Tirant turned and saw
all the men coming, wave after wave, in confusion, and so he was
unconcerned about anything except for his troops to continue
moving in a very orderly way. And the Moors with good horses
came close enough to throw their lances at their backs.
When the emperor, who was up in the tower, saw his men fleeing,
he believed that the battle was lost. All that night the maidens
did not take off their clothes, and prayed earnestly, begging the
Conqueror of Battles and His Holy Mother to give the Christians
victory.
When Tirant saw the foot soldiers falling far behind, and that
they had passed the place where Diafebus was, Tirant raised the
banner he was carrying and they all stopped. Then each squadron
drew a stone's throw apart from the one next to it. When the
Turks saw them stop, they realized they had been tricked. Tirant
ordered the Duke of Pera to attack first, and he charged into the
enemy. When Tirant saw the enemy coming with reinforcements, he
had the Marquis of Saint George lead an attack, then the Duke of
Sinopoli. And so many men were killed that it was an astonishing
sight to see.
Tirant saw that half his men had been involved in the attacks,
and they were still winning. Then, in the melee, he saw the King
of Cappadocia killing many Christians (He recognized him by his
coat of arms: a gold lion with a banner), and he took a lance and
spurred toward him. When the king saw him coming he did not turn
his back, but waited for him in anticipation. And when they met,
it was with such force that both they and their horses fell to
the ground. They both got up bravely, and slashed at each other
with their swords. But so many men were fighting aground them
that they could not fight well. Then the Turks helped their king
mount again. Pyramus went in front of the king so Tirant could
mount, and the others surrounded him, defending him until the
squadron of Count Plegamans could attack. This squadron came to
where the captain was, and they helped him mount behind Lord
Agramunt who took him out of the thick of battle. Since many
horses had lost their riders and were running loose, they caught
one and gave it to their captain, and he quickly went back into
the fray.
The captain commanded all the squadrons to attack, some on the
right and some on the left. Then they saw helmets falling to the
ground, and many knights from both sides were being killed or
wounded. It was a startling sight to see. Tirant attacked too,
first in one place, then in another. And he did not fight in
only one place, but in many, helping wherever he was needed.
The King of Egypt was able to see Tirant fighting very bravely.
He drew apart from the battle, and the Kings of Cappadocia and
Africa came out with him. The King of Egypt asked them to leave
the others and try to kill only Tirant. And with this accord
they returned to the battle. While Tirant was fighting, the Duke
of Macedonia came up behind Tirant, and plunged his sword into
his neck, under the helmet. Hippolytus and Pyramus saw it, and
cried:
"You traitor! Why are you trying to kill one of the best knights
in the world?"
The three kings had lances, and they worked their way forward
until they saw Tirant. They galloped toward him, but only the
King of Egypt and the King of Cappadocia were able to reach him.
The clash was so great that both Tirant and his horse fell to the
ground. The horse had seven wounds.
The King of Africa attacked the Duke of Macedonia who was
fighting near Tirant, and the king plunged his lance into the
duke's chest with such force that it came out the other side, and
that is how he paid for his wickedness.
Tirant was on the ground with his horse lying on his leg, and he
could barely get up. But with a great effort he stood up, and
the beaver fell from his helmet, for a lance hit him there, and
another hit his left vambrace. If it had not been for his own
soldiers then, he would have been killed. The King of Egypt saw
him on the ground, and quickly tried to dismount. When his leg
was on the saddlebow Lord Agramunt plunged a lance into his
thigh, and it came out the other side. The wound left him in
great pain, and he fell to the ground. When Tirant saw him
stretched out on the ground like that he ran toward him, but with
all the men fighting he could not reach him. The king stood up
again and picked up a lance that he found lying on the ground,
and he made his way forward until he was able to hurl his lance
at Tirant. Tirant was hit in the cheek, and since he had no
beaver, four of his teeth were knocked out, and he lost a great
deal of blood, but that did not stop him, and he continued to
fight. Hippolytus saw him on foot, wounded, and he made his way
to him. Then he dismounted as quickly as he could, and said:
"My lord, take my horse, I beg you."
Tirant was fighting at one end of the wing, moving away from the
thick of battle little by little. He mounted, and said to
Hippolytus:
"What will you do?"
Hippolytus answered:
"Sir, save yourself. Even if they kill me, my love for you is
such that I will consider it worthwhile."
Tirant turned back to the fighting, looking to see if he could
find the King of Egypt, but because of his painful wound the king
had left the battle. When Tirant saw that he could not find him,
he fought the others. It was much later, while he was still
fighting, that he encountered the King of Cappadocia. When this
king saw him he went out to meet him, and with his sword he
slightly cut the hand that held the axe. Then Tirant drew so
near to him that he struck him on the head with his axe, and
caved in his helmet, and the king fell to the ground, half dead.
Tirant quickly dismounted, and cut the straps of his helmet.
A knight came up and cried out:
"My lord, do not kill the king. Since he is mortally wounded and
is near death, be merciful and give him the short time he has
left to live.
You have done enough by defeating him."
Tirant said:
"What moved you to want mercy on our enemy who has done
everything possible to kill me? Now is the time only for
cruelty."
