SIR ARTEGALL DOES JUSTICE
The marriage of Sir Marinell and the fair Florimell having been duly
celebrated with much rejoicing and great festivity, Sir Artegall set
forth again upon his travels. On his way, which for a while lay by the
seashore, he came upon two men who were wholly taken up with a great
quarrel. They were brothers, as might clearly be seen by the likeness
between them. Near them stood two fair dames who would fain have
reconciled them; but the brothers took no heed of their words, whether
they spoke gently or in threatening fashion. Between them stood a strong
chest, bound about with bands of iron; it seemed to have been much
battered, whether by the violence of the sea or by the chances of long
travel from foreign parts. It was indeed for this that the two seemed to
be contending, for now the one and now the other would lay his hands
upon it; so did they well-nigh come to blows, but the two damsels had so
far hindered them from coming to this extremity. Not the less were they
bent on trying their cause by the sword. It seemed as if it could not be
decided in any other fashion. But when they were on the point to do so,
notwithstanding all that the damsels could say or do, then did Sir
Artegall appear.
“Sirs,” said he, “are you content to tell me the cause of your strife?”
To this the two gave a common consent.
“Sir,” said the elder—Bracidas was his name—“our father, who was a
knight, Milesio by name, divided between us, by his testament, his
estate, that is to say, two islands which you see yonder. One is but a
little mount, but in years past it was fully as long and broad as that
which you see on the other side of the bay. To me he bequeathed that
island which you see to be so small; for the sea, as years have passed
by, has wasted it, and in so doing has largely increased the other, for
what the waves took away from my land they added unto his. There is also
this to be told. I was betrothed to that fair lady who stands yonder,
Philtera by name, and with her I was to receive a goodly dowry, so soon
as we should be linked together in bonds of wedlock. My younger brother,
whose name is Amidas, was betrothed to that other dame whom you see
yonder, Lucy by name. She had but small dower, but much of that which is
far better—to wit, goodness. Now when the lady Philtera saw that my
lands had been greatly decayed and the lands of my brother not less
increased, she deserted me and betook herself to my brother, who, that
he might receive her, deserted his own betrothed, to wit, the fair Lucy.
Thereupon this damsel, in her unhappiness, thinking it better to die
than to suffer such a contumely and pain, threw herself into the sea.
But while she floated among the waves, being, I take it, buoyed up by
her clothing, she chanced upon this chest which you see. And now there
befell her what has often befallen others in like case. She, who had
thought death to be better than life, when she saw his terrors close at
hand, changed her mind, and desired to live. Catching hold, therefore,
of this chest, she clung to it, and after much tossing by the sea, was
at last thrown upon my island, and I, chancing at that time to be
walking on the shore, espied her; and she being by this time much spent
with hunger and cold, and little able to help herself, I did, so to
speak, save her from death. And she, being not a little grateful for
this same help, bestowed upon me the dowry which fortune had given her,
to wit the chest on which she had chanced, and what was far more
precious, her own self. When we had opened the chest, we found in it a
great store of treasure, and took it for our own use. But now this
damsel, Philtera, maintains that this chest is hers by right, that she
was bringing it from foreign lands that she might deliver it to her
husband, and that she suffered shipwreck by the way. Whether this be so
or no, I cannot say; but this I do maintain, that whatever by good
fortune or by the ordering of God has been brought into my hands is
verily mine, I not having in any wise contrived the same. My land he
has, and also my betrothed, though of that I take no count, but my good
luck he shall not have!”
To this the younger of the two made this answer: “As for the two
islands, it is as my brother has said. I do not deny the truth. But as
for this chest and the treasure therein, which has been cast by the sea
upon his island, that I do affirm to belong to the Lady Philtera, my
wife, as she can prove by most certain signs and tokens, and I do claim
that it be straightway rendered up to her.”
Sir Artegall said: “It were no hard thing to decide this matter, if you
would refer it to the judgment of some just man. Are you content so to
do?”
“Yes,” said the two with one voice, “you shall be a judge between us,
and we will abide by the judgment that you shall give.”
