OF THE BRIDGE OF MANTRYBLE
Duke Reyner could neither eat nor drink for the grief that he had
about his son; and when he could no longer endure this trouble, he
came to King Charles and made his complaint. "Oh, sir," he said, "I
am like to die of grief for my dear son Oliver. If I have no tidings
of him then I must needs perish, or go myself to seek him." The King
when he heard these words was full of pity, and sent for Roland, and
said to him, "Fair nephew, you must go on the morrow to Aygremore,
and get speech of Balan, and say to him, and that full plainly, that
he must straightway deliver up the holy things that he has, and also
set free those my knights that he has in keeping. And if he refuse
to do these things, then tell him that I will most surely hang him as
a thief." To this Roland answered, "Fair king and uncle, send me on
no such errand, for if you do, you will never see me more." Then
spake the Duke Naymes, "Take heed, Sire, what you do. You know what
a valiant man is your nephew Roland. If you send him, he will return
no more." Said King Charles, "Then you shall go with him, bearing
the letters that I shall send to the Admiral." And then others of
the Peers, as Duke Thierry and Ogier the Dane, stood up in their
place, and said the same thing, then the King swore a great oath,
even by the eyes in his head, that they also should go. So he did to
six of the Peers. Last of all he spied Guy of Burgundy and said to
him, "You are my cousin and nearest to me in blood, you shall be the
seventh with these six to take my message to Balan the Admiral. You
shall say to him that I purpose to baptize him, that he holds of me
his whole kingdom, and that he must deliver up to me the holy
things." Said Guy of Burgundy, "My lord, I pray you send me not on
this errand, for if you will send me I am assured that you will never
see me again." But the King took no heed. On the morrow the seven
came and stood before him and said, "We crave your leave to depart;
if we have done wrong to any in this company we pray his pardon, and
if any have wronged us, him we pardon." At these words all that were
there began to weep for pity. The King said, "Well beloved, I
commend you to God; may He have you in His keeping!" Then they went
their way.
Meanwhile in Aygremore the Admiral was in great trouble and doubt.
He sent, therefore, for fifteen Kings of the Saracens, that they
might advise him. When they were come the fiercest of them, Maradas
by name, said, "Sir Admiral, why have you sent for us?" Balan
answered, "I will tell you truly: Charlemagne is on his way hither.
He says that I hold my kingdom of him. Now he were better advised to
sit still and rest his old body, and pray in his churches, and eat
such food as he has. Go you, therefore, and demand of him my son
Fierabras, and bid him do homage for his kingdom, or I will come with
one hundred thousand men, and constrain him." Maradas liked not the
matter, but said that he would go. So did the others also; so they
armed themselves and departed.
So these two companies both went their way, and in no long while
approached one to the other. And first Duke Naymes espied the
Saracens, and said, "See now these Saracens are coming against us
with a great force; advise what we shall do." Roland said: "Be in no
haste, my lords. There be but twenty of them, or, at the most
thirty; let us ride straight against them," and this advice seemed
good to them all.
After this Maradas rode out from the company of the Saracens, and
said, "It is an ill fortune for you, being Christian men, that you
have met with us." "That is foolishly said," answered Duke Naymes.
"We come from King Charles bearing a message to Balan your master."
Maradas said again: "For all that you are in danger. Will any one
joust with me?" "That will I," said Duke Naymes. "You are
overbold," answered Maradas. "I would willingly fight with ten such
as you. Hear you now, all of you; let no one move from his place; I
will overcome you all, and give you to my lord the Admiral."
Roland, when he heard these words, was well-nigh beside himself with
anger, and cried, "Before the sun set, thou shalt see what we can
do." Then he charged at Maradas in great fury, and Maradas charged
also. Each brake the corselet of the other with his spear's point;
but Roland dealt Maradas such a blow that he brake his helmet from
off his head, and then, quickly recovering himself, smote him on his
bare skull and cleft it to the brain, so that he fell down dead.
Then the other knights fell upon the rest of the Saracens and slew
them, one only escaping, who did not draw rein till he came to the
Admiral. Said the Admiral, "You have come back with good speed.