And he removed the helmet and cut off his head. Tirant's axe
stood out from all the others, for it was red, dripping blood
from the men he had killed. The ground was covered with dead
men, and was completely red from all the blood that had been
spilled. Tirant mounted his horse again, and when the Turks saw
their king killed, they fell upon him in great numbers, trying to
kill him. Tirant was badly wounded, and was again knocked from
his horse. He quickly stood up, not at all overcome by the fall
or frightened because of his wounds. He went into the thick of
the fray on foot, fighting to help his men, and he again mounted
his horse.
This was a harsh and terrible battle, and by now it was nearly
time for vespers.
Diafebus was cursing Tirant for putting him there, and he said:
"He always wants the honors for himself, and he won't share them
with anyone else. He's left me here as though I weren't good for
anything. But by God, I want part of the honor. Let's go!" he
said. "Let's go into battle without being afraid of any danger."
He and his men came out from their concealment and they attacked
very boldly. The Turks saw so many men coming out (when they had
thought there were no more), and they became very dejected.
The sultan left the battle because he was slightly wounded, and
he said to his men:
"I see that our forces are losing. I think it's better for us to
flee than to die."
When Tirant saw the sultan and his men fleeing with their banners
he rode after them and killed many of them. This battle lasted
from daybreak until three hours after noon. There were so many
Moors that the Christians grew weary from killing them.
The captain and most of his men reached the city that formerly
belonged to the Marquis of Saint George. It had been lost to the
King of Egypt, and he kept it well supplied. When the King of
Egypt saw that the battle was lost, he had fled with the others,
and he felt so much pain from the wound in his thigh that he had
to leave the sultan and his men, and stop there. When Tirant
arrived it was nearly dark. They stayed in camp until the
following day. That evening they all had their wounds attended
to, and many died during the night. But on that eastern shore
there had never been such a harsh and deadly battle: many women
became widows, and many young maidens lost their fathers, but
they were filled with the hope of being set free from slavery.
The following day Tirant had the men take up arms, and they
attacked the city, but the Turks defended themselves very well,
for they had very good men inside. After four unsuccessful
attacks, the Marquis of Saint George rode around the entire city
and came to the Jewish quarter. There he called out to a Jew
named Jacob. When the Jew heard the marquis' voice, he realized
it was his lord, and he ran to open the gate for him. The
marquis and his men quickly rode into the city, and they took
half of it before the King of Egypt or the other Moors knew what
had happened.
The marquis sent word to Tirant to stop fighting and to come in
through the Jewish quarter because the city had already been
taken. When Tirant and his men came in through that gate, he
found that the marquis' forces had already defeated all the
Turks, and that he had the King of Egypt trapped in a thicket of
trees where he was continuing to fight, wounded as he was. When
the marquis had captured the king, he sent word to the captain to
come and behead his enemy, the King of Egypt. The captain
replied that he would never kill a man who was being held
prisoner. Whereupon the marquis seized the king by the hair, and
slit his throat with a knife.
Even though Tirant was victorious that day, he would allow no
celebrations to take place. He only said in everyone's presence:
"If Diafebus had done what I ordered him to, I would have killed
the sultan and taken prisoner all the great dukes who were there,
and I would be lord of the entire empire."
Getting back to the emperor, the great pain he felt when he
thought Tirant had lost the battle was changed into relief
because Lord Malvei sent one of his men on horseback for news of
the battle. He returned with the news of what had happened, and
how the captain had gone after the fleeing Turks.
A few moments later the emperor mounted his horse to go with the
barons of Sicily, and the princess wanted to go with him. When
they were in the Moorish camp they found all the tents with all
the wealth inside, and the men wanted to loot them, but the
emperor would not allow it. Instead he had the Lord of
Pantanalea and Lord Malvei hold all the booty for safekeeping
until the men who had conquered the camp were notified.
While the emperor was in the Moors' camp, the princess saw a
little black boy at a distance. She rode toward him and quickly
dismounted and went into the tent where the little black boy had
gone to hide. Grabbing him by the hair, she took him out to the
emperor and said:
"Now I can boast in front of our captain about how I have been a
valiant lady-knight, who went boldly into the enemy camp, and
took a Turk prisoner."
The emperor and all the others were very amused at his daughter's
wit.
Diafebus saw that Tirant was angry with him, and so he did not
dare show himself out of shame. When the emperor heard of the
glorious battle from others but not from Diafebus, he told the
princess:
"Since I've had no news from Diafebus, I fear that he may be
dead."
When Stephanie heard this, she burst into tears. On their return
to the castle of Malvei, she sent a man to find out what had
happened to Diafebus, along with a letter that said:
"My love for you demands that I have news from you. For I have
heard that you may be dead. So I beg you, my lord, to come here
quickly.
And if something has happened to you, I want to die with you."
When Diafebus saw this letter from his lady, he was overjoyed.
He took the letter to Tirant's room. When Tirant had read it, he
sent for the messenger and asked him about the emperor and the
virtuous princess. The messenger told him everything that had
happened in the camp, and how the princess had gone armed into
the Moors' tents and had captured a black, and that she was
holding him under guard.
"To show him to your lordship, as soon as she can see you."
Tirant was very pleased, and he ordered Diafebus to go to His
Majesty, the emperor. And Diafebus rode off very quickly.
