“Tirant lo Blanc”
Joanot Martorell
Joanot Martorell
“Hearing that cry, the Easygoing Widow guessed what had occurred and knew
that if Tirant had his way, whe would never have hers. Everything was silent as
Carmesina defended herself in whispers, urging our knight not to bring the
pleasant battle to its conclusion, but then the widow sat up in bed and shouted:
“What ails you, my daughter?”
The widow’s shout roused the empress and her
maidens, who sprang out of bed, some naked and some in their nightgowns, and
hastened to the princess’s door. They found it locked and called for light, but
as they were knocking, Pleasure-of-my-life grabbed Tirant’s hair and pulled him
away from where he wished to die. She made him jump onto the roof and threw him
a rope, that he might climb down into the garden and escape through the gate.
She had planned to let him out before daybreak, but the uproar and the damsels’s
screams made such a plan impossible. She quickly shut the window and returned to
her lady.
Tirant fastened the rope to the roof, yet he was so fearful of
being seen that he forgot to consider whether it was long enough to reach the
ground. After sliding down it, he found a twelve-yard drop at the bottom, and
unable to keep his grip, he fell so hard that he broke his leg.
Let us now
leave our knight on the ground and return to the ladies.
Once Tirant had
escaped, Pleasure-of-my-life admitted the empress and her maidens, who were
holding torches and asking the princess why she had screamed.
“My lady”,
replied the princess, “a big rat leapt on the bed and crawled onto my face,
frightening me half out of my wits. It scratched me, but fortunately it did not
hurt my eye.”
Pleasure-of-my-life had made that scratch when she shut the
princess’s mouth.
The emperor, who had also risen, entered his daughter’s
chamber sword in hand. When he heard about the rat, he searched all the nearby
rooms, but Pleasure-of-my-life was on her toes and, as the empress was talking
with her daughter, the damsel jumped onto the roof and pulled in the rope.
Hearing Tirant’s groans, she quickly guessed that he had fallen, while the whole
palace was in such turmoil that it was terrifying to behold. Had the Turks
attacked at that moment, they could not have chosen a better time, yet the wise
emperor thought it was nothing but a rat. He even looked inside the chests and
had the windows opened, and if the damsel had waited to hide that rope, he
surely would have found it.
Diaphebus, who knew what was afoot, heard the
commotion, and fearin for his cousin’s safety, he donned his armor and told
Stephanie “Today I shall lose my title if Tirant is in peril.”
“What shall I
do,” she asked, “for my hands are too weak even to put on a skirt?”
As soon
as the duke was armed, he set out to find Tirant, and on his way he met the
emperor, who was returning to his chamber. The duke asked him: “What is it,
sire? Why all this commotion?”
The emperor replied: “Those foolish damsels
are upset by trifles and clam a rat jumped onto my daughter’s face and scratched
her. Go back to sleep; there is no cause for alarm.”
Diaphebus returned to
his chamber and, after reassuring the duches said: “By Our Lady, had they
arrested our captain, I was ready to kill Her Majesty and those in his service,
whereupon I or Tirant would have been crowned emperor.”
“It is better this
way,” replied the duchess.
She got out of bed and hastened to the princess’s
chamber, where Pleasure-of-my-life saw her and whispered: “My lady, please stay
here and see that no one speaks ill of Tirant, while I go and find out how he
fares.”
When she got to the roof, she was afraid to call out lest someone
notice her, but then she heard Tirant moaning and lamenting thus:”
MARTORELL, Joanot. Tirant lo Blanc. Translated and with a foreword
by David Rosenthal. London: Pan Books, 1984.
Traduït per David H. Rosenthal