AMADIS AMONG THE GIANTS
King Lisuarte of Great Britain was at table; the cloths were removed,
and Galaor, Florestan and Agrayes were about him. These were among his
foremost knights, but they grieved for the absence of their brother and
kinsman, the incomparable Amadis of Gaul; he, for love and worship of
the peerless Oriana, the King's daughter, had long wandered about in
disguise, performing such exploits as made the whole world ring with
his renown. Sometime he was known as the Child of the Sea, later as
the Knight of the Green Sword, and at this time he went by the name
of Beltenebros, or the Fair Mystery. And among his deeds had been the
slaying of King Abies of Ireland, whose limbs were as those of a giant,
and who numbered among his allies many astonishing fierce giants.
Then there came a strange knight into the palace, all armed except his
head and his hands, and with him two squires, and he carried in his
hand a letter sealed with five seals, which on his knees he presented
to the king, saying:
"Let this be read, and then I will say for what I am come."
Lisuarte perceived that it was a letter of credence and bade him speak
his errand.
Then said the knight: "King, I defy thee on the part of Famongomadan,
the Giant of the Boiling Lake; Cartadaque, his nephew, giant of the
Defended Mountain; Madanfabul, his marriage-brother, the giant of
the Vermillion Tower; and for Quadragante, brother of King Abies of
Ireland, and Arcalaus the Enchanter:
"They tell thee that thy death, and the death of all who call
themselves thine is in their hands, for they are coming against thee on
King Cildadan's side. Howbeit, if thou wilt give thy daughter Oriana
to Madasima, the fair daughter of Famongomadan, to be her damsel and
servant, they will not injure thee, nor be thine enemies, but will give
her in marriage when it is time, to Basogante, Madasima's brother, who
doth well deserve to be lord of her and thy land.
"Therefore, King, look to thy choice! Such peace or such war."
Lisuarte smiled when he began to reply, as one who set at naught
the defiance. "Knight," said he, "better is a dangerous war than
a dishonorable peace: a bad account should I render to Him who
hath placed me in this high rank, if for lack of heart I should so
shamefully debase it. Tell them I would rather choose war with them all
the days of my life, and death in that war at last, than consent to the
peace they offer. Tell me where I may send a knight to carry them this
answer."
"They may be found," replied the embassador, "in the Boiling Lake,
which is in the Isle of Mongaza."
So it was done, and a knight of King Lisuarte's carried them his reply
defying them to the utmost.
Now Amadis was at a nunnery, being but barely recovered of severe
wounds. He sent Enil, his squire for the time, to the next town to get
arms made for him, a green shield with as many golden lions as it could
hold, and to buy him a horse, and a sword and breastplate, the best he
could find. For he purposed to ride to Millaflores to see Oriana, the
lady of all his thoughts.
In twenty days all was ready, as he had ordered it; and at the end of
that time arrived Durin, who brought word from her who was called the
one without a peer. Then he walked apart with Durin, and heard the
message of Oriana, and also how his brethren were to be in the battle
against Cildadan and the giants, and of the defiance that Famongomadan
had sent, and how he demanded Oriana to be serving-damsel to his
daughter, till he should give her in marriage to his son. When he heard
this, his flesh shook with exceeding anger, and he resolved in himself,
so soon as he had seen his lady, to undertake no adventure till he had
found Famongomadan, and fought with him a combat to the utterance for
what he had dared propose.
That night Amadis, still going by the name of Beltenebros even to his
companion, took leave of the nuns, and early the next day, armed in his
green armor, he set forth, and Enil with him carrying his shield and
helmet and lance. The day was clear, and he feeling himself in his
strength and once more in arms, began to manage his horse so skilfully
that Enil said to him:
"I know not, sir, what the strength of your heart may be, but I never
saw a knight appear so well in arms."
"The worth," quoth Amadis, "lies in a good heart, not in a good
appearance. Happy dole hath he whom God has gifted with both. You have
judged the one, judge the other as you shall see it deserves when put
to proof."
Seven days they travelled without adventure, and Amadis, as he drew
nearer, wore his helmet that he might not be known. On the eighth, as
they were passing the foot of a mountain, they met a knight upon a
large bay horse, so huge in stature that he appeared to be a giant, and
two squires carrying his arms.