When he reached the castle of Malvei, he went directly to the
emperor. The entire castle heard that Diafebus had come, and the
maidens quickly went to see him--especially Stephanie. They
found him in the emperor's chamber, talking about the battle.
The emperor asked how many men were killed, and Diafebus said:
"I don't know the number of Turks who are dead, but from here to
the city of Saint George you can't travel on the main road: it's
too full of corpses. But of our forces I can give you an exact
account, because the captain has had all their bodies gathered
and buried. We found the Duke of Macedonia dead from a lance
wound, and the Duke of Babylonia, the Marquis of Ferrara, and the
Marquis of Guast, Count Plegamans. These are the main ones.
There are also many other knights who were killed, among them the
High Constable. In all, one thousand two hundred thirty-four men
died."
The emperor was very pleased with Tirant's accomplishments, and
did not know how to reward him. Diafebus remained there,
pretending he was ill, and the emperor had him taken care of as
well as he would have his own daughter. Tirant stayed in the
camp, guarding it well.
Meanwhile the sultan and all those who had escaped with him went
into the city of Bellpuig. The sultan remained there, feeling
safe, but for two weeks he kept to his room, crying over the
battle they had lost, and lamenting the death of the King of
Cappadocia. But he still knew nothing of the death of the King
of Egypt and he was anxious to hear any news. Cipres of Paterno
said to him:
"Sir, does your lordship want me to go? If I can talk to my
friend, I'll know everything there is to know."
The sultan begged him very much, in front of all who were there,
to go.
Under his jubbah Cipres wore a tunic of white damask that Tirant
had given him with the cross of Saint George embroidered on it.
When he was on the road and the Moors couldn't see him, he took
off the jubbah and sat on it while he rode. When the Christian
spies along the road saw him, they thought he was one of their
own, and they did not stop him. In the city, he asked where the
captain's lodgings were. The captain was very glad to see him,
and asked what news there was.
"Sir," said Cipres of Paterno, "they've found 103,700 men missing
from their ranks, who have either been killed or taken prisoner.
If you had pursued them, you would have taken them all, for their
horses were too tired to go on. They had to stop halfway along
the road to Bellpuig and spend the night: many were wounded, many
were fatigued, and many died that night since there were no
doctors to attend them: the cold entered their wounds, and there
they died."
"Do you have any other news?"
"Yes, sir," said Cipres of Paterno. "Seven ships have come from
Turkey, loaded with wheat, barley and other foods. And they say
for a certainty that the Grand Caramany is on them with fifty
thousand soldiers and horsemen, and that he's bringing his
daughter to give her as a wife to the sultan, and that in his
company is the King of Upper India."
"Have they unloaded those seven ships yet?" asked Tirant.
"No, sir," said Cipres. "The wind has been against them, and
they haven't been able to make port."
They spoke of many other things, and after Cipres of Paterno had
returned to the sultan, he told him about the death of the King
of Egypt. And there was great wailing among the Moors, for he
was much loved.
Tirant took a man with him who knew the land well, and which
secret roads they could travel by to avoid difficulties. When
they were in sight of the sea, they saw the city of Bellpuig at
the top of a high mountain, and the ships, their sails turning to
and fro in the wind, unable to make port. Tirant returned
quickly, and learned that the emperor, along with all the barons
from Sicily, had gone out to conquer the many villas and castles
nearby. Then he and the Duke of Pera left with a party of
soldiers, and he left the rest with the Marquis of Saint George
as their captain. When Tirant was near the castle of Malvei, he
learned that the princess had remained inside with her maidens,
and with Diafebus as their protector. So he sent Hippolytus
inside with a message. When Hippolytus was before the princess,
he knelt and kissed her hand and said:
"Your Majesty, my lord sends me to beg Your Highness to give him
safe- conduct so that he may come and go from here freely."
The princess replied, "Oh, new knight. Doesn't the good captain
know that we are all under his captaincy and in his care?"
Then Hippolytus stood and embraced all the maidens. And don't
think that Plaerdemavida was displeased to see Hippolytus.
Meanwhile the princess took pen and ink, and wrote:
"With my own hand I sign this document. I will in no way limit
your freedom to come and go as you wish. September 7, in the
Castle of Malvei."
When he had the document in hand, Tirant quickly went up to the
castle where he found the princess in a great hall. She took the
Duke of Pera by one hand, and Tirant by the other, and sat
between them. And they spoke of many things. They talked about
how the emperor had been taking villas and castles, and they
decided to go and help the emperor in the morning. And the
princess said:
"If you go to where the emperor is, I'm going too." And she had
them bring out her prisoner, saying: "Do you think that when I've
been in hard- fought battles the way you have, I don't know how
to take prisoners from among our cruel enemies?"
And saying these things, they went in to dine. But the princess
ate very little, for she could not keep her eyes off Tirant. The
duke began to talk to the lady of the castle and to Widow Repose,
telling them about the battles they had won under Tirant's
leadership. And Widow Repose's love of Tirant grew even
stronger, but she was afraid to show it. While they were talking
Plaerdemavida came up, and sitting at Tirant's feet, she said:
"My lord and captain, no one loves you as I do. I feel
compassion for you, for none of these ladies has told you to lay
down your weapons. In faith, that shirt you are wearing is well
trampled. I saw it being put on and taken off, well-perfumed,
and now I see it all torn and smelling of iron and steel."
