THE LADY UNA AND THE SATYRS
Though the wizard Archimage was an ill companion for the Lady Una, yet
was Sansloy, by whom he was overthrown, a worse. They had not travelled
together far when he said, “Lady, deign, I pray you, to show me that
fair face of yours. I would fain know for whom I have done battle.
Yours, I ween, is such beauty as the old villain whom I overthrew was
not worthy to take in charge.” And when she answered him not a word, he
stretched forth a lawless hand, and would have torn the veil from her
face. Then she cried aloud. “Ay,” said he, “cry if you will; there is
none to help you here.” But even while he spoke there came running out
of the wood, which was hard by, a great multitude of strange creatures,
fauns and satyrs, half man and half beast. They were dancing and making
merry in the forest, which is their natural dwelling-place, and when
they heard the cry, one said to another: “This is the cry of some mortal
in distress, and it has the note of a woman’s voice; let us see what is
the cause.” So they made all haste to the place from which the cry came.
And when the Saracen beheld them he was sore afraid. Such creatures he
had never seen in all his life; so he sprang upon his horse, and fled as
fast as he could. Nor, indeed, was the Lady Una wholly quit of her
fears. So it may chance that when a wolf carries off a lamb, and drops
it for fear of a lion, the lamb may be in no better case. But when the
strange creatures saw by the lady’s face that she was sore afraid, they
tried to show their goodwill towards her; they threw themselves upon the
ground and kissed her feet, and sought to show her that they were her
dutiful servants. So, gathering courage, she raised herself from the
earth on which she had thrown herself in fear and distress, and made
signs that she would go with them. So they led her through the wood,
dancing and shouting and singing; and some strewed branches of trees on
the ground before her, and one, who was a chief among them, put a crown
of olive leaves about her head. So they led her to their chief Sylvanus,
and he, waked from his sleep by their shouting, came forth to meet them,
leaning on a staff of cypress wood, and having a rope of ivy knitted
about his middle. When he saw her, much did he marvel who she could be.
“This is not Venus,” he said to himself, “for Venus never was in so
sober a mood; no, nor Diana, for I see not her bow and arrows and the
buskins up to her knee.” And while he stood and wondered, the nymphs
flocked in to see, nymphs of the fountains and the woods, and they whose
lives are bound to a single tree, living while it lives and dying when
it dies. Nor were they less astonished, but they were ill pleased that
one so fair should come among them: “Who of the wood folk,” they said to
themselves, “will think of us when this mortal maid is near?”
Many days Lady Una tarried with this strange folk, and not unwillingly,
for it was as it were a breathing time, giving her rest from the long
toil of her journey. And while she tarried she strove to the utmost to
teach them something of the Christian faith: but ever she had much ado
to keep them from the worshipping of herself. And when she had scarcely
kept them from this, they turned to worship her ass.
After a while there came into these parts a certain knight, Satyrane by
name, so called because he was the son of a prince among the satyrs, but
his mother was of the race of men. He was brought up in the woods, far
from all human company; nor did he learn letters or any craft
whatsoever, but only to be ever of a good courage and to banish fear. So
he would lay his hand on lions and bears, and tame the wild bulls of the
forest, riding on them as one might ride upon a horse. And he grew to be
so swift of foot that he would overtake the roebuck in his flight. ’Tis
said that once when his mother came to see him, for she had gone back to
dwell with her own kind, she saw him carrying in his arms the cubs of a
lioness which he had carried away from their dam, while the creature, in
its rage, followed him, roaring aloud, yet dared not spring, so well did
all the beasts of the forest know and fear him. When he grew to years of
manhood he was not content with the conquest over wild beasts, or with
life in the wood far from man. He went therefore into distant lands
seeking adventures, in which he acquitted him so well that no man could
boast of having overthrown him. Yet it was his custom from time to time
to return to his old dwelling-place to see his old father and to rest
awhile from his labours. And so coming now, he chanced to find the Lady
Una sitting with a company of the forest folk around her, teaching them
holy things. Much he marvelled to see how fair she was, and more did he
marvel at the wise and gracious words that came from her lips; for,
indeed, by this time, being by nature of a lively wit, he had himself
learnt many things. So he gladly sought her company, and would fain be
her disciple and learn the ways of righteousness and peace from her
lips.