He cried out with a loud voice to Amadis: "Stop, sir knight, till you
have told me what I want to know."
Amadis looked at the stranger's shield, and seeing there golden flowers
in a field azure, he knew it was Don Quadragante, brother to King Abies
of Ireland and his own deadly foe. Yet, remembering Famongomadan, he
would willingly now have avoided battle; as also, because he was on his
way to Oriana, and feared lest the great prowess of this knight should
cause him some delay. Howbeit he stopt, and bade Enil give him his
arms, if they were wanted.
"God protect you!" quoth Enil. "He looks to me more like a devil than a
knight."
"He is no devil," said Amadis, "but a right good knight, of whom I have
heard heretofore."
By this time Quadragante was come up, and said to him: "Knight, you
must tell me if you belong to the household of King Lisuarte."
"Why ask you?"
"Because I have defied him and all his household, and kill all of them
whom I meet."
Amadis felt his anger rising, and replied: "You are one of those who
hath challenged him?"
"I am; and I am he who will do to him and his all the evil in my power."
"And who are you?"
"My name is Don Quadragante; and I am brother to that King Abies who
was foully slain by an unknown knight of Lisuarte's."
"Certes, Don Quadragante, notwithstanding your high lineage and your
great prowess in arms, this is great folly in you to defy the best king
in the world. They who undertake more than they can effect are rather
rash than hardy. I am not this king's vassal, nor am I of his land,
but for his goodness my heart is disposed to serve him, so that I may
account myself among those whom you have defied; if you chuse battle
with me, you may have it; if not, go your way."
"I believe, knight," said Quadragante, "you speak thus boldly because
you know me so little; pray you, tell me your name."
"They call me Beltenebros: you will know me by it no better than
before, for it is a name of no renown; but, though I am of a far land,
I have heard that you are seeking Amadis of Gaul, and, by what I hear
of him, it is no loss to you that you cannot find him."
"What!" quoth Quadragante. "Do you prize him, whom I hate so much,
above me? Know that your death-hour is arrived. Take thy arms and
defend thyself if thou canst."
"I might do it with some doubt against others, but can have none in
opposing thee, who art so full of pride and threats."
Then they ran their course; both felt the shock: the horse of Amadis
reeled, and he himself was wounded at the nipple of the breast.
Quadragante was unhorsed and hurt in the ribs. He rose and ran at
Amadis, who did not see him, for he was adjusting his helmet, and
mortally stabbed his horse. Amadis leaped off and went against him
sword in hand in great anger.
"There was no courage in this," he cried. "Your own horse was strong
enough to have finished the battle without this villainy."
The blows fell as thick and loud as though ten knights had been in
combat, for both put forth all their strength and skill, and the fight
lasted from the hour of tierce till vespers; but then Quadragante,
overcome with fatigue and with a blow that Amadis gave him on the
helmet, fell down senseless.
Amadis took off his helmet to see if he were dead; the air revived him;
he placed the sword-point at his face, saying:
"Remember thy soul, for thou art a dead man."
"Ah, Beltenebros," cried he, "for God's sake let me live, for my soul's
sake."
"Yield thyself vanquished then, and promise to fulfill what I command."
"I will fulfill your will to save my life," said Quadragante, "but
there is no reason wherefore I should confess myself vanquished: he is
not vanquished who in his defence hath shown no fear, doing his utmost
till strength and breath fail him and he falls; but he who does not do
what he could have done, for lack of heart."
"You say well," said Amadis, "and I like much what I have heard from
you; give me your hand and your promise then." And he called the squire
to witness it:
"You shall go forthwith to the court of King Lisuarte, and remain there
till Amadis arrives, and then you shall pardon him for the death of
your brother, King Abies; for they by their own will fought in lists
together, and such revenge, even among those of meaner degree, ought
not to be pursued. However, you shall make null the defiance against
King Lisuarte, and not take arms against those in his service."
All this did Quadragante promise against his will and in the fear of
death. He then ordered his squires to make a litter and remove him; and
Amadis, mounting the bay horse of his antagonist, gave his arms to Enil
and departed.