The princess said:
"Give me that hand that has not had mercy on the deaths of the
Moorish Kings, our enemies."
Stephanie took his hand and placed it in the princess's lap.
When she saw it on her knees, she bent over and kissed it.
Tirant said:
"If Your Highness would give me leave to kiss your hands whenever
I wished, oh how fortunate I'd be. And I would be even more so
if I could kiss your feet and your legs."
The princess took his hands again, and said:
"From now on, Captain, I want your hands to do as they will with
me: that is your right."
She quickly got up because they had spent the greater part of the
night there. And so that the duke and the others would have no
reason to gossip, they went with her to her room where she bid
them all a good night. And the duke and Tirant slept in the same
bed.
The following morning the trumpets blew, and they all armed
themselves and mounted their horses. The princess wanted to go
with them, and they rode until they found the emperor, who was
attacking a well fortified city. With Tirant's men helping, they
entered the villa and killed and made prisoner of many.
The following day the emperor held council to decide where they
should attack next. The captain spoke, and said:
"Sire, it would be better if Your Highness would go with the
barons of Sicily back to the palace with all the prisoners we've
taken. The Duke and I will take charge of guarding and
conquering the nearby cities and villas. And Your Majesty can
send us the supplies we need."
When they were back in the castle, the emperor summoned Tirant,
and then had the princess and the other maidens come, and he
said:
"Captain, since fortune has been so contrary to our High
Constable, the Count of Bitinua, who is dead, who do you think we
should choose as our next constable?"
Tirant knelt and said:
"My lord, if Your Majesty would be pleased to give the office of
High Constable to Diafebus, I would consider it a great favor."
"I will do as you wish," said the emperor. "Because of my
affection for you, and because of his many merits, from this
moment on, I grant to Diafebus the office of High Constable. And
to you I give the County of Sant Angel, which I take from my
daughter and bestow upon you. Tomorrow I will have a celebration
where you will take the title of count."
Tirant replied:
"Sire, I give you infinite thanks for doing me such a great
honor, but I will accept it only if I can give the title in turn
to Diafebus, my closest relative."
"It makes no difference to me what you do with it afterward, as
long as I have offered it and you have accepted it."
Then Tirant knelt and kissed the emperor's hands and feet for his
honor.
The morning of the next day the emperor wanted mass held in the
middle of a meadow, and he wanted Diafebus between himself and
his daughter. After mass the emperor put the ring on Diafebus'
hand and kissed him on the mouth. Then all the trumpets began to
peal very loudly, and a king- of-arms cried out in a loud voice:
"This is the most eminent and virtuous knight, Count of Sant
Angel and High Constable of the Greek Empire."
Afterward the dances and festivities began, and all day long the
princess did nothing but dance with the High Constable. When it
was time to eat the emperor had the High Constable sit at his
right, and the duke sat on his left, while the princess sat to
the right of the constable. Tirant acted as steward since he was
giving the celebration. The ladies ate at other tables, and the
barons and knights ate at their right. Next were all the
soldiers. And that day all the prisoners ate at tables to honor
the celebration. Tirant even had the horses eating barley mixed
with bread.
When the dinner was half finished, Tirant summoned the
kings-of-arms and heralds, and gave them a thousand ducats. And
all the trumpets were pealing, and they came before the emperor's
table and cried out, "Largesse, largesse!"
After the meal the repast was held with many sugared dainties.
Then they all rode, armed and holding the constable's banners,
jousting before the emperor. They held a beautiful display of
arms without getting hurt. And they went like this up to the
place where the sultan usually held camp, and came back very
happily.
When they thought it was time to have the evening meal, they held
the festivities in that same place, and they were very well
served with many varied dishes. During the entire meal, as
Tirant was serving it, he seemed very sad. The princess had him
come over to her, and she whispered in his ear:
"Tell me, Tirant, why are you so sad? Your face shows that
something is wrong. Tell me, what it is, please!"
"My lady, I have so many troubles that they could not be counted.
My life is worth nothing. Your Highness is leaving tomorrow, and
I will be left behind in great sadness, knowing that I will not
see you."
"It is only right," said the princess, "that anyone who causes
misfortune should suffer for it. You are the one who brought it
on: You advised the emperor to go back to the city with all the
prisoners. I've never seen such bad advice given by any man who
was in love. But if you would like me to pretend I am sick for
two or three weeks, I will do it because of my love for you, and
I'm sure the emperor will wait because of his love for me."
"But what will we do," said Tirant, "with all these prisoners we
have here? I can't find any way to relieve my pain. Sometimes I
feel like taking poison, or dying a sudden death, to escape this
anguish."
"Don't do any such thing, Tirant," said the princess. "Go talk
to Stephanie, and see if she can do something to help that won't
be difficult for me, and will bring you relief."
Tirant quickly went to Stephanie and told her his troubles. And
they, and the constable, agreed that when everybody was resting
and the maidens were asleep, the two men would come to the
chamber and there they would decide what they could do to give
release to their passion.