“Then lay down your swords under my feet,” said Sir Artegall, and they
laid them down.
Then Sir Artegall, turning himself to the younger of the two brothers,
said to him: “Tell me now by what right you hold for yourself, and
withhold from your brother, the land which the sea has taken from him
and added to you?”
“I do so,” the man made answer, “because the sea bestowed it upon me.”
“You are in the right,” said Sir Artegall; “it is yours, keep it.” Then
turning himself to the elder, he said: “Bracidas, by what right do you
hold this treasure of which your brother and his wife affirm, and not
without reason, that it is theirs?”
“I hold it,” said he, “because the sea bestowed it upon me.”
“You also are in the right,” said Sir Artegall; “it is yours; keep it.”
Then, speaking to both, he thus declared his sentence: “That which the
sea has taken is his own. None who before possessed it has claim upon
it. He may bestow it as he will. The land which he took from Sir
Bracidas he gave to Sir Amidas; let it therefore remain in his hand. The
treasure which he took from Sir Amidas, or from the Lady Philtera, his
wife, he gave to Sir Bracidas; let him also keep it.”
The matter being settled, the knight went on his way. After a while he
espied a great rout of people, and turned aside from the road that he
might discover what it might mean. When he came near he saw a great
crowd of women, in warlike array, with weapons in their hands. And in
the midst of them he saw a knight, with his hands tied tightly behind
his back, and a halter about his neck; his face was covered, but his
head was bare. It was plain that the man was about to be hanged. And, as
they went, the women reviled him in bitter words. When Sir Artegall came
near, he said: “Tell me, pray, what this may mean.”
To this they gave no answer, but made as if they would assault him.
Then, at the knight’s bidding, Talus went among them, and with a few
strokes of his iron flail sent them flying hither and thither. Then he
took the knight, who would otherwise have been put to death, and brought
him to Sir Artegall.
“Sir Turpine, unhappy man”—it so chanced that he knew the man—“how came
you into this evil plight? How is it that you suffered yourself to be
thus enslaved by women, who should rather be subject to men?” Sir
Turpine was sore ashamed and confounded, and could say but little in his
excuse for himself; but this was the story which he told.
“I was desirous, as was indeed my knightly duty, to find some adventure
which would be praiseworthy in itself, and also bring me to honour. And
I heard a report that there was a proud amazon who was accustomed to
defy all the knights of Queen Gloriana. Some she had put to shame, and
some she had slain. And the cause of her rage was this. She had loved
the bold Bellodant, and when he disdained her, then her love was turned
to hatred, not towards him only, but towards all knights, to whom she
worked, as, indeed, she still works, all the mischief that she can
devise. Any whom she can subdue, either by force or fraud, she treats in
the most evil fashion. First she takes from them their arms and armour,
and then she clothes them in women’s garments, and compels them to earn
their bread by women’s work, spinning and sewing and washing and the
like. And all the food that she gives them in recompense is but bread
and water, so as to disable them from taking their revenge. And if
anyone is of so manly a mind that he sets himself against her pleasure,
him she causes to be hanged out of hand on that gibbet which you see
yonder. And in this case I stood. For when she overcame me in fight,
then she put me into that base service of which I have spoken; and when
I refused, then she sent me with that rabble of women whom you
dispersed, that I might be done to death.”
“By what name do they call this amazon?” said Sir Artegall, “and where
does she dwell?”
“Her name,” answered Sir Turpine, “is Radigund; a princess is she of
great power and pride, well tried in arms and skilled in battle, more
than I could have believed had I not known it by my own experience.”
“Then,” said Sir Artegall, “by the faith which I owe to my queen, and
the knighthood which I bear, I will not rest till I have made trial of
this same amazon, and have found out for myself what she has of strength
and skill. And now, Sir Turpine, put off these unseemly clothes which
you wear, and come with me that you may see how my enterprise shall
prosper, and whether I shall avenge the cause of knighthood upon this
woman.”
To which request Sir Turpine consented with all his heart.