Four damsels, who were hawking with a merlin, had seen the battle, and
they now came up and requested the unknown would go to their castle,
where he should be honorably welcomed, for the good will which he had
manifested to King Lisuarte. He thankfully accepted their hospitality,
being sore wearied with the struggle, and accompanied them. They found
no other wound than that upon his breast, which bled much; howbeit in
three days he departed.
On the second day at noon, from a hill top he beheld the city of
London, and, to the right thereof, the castle of Miraflores, where his
lady Oriana then abode. Here he stood awhile, gazing and devising how
he might despatch Enil.
Presently he was taunted by a company of knights to joust with them,
and at last he rode against them and overthrew all ten, one after
another.
Then came he, being athirst, to the Fountain of the Three Channels, and
tarried there awhile, discoursing with some damsels who were on their
way to the court, and determining to fix upon this as a meeting place
with Enil after he had been to his lady.
While they were talking, there came along the road a waggon drawn by
twelve palfreys, and on it were two dwarfs who drove. There were many
knights in chains in the waggon, and their shields were hanging at
the side, and many damsels and girls among them weeping and lamenting
loudly.
Before it went a giant, so great that he was fearful to behold; he rode
a huge black horse, and he was armed with plates of steel, and his
helmet shone bright, and in his hand he had a boar spear, whose point
was a full arm's-length long. Behind the waggon was another giant, who
appeared more huge and terrible than the first.
The damsels with Amadis seeing them were greatly terrified, and hid
themselves among the trees. Presently the giant who rode foremost
turned to the dwarfs and cried:
"I will cut you into a thousand pieces if you suffer these girls to
shed their own blood, for I mean to do sacrifice with it to my God,
whom I adore."
When Amadis heard this he knew it was Famongomadan, for he had a custom
to sacrifice damsels to an idol in the Boiling Lake, by whose advice
and words he was guided in everything. At this time Amadis did not wish
to encounter him, because he hoped shortly to be with Oriana, and also
because his joust with the ten knights had wearied him; but he knew the
knights in the waggon, and saw that Princess Leonoreta and her damsels
were there, for Famongomadan, who always took his waggon with him to
carry away all he could find, had seized them in their tents.
Immediately he mounted, and called to Enil for his arms. But Enil said:
"Let those devils pass by first."
"Give me!" quoth Amadis. "I shall try God's mercy before they pass, to
see if I can redress this villainy."
"O, sir," cried the squire, "why have you so little compassion on your
youth? If the best twenty knights of King Lisuarte's court were here,
they would not venture to attack them."
"Care thou not for that," replied his master. "If I let them pass
without doing my best I should be unworthy to appear among gallant men:
you shall behold my fortune."
Enil gave him his arms, weeping, and Amadis then descended the sloping
ground to meet them. He looked toward Miraflores as he went, and said:
"O Oriana, my lady, never did I attempt adventure confiding in my own
courage, but in you: my gentle lady, assist me now, in this great need."
He felt his full strength now, and all fear was gone, and he cried out
to the dwarfs to stop.
When the foremost giant, Famongomadan, heard him, he came towards him
with such rage that smoke came through the vizor of his helmet, and he
shook his boar spear so forcefully that its ends almost met.
"Unhappy wretch!" cried he. "Who gave thee boldness enough to dare
appear before me?"
"That Lord," quoth Amadis, "whom thou hast offended, who will give me
strength today to break thy pride."
"Come on! Come on!" cried the giant. "And see if his power can protect
thee from mine."
Amadis fitted the lance under his arm, and ran against him full speed:
he smote him below the waist with such exceeding force that the spear
burst through the plates of steel, and ran through him, even so as to
strike the saddle behind, that the girths broke and he fell with the
saddle, the broken lance remaining in him. His boar spear had taken
effect upon the horse of Amadis and mortally wounded him. The knight
leaped off and drew his sword.
Famongomadan rose up so enraged that fire came from him, and he plucked
the lance from his wound, and threw it at Amadis so violently that if
the shield had not protected his helmet, it would have driven him to
the ground; but his own bowels came out with the weapon, and he fell,
crying:
"Help, Basagante! I am slain."