When it was night, and time for everyone in the castle to be
asleep, the maidens had gone to bed. All the ladies were
sleeping with Widow Repose; there were only five sleeping in the
room they had to pass through.
The princess and Stephanie were in their chamber, and when
Plaerdemavida saw that the princess did not want to go to sleep,
and then she heard her putting perfume on, she quickly thought
that there was going to be a night of merry-making.
When the time came, Stephanie picked up a lighted candlestick in
one hand, and went to the bed where the five maidens were
sleeping, and she looked at them all, one at a time, to see if
they were asleep. Plaerdemavida wanted to see and hear
everything that would happen, and she tried to stay awake. And
when Stephanie came with the candlestick, she closed her eyes and
pretended to be sleeping. When Stephanie saw that all the ladies
were asleep, she quietly opened the door so that no one would
hear her, and she found the two knights already waiting at the
door more devoutly than the Jews await the Messiah. As they came
in, she put out the light and took the constable's hand. She led
the way, with Tirant following the constable, until they came to
the door of the chamber where the princess was waiting for them,
alone.
When Tirant saw how beautifully she was dressed, he bowed deeply
to her, and with one knee on the ground, he kissed her hands many
times, and they exchanged amorous words. Later, when they felt
that it was time for them to go, they said goodnight and went
back to their room. Who could sleep that night, some because of
love, and others because of pain.
As soon as it was light everyone got up, because the emperor had
to leave that day. When Plaerdemavida was up she went to the
princess's chamber and found her dressing. Stephanie was
sitting on the floor, not yet finished dressing, because her
hands would not help her tie on her hat, and her eyes were half
closed so that she could scarcely see.
"Holy Mary, help me!" said Plaerdemavida. "Tell me, Stephanie,
what kind of behavior is this. What's wrong with you? I'll go
get the doctors so they can bring you back to health."
"That's not necessary," said Stephanie. "My illness won't last
long. It's only a headache. The air from the river last night
made me ill."
"Be careful about what you're saying," said Plaerdemavida. "I'm
afraid you may die. And if you die, your death will be criminal.
Be careful about pain in your heels, I've heard doctors say about
us women that pain comes to our heels first, then our feet, then
it comes up to our knees, and our thighs, and sometimes it goes
into our secret place. There it brings us a great deal of pain,
and it goes up to our head from there. And don't think that this
sickness comes often, as the great philosopher Galen says--a very
wise doctor, for it only comes once in a lifetime. Even though
it's an incurable illness, it is never deadly, and there are many
treatments if a person wants to try them. What I'm telling you
is true, and you shouldn't be astonished that I know about
sickness. If you show me your tongue I'll be able to tell you
what your illness is."
Stephanie stuck out her tongue. When Plaerdemavida had seen it
she said to her:
"I would swear by everything my father taught me that you lost
blood last night."
Stephanie quickly answered:
"You're right. I had a nosebleed."
"I don't know if it came out of your nose or your heel," said
Plaerdemavida, "but you've lost blood. And my lady, if Your
Majesty would like, I'll tell you a dream I had last night, as
long as Your Highness will promise me that if I say something
that annoys you, you'll forgive me."
The princess was delighted by what Plaerdemavida had said, and
laughing, she told her to say whatever she liked, that she
forgave her. And Plaerdemavida began to tell about her dream.
"I'll tell Your Majesty everything I dreamed. As I was asleep in
a side chamber with four maidens, I saw Stephanie come in with a
lighted candle so that it wouldn't shine too brightly, and she
came up to our bed and saw us all sleeping. The truth is that I
was half asleep: I don't know if I was asleep or awake. In my
dream I saw how Stephanie opened the chamber door very quietly so
that she wouldn't make any noise, and she found my lord Tirant
and the constable there, waiting. They were dressed in their
doublets, with cloaks and swords, and they wore woolen stockings
on their feet so they wouldn't make any noise when they walked.
When they came in, she put out the light, and went in front,
holding the constable's hand. After him came your knight. She
was like a blindman's guide, and she put them in your chamber.
Your Highness was all perfumed, dressed and not naked. Tirant
held you in his arms and carried you around the room, kissing you
over and over again, and Your Highness was saying, 'Stop it,
Tirant, stop it!' And he put you on a bed. And Plaerdemavida
went up the bed and said, 'Oh, in the bed! If only the people
who knew you before could see you now!' And it seemed to me that
I got out of bed in my chemise and went up to that hole in the
door, and that I watched everything you were doing."
The princess laughed, and said:
"Was there more to your dream?"
"Holy Mary, yes!" said Plaerdemavida. "Let me go on, and I'll
tell you the whole thing. My lady, you said, 'Tirant, I let you
come here so you could have a little rest, because of the great
affection I feel for you.'