What have you done?" And the King that had escaped answered, "It has
gone very ill with us; we encountered seven Knights of France, who
said they were King Charles's men. They ran upon us, and had such
mastery over us that I only escaped to tell the tale." When the
Admiral heard, he well-nigh died of grief and rage.
After the battle with the Saracens Roland and his fellows rested
awhile in a meadow that was nigh at hand. And the Duke Naymes said,
"It were well that we should return to King Charles and tell him how
we have fared. I take it he will be well pleased." But Roland said,
"Do you talk of returning, Sir Duke? So long as I have my good sword
Durendal in my hand I will not return. We will do our message to the
Admiral as the King commanded. Come now, let us take each one a head
of a pagan in his hand and present them to the Admiral." "You are
out of your wits, Sir Roland," said the Duke Naymes; "if we do so, we
shall surely be all slain." But the others were of Roland's opinion;
therefore each man took a head of a pagan in his hand, and they went
their way.
So they journeyed till they came to the Bridge Mantryble. When the
Duke Naymes saw the bridge, he said, "This is Mantryble, and on the
other side of the bridge lies the town of Aygremore, where we shall
find the Admiral." Then said Ogier the Dane, "We must first pass the
bridge, and it is a very dangerous place. There are in it thirty
arches, and on it are great towers, and the walls are so wide that
ten knights can ride abreast upon them. And in the midst of it is a
great drawbridge, which is let down and pulled up with ten chains of
iron. And under the bridge there is a river, which they call Flagot.
This river flows as fast as a bolt flies out of a crossbow; so fierce
is the current that no boat or galley can by any means cross over it.
And the Keeper of the bridge is a giant, Gallafer by name, a very
terrible monster to behold. He is armed with an axe of steel with
which to smite down any one that may presume to pass over the bridge
against his will."
Then said Roland, "Do not trouble yourselves, my lords. As long as
it shall please God to keep me, and I have Durendal in my hand, I
care not one penny for any pagan, be he giant or other. This porter
I will slay, if he seek to hinder me." But Duke Naymes said to Sir
Roland, "This is foolish talk; it is not wise to give one blow and to
receive a score. Leave the matter to me, and I will deal so with the
porter, that he will let us pass over the bridge without any trouble."
So when they came to the bridge, the Duke Naymes rode before them.
He was an old man, and his hair was white, so that it became him to
ride first. The porter said to him, "Whither do you go with this
company, and what is your errand?" The Duke answered, "We are
messengers from King Charles, and we go to Aygremore with a message
to Balan the Admiral. He has not driven all evil men out of his
country, for on our way we met some fifteen villains who would have
taken from us our horses and our lives. But we took such order with
them that they will not trouble us any more. See, here are their
heads."
When the porter heard these words he was well-nigh out of his wits
with anger. He said to the Duke Naymes, "Hear me; you must pay your
toll for the passing of this bridge." The Duke answered, "What is
the toll. We will content you." "It is no little, this toll," said
the porter. "You must pay thirty couple of hounds, and a hundred
damsels, and a hundred falcons in their cages, and a hundred horses,
and for each foot of each horse a piece of gold. Also you must give
me four pack-horses laden with gold and silver." The Duke said, "All
this and more you will find in our baggage, which comes after us.
You shall have your toll by noon. Of a truth there are many more
things than you say, as hauberks, and helmets, and good shields. You
shall take of them as much as you will." This Gallafer the Porter
believed, so boldly did the Duke speak, and he let them pass by the
drawbridge. Then Roland laughed out, and said, "Sir Duke, you have
indeed kept your word;" and when they had gone a little further
Roland espied a Turk that was coming across the bridge, and without
ado he lighted down from his beast, took the Turk by the middle, and
threw him over the wall of the bridge into the river. When the Duke
Naymes, looking behind him, saw what he had done, he said, "Surely
the devil is in this Roland; he has no patience in him. If God does
not keep us he will bring us all to our death." And indeed Roland
was of so high a courage that he took no count of time or place;
wherever he found his enemy he would forthwith avenge himself on him.