At this the other giant came up as fast as his horse could carry him:
he had a steel axe in his hand, and with this he thought to have cut
his enemy in two; but Amadis avoided the blow, and at the same time
struck the giant's horse; the stroke fell short, but the tip of his
sword cut through the stirrup-leather, and cut the leg also half
through.
The giant in his fury did not feel the wound, though he missed the
stirrup: he turned and raised his axe again. Amadis had taken the
shield from his neck, and was holding it by the throngs: the axe fell
on it and sank in and drove it from his hands to the ground. He had
made another stroke; the sword wounded Basagante's arm, and, glancing
below upon the plates of fine steel, broke, so that only the handle
remained in his hand.
Not for this was he a whit dismayed; he saw the giant could not pluck
his axe from the shield, and he ran and caught it by the handle also.
Both struggled for the weapon; it was on that side where the stirrup
had been cut away, so that Basagante lost his balance: the horse
started and he fell; and Amadis got the battle-axe.
The giant drew his sword in vast fury, and would have run at the
knight, but the nerves of his leg were cut through; he fell upon one
knee, and Amadis smote him on the helmet, that the laces burst and it
fell off. He, seeing his enemy so near, thought with his sword, which
was very long, to smite off his head; the blow was aimed too high, it
cut off the whole crown of the helmet, and cut away the hair with it.
Amadis drew back; the helmet fell over his head upon his shoulders,
and Leonoreta and the damsels, who were on their knees in the waggon
praying to God to deliver them, tore their hair and began to shriek and
call upon the Virgin, thinking he was surely slain. He himself put up
his hand to feel if he were wounded to death, but feeling no harm made
again at the giant, whose sword falling upon a stone in the last blow
had broken.
Basagante's heart failed him now; he made one stroke more and cut the
knight slightly in the leg with the broken sword; but Amadis let drive
the battle-axe at his head: it cut away the ear and the cheek and the
jaw, and Basagante fell, writhing in the agony of death.
At this time Famongomadan had taken off his helmet, and was holding
his hands upon his wound to check the blood. When he saw his son slain
he began to blaspheme God and His mother Holy Mary, saying that he
did not so much grieve to die as that he could not now destroy their
monasteries and churches, because they had suffered him and his son to
be conquered by one knight.
Amadis was then upon his knees returning thanks to God when he heard
the blasphemer, and he exclaimed:
"Accursed of God and of His blessed mother! Now shalt thou suffer for
thy cruelties. Pray to thine idol that, as thou hast shed so much blood
before him, he may stop this blood of thine from flowing out with thy
life."
The giant continued to curse God and his saints. Then Amadis plucked
the boar spear from the horse's body, and thrust it into the mouth of
Famongomadan, and nailed him backward to the earth.
He then put on Basagante's helmet that he might not be known, and
mounting the other's horse rode up to the waggon and broke the chains
of all who were prisoners therein. And he besought them to take the
bodies of the giants to King Lisuarte, and say they were sent him by a
strange knight called Beltenebros; and he begged the princess to permit
him to take the black horse of Famongomadan, because it was a strong
and handsome horse, and he would ride him in the battle against King
Cildadan.
The bodies of the giants were so huge that they were obliged to bend
their knees to lay them in the waggon.
Leonoreta and her damsels made garlands for their heads, and being
right joyful for their deliverance, entered London singing in triumph.
Much was King Lisuarte astonished at their adventure, and the more for
Quadragante had already presented himself on the part of Beltenebros,
of whom nothing else was known.
"I would he were among us," said the King. "I would not lose him for
anything that he could ask and I could grant."
As for the further exploits of Amadis; and how, by the side of his
brethren and the king, he conquered all those island giants in pitched
battle; and how he slew the unspeakable monstrous offspring of the
giant of Devil's Island that was called the Endriago; and how he and
the peerless Oriana, in whom all beauty was centered, proved in the
Firm Island those final adventures of the Arch of True Lovers and of
the Forbidden Chamber;--are not these and many things beside written in
the Portuguese chronicler's tale of _Amadis of Gaul_? And was this not
one of the only three romances spared by the good Curate when he purged
Don Quixote's library with fire--for that forsooth it was the best of
all the romances?