And Tirant wasn't sure he would do what you told him. And you
said: 'Don't refuse me what I'm asking of you, because my
chastity that I've kept can pride itself on being free of all
sin.' 'I felt sure,' said Tirant, 'that you would be in
agreement with my wishes without being afraid of any future
danger, but since Your Highness is displeased, I will do whatever
Your Majesty desires.' And you made him swear that he would not
anger you in any way: 'And even if you wanted to, the anguish
you would give me would be enormous--I would curse you all the
days of my life, for when virginity is lost it cannot be
regained.' I dreamed that you and he said all these things to
each other. Then, in my vision, I saw how he kissed you again
and again and untied the cord over your bosom, and that he
quickly kissed your breasts. After he had spent some time
kissing you he tried to put his hands under your skirts, and you,
my good lady, would not permit it. And I think that if you had
allowed it his oath would have been in danger. Your Highness
said to him, 'The time will come when what you want so much will
be given to you, and my virginity, intact, will be yours.' Then
he put his face next to yours, and with his arms around your
neck, and yours around his, like vines on a tree, he received
your loving kisses. Later, still dreaming, I saw how Stephanie
was on that bed, and it seemed to me that her legs were turning
white, and she said many times, 'Oh, my lord, you're hurting me!
Have a little pity on me; don't kill me.' And Tirant was saying
to her, 'Stephanie, why do you want to put your honor in jeopardy
by screaming so loudly? Don't you know that walls sometimes have
ears?' And she grabbed the sheet and stuffed it in her mouth and
bit down on it with her teeth so she wouldn't scream. But after
a short while she couldn't help giving out a loud shriek and
saying, 'Poor me, what shall I do? The pain is making me scream.
From what I can see you've decided to kill me.'
"Then the constable closed her mouth. When I heard that sweet
moan I cursed my misfortune because I wasn't the third one with
my Hippolytus. The more I thought about it, the more it grieved
me, and it seems to me that I took a little water, and washed my
heart, my breasts, and my stomach to take away pain. And as my
soul looked through the hole I saw how, after a second, Stephanie
held out her arms and gave up, in surrender. But still she said:
'Go away, you cruel, unloving man. You have no pity or mercy on
maidens until you've taken away their chastity. Oh, you
faithless man! If I decided not to forgive you, what punishment
would you deserve? And all the while I'm complaining about you,
the more I love you.'
"She called to the princess and Tirant, and showing them the
shirt, she said: 'Love must make amends for this blood of mine.'
She said this with tears in her eyes. After all this, when day
was approaching, Your Majesty and Tirant consoled her as well as
you could. Then, when the roosters started to crow again, Your
Highness begged Tirant to go so that you would not be seen by
anyone in the castle. And Tirant begged Your Highness to release
him from his oath so that he could achieve the glorious triumph
that he desired, as his cousin had done. Your Highness refused,
and you were victorious in the battle. When they had gone I woke
up. I didn't see a thing, not Hippolytus or anyone else, but I
began to think that it might really have happened, because I
found my breasts and my belly wet with water. My pain increased
so much that I began to toss and turn in bed like a sick man who
is about to die. So I decided to love Hippolytus with all my
heart, and pass my life in pain, just as Stephanie is doing.
Shall I keep my eyes closed with no one coming to give me relief?
Love has disturbed my feelings so much that I'll die if
Hippolytus doesn't come to my aid. If I could at least spend my
life sleeping! By heaven, it's a trial to wake up when you're
having a good dream."
The other maidens had gotten up, and they came into the chamber
to help their lady dress. After mass the emperor left with the
barons of Sicily, and the Duke of Pera, and all the prisoners.
Tirant and the constable accompanied them a good league. The
emperor told them to go back, and since he had told them once
already, they had to do it. After Tirant had taken his leave of
the emperor and the barons, he approached the princess and asked
if Her Majesty wanted something. The princess lifted the veil
she wore in front of her face and her eyes could not help
shedding tears, and she could say nothing but:
"Perhaps..."
And she could say no more because the words would not come, and
everything was sobs and sighs of farewell. She let the veil fall
completely over her face so that her sadness would not reach the
ears of the emperor or the rest of the people.
No one could remember anything ever having happened to any knight
like what happened to Tirant who, after he had said farewell to
the princess, fell off the horse he was riding. As soon as he
had fallen he got up and raised his hand toward the horse, saying
that it was the one that was hurt. The emperor and many others
saw it and ran to him. And he pretended to be looking at the
horse's hoof.
The emperor said to him:
"How did you happen to fall?"
And Tirant told him:
"My lord, I thought my horse was hurt, and I started getting down
to see what was wrong with it, and the stirrup broke. But it's
nothing to be surprised at, my lord, to see a man fall: a horse
has four feet and it falls down: all the more reason for a man to
fall since he has only two."
He quickly mounted again, and each went his way. Tirant came to
the castle of the Lord of Malvei. He ordered the constable and
half of the men, both those on horse and on foot, to go to the
camp and guard it.
"I'll go," said Tirant, "to the port where the ships are, and
have them unloaded. And if I see that there isn't enough I'll
send them to the city again, or to Rhodes."
By night Tirant was in the port, and he found the ships almost
unloaded. The ships' masters and the sailors were very happy at
the captain's visit, and they told him that the seven Genoese
ships had sailed into the port of Bellpuig.
"We have all been very cautious because we were afraid they would
come here and attack us."
Tirant said:
"That shows they are afraid of you, since they haven't dared to
attack. Shall we make them more afraid than they already are?"
They took a fishing boat and armed it. And they sent it out to
see how many men there could be, more or less, on the ships, and
how many vessels were in port. That night he had all the wheat
unloaded. By morning the spy-boat returned with the news that
there were seven large ships, and that they had unloaded all the
horses; that all the men were on land, and that now they had
begun to unload the wheat and other food.