After certain days the Lady Una, seeing that this Satyrane was an
honourable knight and worthy of trust, said to him, “I would fain go on
with journeyings, if haply I may find my champion.” “Lady,” he made
answer, “I am bound to do your pleasure; it shall be as you say.” So
having watched for a time when the forest folk were away, he took her
through the forest till they came to the plain beyond. When the day was
now far spent they spied a traveller on the road, and judging from his
look and garb that he had come from far, hastened towards him, hoping
that they might by chance hear something that would help them in their
quest. He was an old man of low estate, as it seemed, his garments worn
and soiled with much dust from the road, his sandals torn with much
travelling, and his face bronzed by the sun, as if he had travelled long
in Arabian or Indian land. A staff he carried in his hand, and on his
shoulders hung a wallet in which he carried such things as were needed
for his journey.
Satyrane said to him: “Friend, have you aught to tell me of wars and
adventures in these or in foreign parts, for indeed you seem to have
come a long way?” “Nay,” answered the stranger, “I am a simple man, and
know nothing of such matters.” Then said the Lady Una: “Tell me now
whether you have seen or heard aught of the champion whom I am seeking?
He bears a red cross on his armour.” The old man answered: “Fair lady,
truly I have seen such an one with these eyes, and a sorry sight it was,
for he lay dead upon the ground.” When the Lady Una heard these words
she fell to the earth in a swoon. When Satyrane with much care had
brought her back to life, she said: “Friend, tell me all that you know;
one who has borne the greater pain may well endure the less.”
The old traveller answered: “On a certain day—an evil day it was, and I
am grieved that I ever lived to see it—as I chanced to be passing on my
way, I saw two knights contending fiercely together; one was a Saracen,
and the other bore a red cross on his shield, and he that carried this
device was slain.” “Oh to think,” cried the Lady Una, “that he should be
thus overcome, he that was so stout and brave. How could such an evil
chance befall?” “That I know not, fair lady,” said the old man; “I can
but relate the thing which I saw with mine eyes.” Then said Satyrane:
“Tell me now, old man, where is the Saracen knight that did this deed?
Is he far from hence or near at hand?” The old man made answer: “You may
find him not far from here. I left him but a short time ago sitting by a
fountain where he washed his wounds.”
The knight Satyrane, having further inquired by what way he should go,
made all haste to find the Saracen, fearing lest haply he should have
departed. And, indeed, he found him, sitting by the fountain side under
the shade of a tree, for it was Sansloy, the same that had overthrown
Archimage. And Satyrane cried aloud: “Rise from your place, accursed
miscreant, you that by some unknightly craft and treachery have slain
the Red-Cross Knight, for I know well that you could not have overcome
him in fair fight. Rise up, and either maintain your cause in arms, or
confess your guilt.” The Saracen, when he heard these words, rose
quickly from his place and put his helmet on his head, and took his
shield upon his arm, and drew near to his adversary. But first he said:
“Truly you have been sent hither in an evil hour to fight a quarrel that
is not yours. And, indeed, you blame me for a deed which I have not
done. The Red-Cross Knight I slew not, nor indeed did I engage in fight
with him. Someone who falsely bore his arms I overthrew. But come now,
if you may not fight in his quarrel, fight in your own.”
Then the two men came together in fierce encounter. When they were at
the hottest of the fray, the Lady Una came to the place, for Satyrane
had left her behind in his haste. And when she saw the Saracen she said
to herself: “Now what shall I do if this false villain should get the
upper hand of Satyrane?” And the thought struck such terror into her
heart that she straightway turned and fled from the place. And the old
traveller, who had told the false tale of the slaying of the Red-Cross
Knight, followed her, for, indeed, he was none other than Archimage.