"By the Lord who sustains the whole world," said Tirant, "I will
do everything I can, since they've taken off the horses, to eat
of their wheat."
He quickly had the ships prepared, and many soldiers and bowmen
boarded them. Tirant struck out to sea that night. It was no
more than thirty miles from one port to another. When day broke,
clear and beautiful, the men on land saw Tirant's five ships, and
thinking that they were part of those coming with the Grand
Caramany they paid no attention to them at all. As the ships
came into port each of them attacked another ship, and many men
jumped aboard the others. Then they attacked the two remaining
ships, and since few men were aboard they took them all with very
little trouble and without anyone being killed. Then they
brought back all the ships loaded with wheat and barley, salted
oxen and wine from Cyprus. I can assure you that in the
Christian camp it was very helpful and timely since, because of
all the fighting, they had no wheat or meat unless it came to
them by sea. Tirant gave the wheat to the Lord of Malvei; all
the rest he had transported to the camp at the city of Saint
George.
When Tirant returned from the attack he spoke to the Turks who
had been made his prisoners on the ship, and asked them for news
about Turkey. They told him that it was true that the Grand
Caramany was coming with a great armada, along with the King of
Upper India, and that the Caramany was bringing his daughter, who
was a maiden of great beauty, to give to the sultan for his wife.
"And he is bringing many maidens with him, of high station, and
the betrothed of the Great Turk's son is with them."
One of the Turks said:
"When we docked at the port they told us that a devil of a
Frenchman was here as captain of the Greeks and that he is
winning all their battles, and they say he is called Tirant. In
faith, he may do all those great things they say he does, but his
name is ugly and vile because Tirant means a robber of goods, or
more properly, a thief. And believe me, his actions will do
justice to his name. Because according to a letter that the King
of Egypt wrote, he didn't dare fight him man to man, and it also
said that he was in love with the emperor's daughter. When he's
won the battles, he'll get the emperor's daughter pregnant, and
then the wife, and then he'll kill the emperor. That's the way
the French are: they're evil people! And then you'll see that,
if the Turks and the Christians let him live long, he'll make
himself emperor."
"Upon my word," said Tirant, "you have spoken the truth: these
French are very evil people. And he'll do even worse than you've
said, because he's a real thief, and he travels the roads to rob.
And you'll certainly see him get the emperor's daughter pregnant,
and he'll take the throne, and afterward who will stop him from
raping all the maidens?"
"By heaven," said the sailor, "I see that you know him well, and
you know about the treachery he's done and that he will do."
Hippolytus was standing there, and he drew his sword to cut off
the man's head, but Tirant got up quickly and took the sword away
from him. And Tirant, continuing to speak badly of himself, made
him talk more. The sailor said:
"I swear by the water I was baptized with that if I could catch
that traitor, Tirant, the way I've caught many others, I'd have
him hanged from the highest mast on the entire ship."
Tirant laughed, and was very amused by what the sailor said. If
it had been someone else instead of Tirant, they would have dealt
severely with him, or would have hanged him. But Tirant took a
silk jacket and thirty ducats and gave them to him, and as soon
as they were on land, he freed him. Imagine how the poor sailor
must have felt when he discovered that it was Tirant! He knelt,
and begged his forgiveness. And Tirant very willingly forgave
him.
The following day the barons from Sicily came to the camp. When
they were at the castle of Malvei they saw many carts carrying
bombards to the port. They were told that the captain was at the
port, and they went there, knowing that he wanted to go to sea.
They begged him to allow them to go along. The captain was glad
to, precisely because they were from the islands, and they knew
how to sail. He gave orders to his captains and had many men go
on board the ships, both soldiers and crossbowmen. Although the
ships were not very large, they were armed with good men, and
they were well supplied. Other ships were loaded with wheat,
horses, and as many men as they could carry.
Soon they saw a galley with sails unfurled and oars driving it
on, and they quickly realized that enemy ships were approaching.
The captain had all the men go on board, and they carried the
bombards and everything they needed on board. When it was nearly
vespers the ships could be seen from the port. Then the
captain's ship moved out in front of all the others. When the
Turks saw it they shouted with joy, saying that that ship would
soon be theirs. The Grand Caramany had his daughter and all the
other women come out on deck so they could see the ship they
would capture. A few minutes later the Lord of Pantanalea's ship
moved out, and then the Duke of Messina's ship. And the Turks'
and Genoese's shouts of joy grew louder.
The Grand Caramany said to his daughter:
"Choose one of the ships you see. I'll give it to you; I want it
to be yours."
She asked for the first one she had seen, and it was promised to
her. Then Lord Agramunt's ship came out, then Hippolytus's, and
they all came out, in order, one at a time. The good Prior of
Saint John came out last because he was captain of the rear
guard. When he came out it was nearly dark of night. When the
Genoese saw the twelve large ships, they were astonished,
wondering where they had come from. Afterward came all the
whaling ships, and all the ship's boats; then the fishing boats.
The boats that had no mast raised a long staff or an oar, and
fastened it down tightly, and at the top of the staff they put a
light inside a lantern. The captain's ship first raised a lamp
at the stern. Then all the other vessels, large and small, did
the same, following the captain's orders, and when all the lights
were lit there were seventy-four. The enemy saw all the lights,
and thinking every light was a large ship, they said:
"This must be the armada of the Grand Master of Rhodes, and the
armada of the King of Sicily. When they heard we were here they
must have gotten together this great armada to try to destroy
us."
So they decided to flee and go back to Turkey.
When morning came Tirant did not see any of the vessels, except
the Grand Caramany's ship. When it was nearly noon he reached
the ship, and they went into battle. The Turks threw quicklime
at them to blind them.
Then they hurled boiling oil with iron ladles. Both sides threw
boiling pitch at each other, and they did not stop day or night.
Many men on both ships died, and there were so many broken
lances, shields, darts, arrows and spears that the dead bodies
thrown in the sea could not sink.
Now let us leave them fighting, and see what the other barons and
knights are doing. The eleven ships did not see the captain's
ship because he had put out his light. But they sighted ten
ships within reach of a bombard, and they pulled alongside.
Hippolytus did not want to draw close to any of them; instead he
sailed windward and observed the battle. He saw that Lord
Pantanalea's ship was being defeated, and that so many Turks had
climbed on board that they outnumbered the Christians. Then
Hippolytus attacked the enemy ship, and since most of the Turks
were now on the other ship and had taken everything except the
poop castle, Hippolytus and his men went on board the Turks'
ship, and all the dead and wounded Turks and Genoese they found,
they threw into the sea. Then they assisted Lord Pantanalea, and
their help was like a dose of medicine. Hippolytus consoled
them, urging them to take heart, and he removed fear from the
fearful, and gave them all courage and new hope. Soon he left,
and went back to his ship to help those who most needed his aid.
When Lord Pantanalea saw that there was no one left on the Turk's
ship, he divided his men between the two ships, and he set sail
in pursuit of the ships that were fleeing, and was the first to
reach them. He attacked one ship, and while they were in combat
another ship arrived. It surrendered immediately, so that he had
three ships. The eleven ships did the same to the two galleys so
that they took fourteen ships, and there were two that they made
beach themselves. The others escaped.
Now let us see what Tirant is doing, for I can still see them in
battle. They began fighting at noon and continued all night long
until the following day. They fought twenty-seven times, and
Tirant, alone and without help, fearlessly attacked time after
time.
"I will take you," said Tirant, "or I will die trying."
During the fighting Tirant was wounded in the arm by a spear.
Then, when he tried to climb the forecastle an arrow struck him
in the thigh.
The Turks well needed to wound him, for in great desperation
three Turks leaped inside the forecastle, but they were no sooner
inside than they were thrown into the water.
When the Grand Caramany saw that his men were losing badly, he
had a case full of money, jewelry and clothing brought up. He had
his daughter dressed in a jubbah with gold brocade, and he tied a
golden silk rope around her neck. He had the case full of jewelry
and all their riches tied to the other end of the rope, and he
threw his daughter and the case into the sea. Then he threw all
the other maidens on board into the waters.
Then he and the King of Upper India went into the daughter's
chamber, leaving the ship entirely deserted. They lay their
heads on the bed, and covering themselves, they awaited their
death.
When the ship was completely taken, Tirant, wounded as he was,
went on board and asked for the Grand Caramany.
"Captain," said one of the gentlemen from the captain's ship,
"he's hiding below decks with his head covered, waiting to be
killed. And the King of Upper India is with him."
"The king is here?" asked the captain.
"Yes, sir. Both of them are here."
"Have them come up," said the captain. "I want to talk to them."
And the gentleman carried out the captain's order. But the Grand
Caramany refused to go, saying that he preferred to die in his
daughter's chamber instead of on deck.
"No," said the king. "Let us go up and die like men."
But he wouldn't go until the gentleman had to use a little force
with him. Tirant honored them like kings because he was such a
humane knight.
He had them sit while he stood, but with the wound in his thigh
he could not remain standing long, so he had to sit down.
And very kindly, he said:
"Your cruelty has been very great, and the most cruel death would
not be enough for what you deserve--and especially you, Grand
Caramany, for you have killed your daughter and other Moorish
women so cruelly and with such inhumanity. They would have
fallen into the hands of a man who would have given them their
freedom. And although you are not worthy of forgiveness, the
emperor is such a man that he will spare your lives."
And he said no more.
The Grand Caramany replied:
"You say I killed my daughter. I don't have to answer for that
to you or to anybody. I would rather see her dead than
dishonored by you or any of your men. And I don't want anyone
enjoying my jewelry or my treasure. And don't think you're going
to sway my heart, because I'm ready to throw my body into the
bitter sea or give it up to the earth before I would do anything
you told me to."
Instead of answering the Grand Caramany, Tirant politely asked
them to go on board his ship, and they had to do it in spite of
themselves. When the captain had them inside, he divided up the
few men he had left between the two ships, and they set sail. He
unplugged the ship's scuppers, and such a gush of blood came
pouring out that it seemed as though the ship was full of it. On
the Turk's ship there wasn't a living soul except for the two
kings. And on the captain's ship, out of four hundred eight men,
only fifty-four survived, and sixteen of those were wounded.